Week 4 of Spontaneous Sunday is here! This weeks game is Metro: Last Light (2013, 4A Games, Deep Silver, Xbox 360).
"Metro: Last Light is a single-player, post-apocalyptic-themed, first-person shooter video game with stealth and survival horror elements. It was developed by Ukrainian studio 4A Games and published by Deep Silver for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in May 2013."
- Wikipedia on Metro: Last Light
What do I expect from the game?
Metro: Last Light is a first person shooter action/adventure game with stealth and survival elements, set in the ruins and underground of Moscow in the year 2034. It is the direct sequel to Metro 2033, a game that I played and completed a few years ago, so I mostly knew what to expect from the sequel. I really enjoyed Metro 2033 and it stood out to me as a well-made game. There aren't many games that I will fully play to the end but Metro 2033 kept my attention the whole time.
The original game mostly takes place in the stations and tunnels of the Moscow metro so it is full of dark, dingy, run-down and suspenseful environments. There are various enemies including human factions and mutated creatures. It features homemade weapons, plenty of scary moments and frantic fights, usually in very dimly lit areas, so its pretty exciting. It also has a minimal HUD and diegetic UI which was one of my favourite things about it. The environments are detailed and atmospheric and there is almost always multiple different routes that the player can take to achieve objectives and get to where they're going. I expected Metro: Last Light to also feature many of these elements.
First Impressions - What did I think of the game in its first few minutes?
The game's front end is almost entirely diegetic, with the information, options and even the developer/publisher splash screens appearing as part of the environment. The front end is a 3D environment of a metro tunnel complete with debris, lighting, particles effects etc. which is very cool. The environments and diegetic UI elements of the first game were very impressive so to see these two strong positives return right from the start of the sequel meant that Last Light made a good first impression.
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| While some game's main menu's can seem "lazy", Metro: Last Light's menu is engaging and well thought out. |
Starting a new game presents the player with a few options before they get started. This includes the choice of "original" or "Ranger" mode - the difference being that in ranger mode, the HUD is even more minimal and ammo/supplies are very hard to come by. This sounded very cool and sounded like it would add replay value to the game, however it appears that it can only be accessed if you pre-ordered the game - which is a bit of a downer! I then chose the difficulty, which effects the gameplay in more ways than simply making enemies stronger and the player weaker - availability of ammo and the awareness of enemies is also affects. This is a plus point as the conditions in different difficulty levels are often limited simply to how easily the player dies.
Gameplay begins with a section in which "dark ones" - paranormal beings seen and (supposedly) eliminated in the first game - attack the player and a small group of allies. The player drives a knife into one of the dark one's heads only for it to then transform into a human ally. This sequence turns out to be a dream and the player-character awakes safe in their bedroom. This was a pretty impressive opening for the game.
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| The player-character awakes from a nightmare to see a character called Khan, who gives you your first mission of the game. |
What do I like about the game, what does it do well?
There are many things that I like about the game and the developer's did a very good job, just as they did with the first one. The game is very immersive and atmospheric for a number of reasons. Firstly, there's the environments. The game's environment art is one of its strongest assets. Every area in the game is well-crafted with realistic lighting, details, particle effects and audio.
The first area the player finds themselves in (after the prologue section) is the player character (Artyom's) bedroom which is within a dorm that leads into a mess hall, training area and shooting range. This room and the starting area in general are incredibly detailed. The room is full of photographs, books, gear and furniture and also interactable objects like lamps that can be turned on and off.
There are many NPCs in the starting area, all of whom are doing something different and interesting. One is playing a guitar on a lower bunk of bunkbed while others watch. There is a room with its door propped open with a chair and a soldier servicing a gun inside. All of these NPCs look different and they have conversations with each other and make passing comments to the player. There is so much life in this starting area and something different to look at everywhere. It really grabs the players attention. I can't think of another game that has such detail and variety in terms of NPC appearance and actions. These positive elements are most noticeable in the starting area as the developers obviously went to more effort here as its their chance to make a good first impression, but the environments are very well designed, highly-detailed, engaging and realistic throughout the game.
The SFX/ambient audio is also a positive point, in the starting area and throughout the game, and this further helps to create atmosphere and immersion in the game. The voice acting is also good and sounds authentic. Enemies have a lot of dialogue lines that change depending on certain things and this means that it's easy for the player to tell how aware of their presence the enemies are, by listening to what they are saying. This is just one of the ways that Metro: Last Light uses in-world/diegetic cues to inform the player.
The diegetic nature of the user interface is one of my favourite things about the game. Almost all the HUD and information is presented to the player via diegetic means: objectives are displayed on a journal/clipboard that the character can bring up and look at and use a lighter to properly see. The pause menu is set out like a book. Several of the guns have visible ammo clips so you can see how much ammo is left. The HUD is only visible when something happens to prompt its appearance - e.g, reloading a weapon will briefly display the ammo counter - but it disappears again soon after, meaning that for most of the game, the screen is entirely clear of HUD. This makes the game very immersive and less distracting than other FPS games with "busy" heads-up-displays and minimises detraction from the experience. In different game modes and difficulties, the HUD is even more minimalistic, I imagine this would make for an even more immersive experience, but might confuse first-time players. Having a minimalistic HUD is often a bold move but the developers pull it off very well and make it a plus-point for the game. Personally, I find that diegetic UI's make for a compelling and memorable game experience.
In terms of gameplay, the game is suspenseful, enjoyable and well-paced, with a good ratio of stealth sequences and action sequences. It is mostly a stealth game and stealth is often encouraged, but the player can still go in all-guns-blazing if this is how they want to play. The current objective is usually well-defined and the game has a strong story that makes the player want to play just a little more to achieve a goal or see what happens - this is possibly due in part to the fact that the game franchise is based on a series of books and books generally have much stronger narratives and writing than games do! This game's story however was not based directly on a book, but was written purposely for the game by the book's author, Dmitry Glukhovsky, and this is noticeable in the game's strong narrative.
What don't I like about the game?
There are really not many negatives to pick up on and the positives of the game outweigh the negatives perhaps more than any previous Spontaneous Sunday game. There are a few things that I think could be improved, but nothing that really affected the gameplay experience. Firstly, there were a few instances where I felt like I didn't really know where I was going and that the game wasn't doing enough to guide me. This could be slightly due to the diegetic nature of the game's objectives and lack of on-screen text. The darkness of the environments might also have contributed - some of them really are very dark, which helps create atmosphere but can make getting around slightly difficult.
Secondly, I think that the stealth sections of the game were sometimes a bit messily-designed or too difficult. While most stealth games allow/require the player to observe enemy movements and plan and execute a safe route through an area, Metro: Last Light's stealth sections seemed a bit haphazard. After stealthily traversing an area, I did not get a sense of satisfaction from having worked out and used a route that was designed/placed for me by a level designer. It all felt a bit random and disjointed and I often found myself getting detected and having to shoot my way out. However with that said, I had only just begun to play the game, so maybe I just hadn't got the hang of how the game lays out its stealth sections yet. Admittedly, I don't play a lot of stealth games so it could be that I just wasn't finding the right paths and it was my approach that was messy rather than the design of the levels.
Finally, I think that the game's soundtrack was lacking. The music didn't leave much of an impression on me and there was long sections where there was no music at all, which is definitely a missed opportunity in terms of creating atmosphere (which the game does very well in almost every other way!)
Final Thoughts
Metro: Last Light is a very strong game in terms of pretty much everything including atmosphere, environment art, graphics, audio, level/world design and gameplay. I would go as far as to say that its my favourite Spontaneous Sunday title yet. Metro 2033 really hooked me when I played it and Last Light has also grabbed my attention. I will probably keep playing it and try to finish it. I think the Metro series hasn't received the recognition that it deserves! This might be due to its lack of a multiplayer mode, which is increasingly becoming an essential element in making an FPS really take off commercially. I read that a multiplayer mode was planned but eventually scrapped to allow all development resources to be focused on the single player experience - this to me seems like a good decision.
Playing Last Light got me thinking about game's based on books and how this effects the narrative. I realised that I can't really think of many games that are based on books and I have decided that I'm going to do some research into this in the future!
The first area the player finds themselves in (after the prologue section) is the player character (Artyom's) bedroom which is within a dorm that leads into a mess hall, training area and shooting range. This room and the starting area in general are incredibly detailed. The room is full of photographs, books, gear and furniture and also interactable objects like lamps that can be turned on and off.
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| Artyom's bedroom - a very detailed and well-crafted 3D environment. |
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| There are many things that can be interacted with in the room. |
There are many NPCs in the starting area, all of whom are doing something different and interesting. One is playing a guitar on a lower bunk of bunkbed while others watch. There is a room with its door propped open with a chair and a soldier servicing a gun inside. All of these NPCs look different and they have conversations with each other and make passing comments to the player. There is so much life in this starting area and something different to look at everywhere. It really grabs the players attention. I can't think of another game that has such detail and variety in terms of NPC appearance and actions. These positive elements are most noticeable in the starting area as the developers obviously went to more effort here as its their chance to make a good first impression, but the environments are very well designed, highly-detailed, engaging and realistic throughout the game.
The SFX/ambient audio is also a positive point, in the starting area and throughout the game, and this further helps to create atmosphere and immersion in the game. The voice acting is also good and sounds authentic. Enemies have a lot of dialogue lines that change depending on certain things and this means that it's easy for the player to tell how aware of their presence the enemies are, by listening to what they are saying. This is just one of the ways that Metro: Last Light uses in-world/diegetic cues to inform the player.
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| The weapons are interesting and varied. Some are pre-war, others are crafted in the Metro by survivors. |
The diegetic nature of the user interface is one of my favourite things about the game. Almost all the HUD and information is presented to the player via diegetic means: objectives are displayed on a journal/clipboard that the character can bring up and look at and use a lighter to properly see. The pause menu is set out like a book. Several of the guns have visible ammo clips so you can see how much ammo is left. The HUD is only visible when something happens to prompt its appearance - e.g, reloading a weapon will briefly display the ammo counter - but it disappears again soon after, meaning that for most of the game, the screen is entirely clear of HUD. This makes the game very immersive and less distracting than other FPS games with "busy" heads-up-displays and minimises detraction from the experience. In different game modes and difficulties, the HUD is even more minimalistic, I imagine this would make for an even more immersive experience, but might confuse first-time players. Having a minimalistic HUD is often a bold move but the developers pull it off very well and make it a plus-point for the game. Personally, I find that diegetic UI's make for a compelling and memorable game experience.
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| The lack of HUD makes for an immersive and engaging experience. |
In terms of gameplay, the game is suspenseful, enjoyable and well-paced, with a good ratio of stealth sequences and action sequences. It is mostly a stealth game and stealth is often encouraged, but the player can still go in all-guns-blazing if this is how they want to play. The current objective is usually well-defined and the game has a strong story that makes the player want to play just a little more to achieve a goal or see what happens - this is possibly due in part to the fact that the game franchise is based on a series of books and books generally have much stronger narratives and writing than games do! This game's story however was not based directly on a book, but was written purposely for the game by the book's author, Dmitry Glukhovsky, and this is noticeable in the game's strong narrative.
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| The game's story is well-delivered throughout. |
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| Most of the action happens below-ground, but the player also visits the surface occasionally. This is the player's first view of the surface. |
What don't I like about the game?
There are really not many negatives to pick up on and the positives of the game outweigh the negatives perhaps more than any previous Spontaneous Sunday game. There are a few things that I think could be improved, but nothing that really affected the gameplay experience. Firstly, there were a few instances where I felt like I didn't really know where I was going and that the game wasn't doing enough to guide me. This could be slightly due to the diegetic nature of the game's objectives and lack of on-screen text. The darkness of the environments might also have contributed - some of them really are very dark, which helps create atmosphere but can make getting around slightly difficult.
Secondly, I think that the stealth sections of the game were sometimes a bit messily-designed or too difficult. While most stealth games allow/require the player to observe enemy movements and plan and execute a safe route through an area, Metro: Last Light's stealth sections seemed a bit haphazard. After stealthily traversing an area, I did not get a sense of satisfaction from having worked out and used a route that was designed/placed for me by a level designer. It all felt a bit random and disjointed and I often found myself getting detected and having to shoot my way out. However with that said, I had only just begun to play the game, so maybe I just hadn't got the hang of how the game lays out its stealth sections yet. Admittedly, I don't play a lot of stealth games so it could be that I just wasn't finding the right paths and it was my approach that was messy rather than the design of the levels.
Finally, I think that the game's soundtrack was lacking. The music didn't leave much of an impression on me and there was long sections where there was no music at all, which is definitely a missed opportunity in terms of creating atmosphere (which the game does very well in almost every other way!)
Final Thoughts
Playing Last Light got me thinking about game's based on books and how this effects the narrative. I realised that I can't really think of many games that are based on books and I have decided that I'm going to do some research into this in the future!
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