THQ are hoping to evoke the same feelings people felt playing games such as Half Life 2 with their forthcoming sequel to Metro: 2033, Metro: Last Light.
The publisher insists that Last Light, a grimy and dark shooter set in post-apocalyptic Moscow with more than a hint of atmosphere, will bring joy to fans of first person shooters who are bored of military-based games.
“When I remember Half-Life 2 I don’t remember just shooting things, I remember moments, like the escape from the boat, or crossing the bridge, or investigating the farm or invading the prison,” 4A Games communications lead Huw Beynon said.
“I talk about it the way I remember and talk about a really great film I’ve seen. One of the things we saw with Metro 2033 and hopefully we’ll see with Last Light is people talking about the things they’ve seen and the moments they experienced. That’s what we mean by being story and scenario driven.”
Beynon says Last Light is deliberately residing at the other end of the spectrum to games such as Call of Duty. Creating an immersive single-player experience is an important mission for this title’s development. He sees the single-player that makes up a lot of current military-based shooters as often being simply a training ground for the multiplayer modes.
“You see in so many shooters filler content,” came Beynon. “You build up an environment and what you do in that environment is reduced to moving and shooting. What you’ll find in Metro is an incredible amount of attention spent making each moment narrative driven. We don’t recycle that many art assets. We’ve managed to get a huge amount of visual variety given we have this underground and post-apocalyptic location. Each combat encounter, whether it’s versus mutants or humans, will feel completely different throughout the game depending on the environment you’re fighting in. It’s those kinds of things we think will create those moments that will stand out and people will remember.”
He went on to add: “The trend we’ve seen from the military genre is you’re placed in an environment, which is essentially a big long funnel, and every single enemy is waiting for you, gun at the ready, and you gradually advance through. Your gameplay is identifying where the next target is, popping out of cover, shooting him, popping back into cover, occasionally manning a gun turret.
“In our combat environment, certainly against humans, we give you much more realised environments, whether it’s an encampment or a factory floor, where you see your opponents and they’re not ready, just waiting for you the player and your advancing force to move on through. They’re much broader environments you can pick your own path through, whether it’s brute force or a tactical, stealthy approach.”
The trailers we’ve seen so far have brought criticism from fans of the original title who fear there’s less of the complex gameplay they’d enjoyed in 2033. Beynon is quick to dismiss the accusations, noting that the footage people have seen so far is from a single level, and too small a chunk of the game for such general analysis. He’s insisted this isn’t an attempt from THQ to force 4A Games to “Westernize” their beloved IP and appeal to a wider market.
“This isn’t a play for a super mass market Call of Duty beater,” he explained. “We’re not trying to be Transformers: The Movie. We’re trying to be District 9. Something with a little more artistic credibility. It was important we let the studio continue to deliver their vision and ambitions for the game. We didn’t want to compromise that by saying you have to simplify your gameplay mechanics or you have to make the story nice and simple, or you have to have more action or more run and gun because the market says this is what we want.
“Actually, we think gamers are crying out for something more sophisticated and original, and if we can get the level of polish this time around and we can give the game the promotional support THQ has admitted it failed at last time, it will be very successful and create something that will stay true to the studio’s artistic vision and not have to make market driven concessions.”
Beynon told of 4A Games’ efforts to smooth out some of the buggy, not quite perfect elements seen in the original title while introducing new game mechanics. Beynon is adamant this isn’t at the demise of the clever touches seen in 2033, making reference to a new face mask wiping system, new alternative fire features and a larger inventory.
“Just because THQ has given the game a bigger focus and is determined to put more of a marketing support behind it this time round, doesn’t mean we’ve made concessions to the gameplay,” he said. “It just means we’ve recognised there’s an audience for that kind of gameplay, and so long as the product is polished and we communicate those effectively to the player, they’ll grab those with both hands.”
