THQ has finally shone a light on Metro: Last Light, the sequel to last year’s shooter/survival horror/subway ride Metro 2033.
Metro 2033 is one of those games that either rocks your world or leaves you baffled by the fact that there are people out there who actually think this kind of godawful nonsense is fun. But it was enough of a sleeper hit to earn a sequel and today THQ lifted the lid, just a little bit, on what those of us in the former category have to look forward to.
In Metro: Last Light, players will be caught in the middle of a war for control of a “doomsday device” that threatens to destroy humanity forever. Said doomsday device will presumably be even worse than the nuclear weapons that wiped out 95 percent of humanity prior to Metro 2033 and turned the surface of the Earth into an unlivable, toxic hellhole.
“We believe that Metro 2033 was a flawed masterpiece. It was a beautiful, original game that didn’t get the marketing support it needed. We won’t make that mistake with Metro: Last Light,” said THQ Vice President Danny Bilson.
“This game improves on the original in every way – it will have more polish, deeper and more sophisticated gameplay, and satisfyingly visceral combat, without losing what our fans loved about the original,” he continued. “Metro: Last Light is another artful piece of game development from an Eastern European studio that will thrill and terrify anyone looking for a more cerebral experience than your typical first person shooter.”
I absolutely loved Metro 2033 to death, even that “run and hide” bit near the end, but I’m willing to acknowledge that there are a lot of people out there who don’t share my taste in such things. Bilson’s promise to keep it an “artful and cerebral experience” is encouraging, but I’m a little concerned that when all is said and done, THQ’s efforts to “improve” on the original will end up stripping away much of what made it great. On the other hand, this bizarre launch trailer does give me hope, so fingers crossed that they don’t screw it up.
Metro: Last Light is slated for launch sometime in 2012 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
