Metro: Last Light

[Metro]

Quite the achievement.

 

[chestburster]

I was so impressed with one particular boss fight: instead of simply putting a giant monster and the player into an arena with no context whatsoever, like any standard FPS would do, they actually made the monster behave like real animals in a believable way:

Spoiler

When you fight the bear-like giant monster, the game shows you that the bear monster is trying to protect its young; and during the whole fight, there are wolf/giant-rat-like smaller monsters circling around. Every time you wound the giant bear monster, those wolf monsters would take the chance to attack it. And in the end, it is not the player that finishes the bear monster boss, but the wolf monsters.

The Metro post-apocalyse world has a really believable ecosystem and makes it very clear: the world doesn't revolve around the player protagonist; the player is merely passing through and happens to encounter some of the animals.

 

[DeepOcean]

This game puts Bioshlock Infinite to shame.

This only says tha Metro Last Light is on the group of the other 95% of FPSs that manage that hardly difficult task. But seriously, how this game fare in relation to Metro 2033? It is even more linear than before like some people are saying?

 

[chestburster]

This game puts Bioshlock Infinite to shame.

This only says tha Metro Last Light is on the group of the other 95% of FPSs that manage that hardly difficult task. But seriously, how this game fare in relation to Metro 2033? It is even more linear than before like some people are saying?

In light of its budget, Last Light packs in so much more details than B:I that I'm sometimes baffled how 4A could achieve that.

It's indeed a linear game but I wouldn't say it's become MORE linear than 2033. There are several expansive outdoor levels in which you're free to explore -- in 2033, the limited quantity of gas filters severely limits explorability; not this time. You always have more than enough gas filters, if you explore thoroughly.

I read some reviewers complained about AI companions hand-holding. But I think the (very sparse) use of AI companions in Last Light is done tastefully. The majority of the time, the AI companions provide nothing more than the equivalent of occasional radio chatter. In several most impressive and awe-inspiring outdoor levels (central Moscow), the isolation and loneliness is not detracted in any way, since your AI companion is, urr, let's just say not the standard FPS stereotype.

And the game has several underground levels with nothing else than monsters. Those levels are scary, especially considering that some monsters have exoskeletons and bullets are limited. I haven't seen such good scary-monster levels since STALKER underground levels.

 

[J_C]

But seriously, how this game fare in relation to Metro 2033? It is even more linear than before like some people are saying?

You are the third person who asked this. Read the previous comments FFS!

 

[sexbad?]

I'm disappointed that the stealth is still retard heaven in Ranger mode, but I love love love the firefights. I decided to shoot up the "back alley" sort of area in the Venice level, and it was absolutely wonderful. It had loads of neat flanking opportunities, and I swear the AI played as the cat as much as it did as the mouse. It caught me off guard quite a few times before I managed to kill everyone.

I also love that the grenades have a more realistic "pop" sound to them, instead of a regular, rumbling action movie explosion like in most other games.

 

[Angthoron]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...etro-last-light-is-the-triumph-of-an-underdog

When 4A needed another dev kit, or high-end PC, or whatever, someone from 4A had to fly to the States and sneak it back to the Ukraine in a backpack lest it be "seized" at the border by thieving customs officials. After visiting the team I wanted to buy them Aeron office chairs, considered a fundamental human right in the west. There were no outlets in the Ukraine, and our only option was to pack a truck in Poland and try to find an "expediter" to help bribe its way down to Kiev. We gave up not because this tripled the cost, but because we realized that the wider Aeron chairs would require spreading out people and computers, which would lead to extra desks, and that ultimately would have required bigger offices. Yes, really.

Holy crap!

A sudden Google search later, http://hmstore.com.ua/store/herman-...at-and-back-graphite-base-with-graphite-frame

Oops.

 

[cvv]

Ukraine must be a hilarious country to live in:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...t-reveals-metro-devs-terrible-work-conditions


>>This whole smuggling thing extends to more than just furniture, but hardware as well. "When 4A needed another dev kit, or high-end PC, or whatever, someone from 4A had to fly to the States and sneak it back to the Ukraine in a backpack lest it be 'seized' at the border by thieving customs officials."<<

 

[Infinitron]

Ukraine must be a hilarious country to live in:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...t-reveals-metro-devs-terrible-work-conditions


>>This whole smuggling thing extends to more than just furniture, but hardware as well. "When 4A needed another dev kit, or high-end PC, or whatever, someone from 4A had to fly to the States and sneak it back to the Ukraine in a backpack lest it be 'seized' at the border by thieving customs officials."<<

Last page bro

 

[Angthoron]

That's quite clearly BS, as revealed by a simple google search, btw. Unless poor Ukrainians have to smuggle Google from Poland via expeditors, which makes it like three times more expensive. Yes, really.

 

[cvv]

Ukraine must be a hilarious country to live in:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...t-reveals-metro-devs-terrible-work-conditions


>>This whole smuggling thing extends to more than just furniture, but hardware as well. "When 4A needed another dev kit, or high-end PC, or whatever, someone from 4A had to fly to the States and sneak it back to the Ukraine in a backpack lest it be 'seized' at the border by thieving customs officials."<<

Last page bro

 

[J_C]

Poor 4A Games devs! Everyone will say that they are stupid and liers, when they didn't say anything like this. It's the failed ex-THQ chief who stirs the shit.

 

[Zewp]

Just finished it. It was alright. Much better than I was expecting. I would have liked for there to be more stealth sections among human enemies, but what was there was fun.

Probably won't ever play it again, though.

 

[Angthoron]

Poor 4A Games devs! Everyone will say that they are stupid and liers, when they didn't say anything like this. It's the failed ex-THQ chief who stirs the shit.

It's a real pity THQ couldn't find any 1,5K euro designer chairs to put to 4A Games basement dungeon. They clearly tried hard.

 

[Misconnected]

Poor 4A Games devs! Everyone will say that they are stupid and liers, when they didn't say anything like this. It's the failed ex-THQ chief who stirs the shit.

Then again, will he even get called on this? To be fair, just about any Kiev-based business is going to look poverty stricken compared to US-based equivalents. Euro-based devs and the rabid euro-based fanboys "reporting" on them have an interest in looking as underdog-like as they can. And what are the chances any of the US-based fanboys even knows enough of Ukraine to find it on a world map?

But yeah... I'm betting 4A are regretting having had anything to do with THQ pretty fucking hard right about now.

 

[AstroZombie]

Well, this is how 4A's office loooks:

There's clearly enough space for those chairs.

 

[J_C]

That's terrible. Obisian should tell them stories when they worked in Feargus' basement (or something like that).

 

[Angthoron]

I guess that THQ exec was so large, everyone had to work elbow to elbow while he was in the office.

 

[cvv]

Yeah, as far as offices go, I haven't seen a more standard one.

 

[ohWOW]

What a pile of crap. Every minute there's a cutscene, it's fucking annoying. Levels so far are tiny and consist of few rooms and few enemies. Yeah, Metro 2033 was railroaded too, but fuck this if this one isn't shit at this. I'm overflowing with ammo and human enemies are even dumber than the last time.
Come the fuck on, I alarm some reich's soldiers at their outpost by killing one of them. I hide behind the crate and wait to take them one by one. Suddenly one of them runs into me behind that crate. I'm like OH FUCK WTF and back off, but he just looked forward and "where is he?". Then he turned around and ran away. Yeah.

 

[J_C]

What a pile of crap. Every minute there's a cutscene,

Umm, yeah, you should pull out something better from your ass.

 

[ohWOW]

Learn to read more than 1 and a half sentence in one post.

 

[J_C]

I read it, but I just wanted to pick on that particular bullshit.

 

[ohWOW]

Because the rest can't be disproved

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Game is a fucking triumph of world building.

 

[Zewp]

The only thing that pissed me off is the horribly inconsistent performance. I'd get 60FPS throughout the game, then when I look in the direction of a major settlement my FPS drops to <20 for no apparent reason. Even when the settlement is quite far away and doesn't get rendered because I'm still in the tunnels and can't see it yet. Turn around and it jumps back to 60.

Spoiler

The bridge section close to the end of the game was also horrible. Played at around 15FPS throughout that area, meaning that playing stealthily was a bit tricky because everything was lagging. Face the way I was coming from, and normal FPS.