TGH got the chance to have a sit down with THQ and get a run through the sequel to Metro 2033 by 4A Games. Internally, as well as externally, Metro 2033 is known as a ‘flawed masterpiece’ however THQ assures us that this direct sequel to the cult classic will be much, much better. Not only does it have brand new enemy AI and feature a better stealth system and implementation, it also still contains all the atmosphere and loneliness found in Metro 2033.

The demo we get to watch starts above ground, the camera panning across a destroyed Church, which looks extremely like the Cathedral next to the Volga in Moscow, but that’s just jumping to assumptions there. Across this eerie wasteland we see some winged beasts flying around clearly looking for its next prey. The camera pans into a destroyed building where we see two soldiers opening and climbing into a manhole, this is where the cinematic ends and gameplay takes over letting you climb down the latter into the tunnel below. Its dark down there and covered in cobwebs, you can burn these away with your lighter and that clearly alludes to more uses for such an inventory item. Up ahead past the cobwebs is a light, a light that needs to be taken down pretty sharpish if you don’t want to be spotted by the patrolling guards. Instead of shooting out the bulb the player opts to manually unscrew the light from the wall making no sound and making the area pitch black.

The guards notice the lack of light and then begin to walk over whilst the player lurks in the shadows. One guard gets too close and meets a rather grisly end by way of a slit throat from behind; the second guard goes down with a shot to the head. Then to advance he shoots out both the light further down on the wall and the light above the entrance door. Sneaking forward it turns out that he has ended up inside a train compound in the tunnel, a compound now being used as a holdup for the new army that has formed in these apocalyptic times. Gameplay continues on in a stealth style of shooting out lights and silently killing guards, until one guard notices something is up, TGH assumes it was either the lights or the bodies lying around the place. The guard begins to work out where the player is, all it takes is one more guard to fall and then he sees where exactly where he is hiding. Suddenly gameplay changes into a crazy gunfight in the dark, cover flies away as each bullet chips through the concrete blocks being used for cover. After this sections you meet up with the other solider at the start and together you infiltrate a massive meeting of the soldiers, and soon after cause a distraction that triggers something that looks exactly like a cutscene but actually isn’t.

You have to run through a shantytown and follow after your comrade, jumping and ducking under cover whilst avoiding fire from behind. This ends in jumping into a cart and then going into an on rails shooting section, and then jumping from a minecart whilst moving and landing on a prisoner train so you can save another one of your comrades. You move forward through the train shooting guards who eagerly find cover from your fire and work out ways to flank you and outsmart you. The demo ends shortly after in a dramatic blaze of fire from the front of the train.

They THQ representative was eager to stress that this was a very action oriented demo and not what the entire game was like, he then went on to show a small thirty second gameplay trailer of a very different situation, underground and alone walking through sewers and tunnels and then fighting some huge mutant wolf beast. Sorry for being a bit pessimistic but that still sounds like something a bit action oriented, however having the quiet beforehand did make a difference in comparison to the demo shown off. The nice thing about Metro Last Light is that the weaponry had a very post World War II feel to it, making the gameworld much more believable. Also, to some peoples dismay maybe, the ammo system from Metro 2033 has been abandoned so to make it more appealing and less confusing to the majority of gamers, as from feedback many found it quite annoying to use it.

Metro Last Light will launch in 2012 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, the build TGH were shown today was on a standard spec PC and it looked beautiful so lets see what the coming months can do to the game!