Metro Last Light Review

Our obsession with post apocalyptic scenarios is nothing new. The extent of this morbid obsession can clearly be seen in various Hollywood movies that depict end of days due to one reason or another and the extremely difficult life handful of survivors face. The video game industry has churned out its fair share of post-apocalyptic master pieces, which have etched unforgettable memories in our mind. Most of these are big budgeted ventures with huge capital investment and are mostly associated with some of the leading game producing companies. So, it’s a very pleasant surprise when out of nowhere a very small scaled Ukrainian based studio named 4A Games puts forth a gem of a game titled Metro Last Light. Metro Last Light is a first person shooter post apocalyptic game with survival horror elements. It’s a sequel to 4A games earlier venture Metro 2033 and is based on the writings of author Dmitry Glukhovsky. Last Light had quite a few hurdles during its development phase, delays and the abrupt closure of its publishing company THQ. Fortunately, a publishing company named Deep Sliver acquired and saved it from being doomed to development hell and obscurity.

Plot

The story follows the exploits of the protagonist named Artyom who dwells underneath the ruins of Moscow city in metro tunnels. The world above has been totally obliterated by a nuclear holocaust and rendered unlivable. The unfortunate souls, caught on the surface during the holocaust, have been turned into twisted and vile mutants that hunt the survivors living in the tunnels. The game remains true to the theme that it’s during a severe crisis the true human nature is revealed. The survivors instead of cooperating with each other are divided into factions occupying various metro tunnel sections; they continuously squabble and fight each other over the remaining resources left. Humanity is on the verge of extinction! The story picks up after the cataclysmic events of the first game, where an important decision had to be made at the very end by our hero. The game continues assuming that Artyom chose to destroy the creatures known as dark ones by calling down a missile strike on their base. Artyom soon learns that a solitary dark one has managed to survive the devastation he wrecked upon their species and owing to his special connection with them tries to contact it while the faction he has sworn allegiance to seeks to destroy it.

Graphics and visuals  

Last Light has to be the most graphically stimulating game of this generation. It wouldn’t be farfetched to say that it's on par with the likes of Crysis 3, which is a real feat achieved by 4A games considering their very limited budget. The ruins of Moscow city are crafted with elegance and finesse that would certainly make the gamers gasp out in sympathy. While witnessing the metro tunnels and the height to which humanity has stooped to would certainly invoke feelings of dread and claustrophobia. A typical survivor in the wasteland has to be wary about not just the horrors lurking on the surface but his fellow survivors too. Even in such dire circumstances, humanity is portrayed to be on a self destructive path with warring factions being formed amongst the survivors. The faction Artyom belongs to is the most neutral and unluckily is in possession of bunker D6 which is rumored to be holding resources of high value. This makes it on the hit list of other two factions, namely the Communist Red Line and the downright tyrannical Fascist Reich.

Game play   

The first person shooting experience has never felt more fluid and accurate. When you shoot a monstrosity or turn the gun on a troublesome survivor, the bullet impact and the reaction of the victim are quite accurately rendered. For some reason best known to them, the developers chose to make the sprinting and walking a bit sluggish, whether they wanted the gamers to feel how cumbersome it would feel walking around with protective gear or it's simply a glitch.

Being a true survivalist horror game, the ammo for every weapon is a rare commodity and hence spraying everything that walks and going in guns blazing is not a wise approach. The emphasis of the game is on stealth and conserving ammo for direr situations. There’s a limit to the weapons Artyom can carry which also necessitates carefully rationing your arsenal. Metro Last Light is quite linear but it avoids being monotonous by allowing exploration of certain areas and this gels well with invoking the aforementioned feelings of claustrophobia one might expect in underground tunnels. Playing stealth is highly recommended as it will certainly save your life on numerous occasions; you would make your way around vastly numbered concentration of opposing factions. Artyom can improve on stealth by shooting sources of light in an area, creeping up behind the enemy and knocking them down or simply throwing knife at vulnerable points from a distance. This approach works well with human enemies but gamers would have to think very strategically while dealing with mutant monstrosities. Mutants take a lot of punishment before going down and are very fast, being extra careful while being on their turf is recommended.

The most difficult part from me was on the surface where I had to keep a cautious eye out for the air filters, which power the gas mask. At the beginning of the game, this is one commodity that was very precious but becomes fairly common at the end. The visor of the gas mask also becomes blurred while being exposed to upper surface elements and blood and gore of the vanquished need to be cleaned. These are the aspects that give Metro Last Light a sense of realism that is very uncommon to behold in other games of similar genre.

Verdict

Metro Last Light is a tremendously immersive and highly enjoyable game. The game puts you smack into the middle of the proceedings and you immediately begin to identify with Artyom and his various dilemmas. The atmosphere that 4A Games has rendered on the screen is haunting and breathtaking. The AI however freezes up and goes bonkers on certain occasions, plus there are absolutely no choices to make that would alter the course of the game. Other than that, it’s a vastly superior offering compared to its predecessor. Story is not the forte of the game despite having enough twists and turns to keep you guessing till the very end. The game so far has garnered positive reviews from critics and gamers alike and received a little flak about its linear approach. The shooting mechanics are on par with AAA shooters and whatever glitches the first game suffered from have been rectified. This is a very commendable offering and would go a long way to cement the reputation of 4A Games in the mainstream game business. Metro Last Light currently enjoys a healthy metacritic rating of 80 and averages around 8.5 /10 on most major video gaming sites. As for me, I would give it at least 9 /10 for depicting the end of the world from a typical Russian perspective. If your thing is fumbling around in dark confined spaces and you enjoy a good scare and running for your life from mutant abominations, then you should definitely get this game.

9

Deadly Premonitions Directors Cut Review

There are video games that go down in the annals of history for their perfection in every aspect and then there are others that are so ridiculously incomprehensible and silly that they gain notoriety and also occupy a place in the gaming history. Unfortunately, for the game in review named Deadly Premonitions Directors Cut the latter holds true. There’s an old cachet “it’s so bad it’s good”! This is exactly what the gamers can expect. Deadly Premonition is a psychological horror open world game developed by Access Games for consoles exclusively with a director’s cut that was released in April this year. They say, when it comes to depicting the morbid and saturnine side of human psyche, Japanese playwrights have no equal! Deadly premonitions add to the mix comedy horror elements and the result is one of the most Critically Polarizing Survival Horror Game.

Plot

Deadly premonitions takes place in a fictional town called Greenvale, which is a sleepy little town full of stereotypical characters. The protagonist of the game is an FBI operative named Agent, Francis York Morgan, who is investigating the murder of a young girl named Anna Graham. The introduction to York’s character is equally bewildering as he is depicted holding a conversation with an unseen character and topic of the conversation is the sadistic homosexual undertone, the cartoon Tom and Jerry has! This conversation alone is enough to make the audience suspicious about the mental health of the main lead. Equally baffling are the circumstances of the murder which according to York is a ritualistic sacrifice where the killer has left some red seeds on the body of the victim. What follows is an uncanny tale where bodies’ falls on regular intervals and our hero is attacked by mysterious figure wearing a trench coat and wielding an axe. The game also builds York’s character nicely, as he’s shown suffering from a childhood dilemma, where he witnessed his father murdering his mother and then commit suicide. No wonder with a scarred childhood like that he has some obvious issues. The story gets very convoluted from thereon which includes alternate realities, multiple personalities and an ending which most gamers won’t see coming. The director’s cut provides an extended ending which is as outrageous as one can possibly imagine.

Gameplay

The game clearly reflects that it’s inspired from TV series Twin Peaks, anyone that has seen the popular show would immediately recognize the subtle and sometimes not so subtle touches from it. There is a main story plot peppered by side quests, choosing one is totally up to the player’s discretion. Players would control Agent York from over the shoulder perspective reminiscent of the Resident Evil franchise. It has all the staple condiments of an open world game like roaming about the expanse of Greenvale, engaging NPC characters in conversation and the usage of an inventory. Despite being the director’s cut and receiving a facelift in graphics and other departments, the overall look and feel of Deadly Premonitions remains crude and unappealing, compared to today’s standard. That being said, it still manages to retain a rustic appeal that is reminiscent of games of 2005 era.

Despite the visually lack luster graphics, the game AI is stupendous! The developers have done a commendable job of incorporating real life like scenarios, for example, if Agent York is exploring the island on a car, he will have to purchase fuel for it and be weary of damaging the vehicle. If the vehicle continues to receive damages, it will be rendered inoperable and must be repaired by paying for it. Agent York must also sleep, consume food and take care of his hygiene or be penalized if any of the aforementioned is not properly adhered to. The strength of the AI is visible when you observe the NPC’s too. Like in the real world, the citizens of Greenvale have their routines, but they don’t perform them in a mechanical and repetitive fashion. Meticulous attention has gone into making the characters multi-dimensional; it won’t be uncommon to find the sheriff roaming about in his patrol car, mingling with the crowd in the local café and going back to the police station.

Will a horror game be complete if there are no baddies and monstrosities to shot at? The monstrosities include very creepy looking, wall climbing demonic, being in shape of little girls (which remind me of Japanese flick Ringo and The Grudge!). The shooting mechanics are somewhat cryptic, which dictates that you stand your ground and aim.  There’s an assortment of melee weapons as well, which gamers can use to bash the enemy’s head in, but there’s something carnally satisfying about pumping bullets in a ghost from a safe distance. Another noticeable change is the reduction in overall difficulty which was quite troublesome in the original game. The enemies take damage and go down quickly unlike the earlier installment where they acted as a bullet absorbing sponge.

Shortcomings

Convoluted plot which seems really far-fetched at times, erratic frame rates, primitive sound effects are some blatant flaws that are noticeable during first five minutes into the game. There’s a map but it always provides a very close zoomed in view of your position. This effectively disables the player from viewing the entirety of the map which can be very irritating at times. Most games allow players to setup their way points to reach a particular destination. This way point, in most cases, indicates the distance remaining and other relevant information, but in Deadly Premonitions, this can be a jarring and confusing experience. What’s left me baffled is that Access Games was capable of incorporating a very capable AI, but why the due attention wasn’t paid to rectify the very obvious shortcomings? If providing the game a rustic appeal was the aim behind this, then it has backfired massively! Today’s gamer community doesn’t appreciate investing money for a game with such ancient production values.  

Verdict

When you hear the term “Director’s cut” affixed to a game, the expectation is the rectification of every shortcoming that ailed the previous installment. In case of Deadly Premonitions, what we get is a glossed over and superficially revamped package which only adds value in terms of an extra ending sequence. The flaws are one too many and sometimes would surely frustrate an average gamer, but then again, it’s addictive and players would carry on out of curiosity of what might await them. If you are expecting a high flying open world game with abundance of eye candy generously applied to everything, then you are in for a shock. But, if you were looking for a truly unpredictable story, full of twists and turns and a gameplay that keeps changing dramatically, then you’ve come to the right place.

I would recommend playing the game if you’ve got the patience to tolerate its aforementioned shortcomings! Because other than that, it’s a fun filled ride that would keep you entertained as you begin to identify with Agent York’s character and desperately start assuming about the identity of the real culprit behind the whole mess. The game has received mixed reviews, and as for my part, I would rate it 6.5 out of 10.

6.5

Playstation 4 See It First

Here is the teaser trailer that Sony has been advertising to announce the PS4 at the E3 Press Conference June 10, 6pm PDT (June 11, 1am GMT).