14 DAY TRIAL // What it is: Metro 2033 surprised quite a lot of people last year, when 4A Games, together with THQ, brought a pretty unique and dark first person shooter based on the book series developed by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky.
Now, a follow-up is currently in development, which takes a few liberties with the franchise, in order to bridge the gap between the Metro 2033 and Metro 2034 books. As such, Metro: Last Light is set to put a heavier emphasis on fidelity, as 4A Games wants to improve on some of the risks it took with the first game that didn’t really pay off.
How it is: First off, I have to say that Metro 2033 was a pretty good looking game, but with Last Light, the developers have really outdone themselves, managing to deliver a thoroughly great looking game, thanks largely to the in-house 4A Engine.
The game picks up outside the Moscow underground tunnels, but quickly sees the protagonist, Artyom, go into the tunnels to fight against an enemy faction called the Reich. Here you can truly see the power of the graphics engine, as the darkness is truly dark, while light sources, like torches, light bulbs or weapon fire dance on the walls.
Stealth mechanics have been improved, according to 4A, which said that the team has focused on polishing other areas as well, including combat or the enemy AI, in order to make Metro: Last Light an experience players won’t forget.
What’s more, the game definitely feels a bit more cinematic, not just with scripted sequences but also with a few climactic on-rails sequences (literally) where Artyom needs to jump from subway cars and fight his way to the end of the trains, similar to Uncharted’s Nathan Drake, but this time from a first person perspective.
When and on what: Metro: Last Light is coming in 2012, for the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii U.
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