We apologize that Spoiler Alert is coming to you mid-week instead of its usual Monday spot, but with the Memorial Day holiday pushed it back a couple of days. We’ve returned and this time we’re covering a real doozy: 4A Games’ epic first-person shooter/adventure Metro: Last Light.
Long in development over at 4A Games, the game was originally announced by publisher THQ who handled the previous game in the series Metro 2033. Unfortunately, bankruptcy scuttled those hopes, though Deep Silver happily picked up the project and offered it to the public soon thereafter.
It helps a bit if you’ve played the first game, as the ending from 2033 really ties in to the events that occur throughout Last Light. However, even if you didn’t, it’s still a rattling experience that’s quite different from other first person shooters of its ilk.
Join us now as we explore both the good and bad endings for Metro: Last Light. As you might expect, there are spoilers ahead, so you’ve been warned…
The game takes place one year after the events that unfolded in Metro 2033, where Artyom has called upon a missile strike to defeat the Dark Ones on the surface of a post-apocalyptic Russia. Following that attack, Artyom and his fellow Rangers have moved into the D6 military facility. Khan, a nomad mystic siding with the squad, explains that a single Dark One remains following the missile strike and that it could very well be the key for bringing humanity out of this post-nuclear setting.
Colonel Miller, the leader of the Rangers, believes otherwise and sends Khan away. He orders Artyom to deal with the final Dark One with the help of Anna, who is the Colonel’s daughter and a crackshot sniper.
The two make their way to the surface and locate the Dark One, who is a lot younger than expected. Before they can take it down, they’re captured by soldiers of a rogue group known as the Nazi Reich. Led to an interrogation room, Artyom mounts his escape with the help of fellow soldier Pavel Morozov. They manage to escape the Reich in an exciting chase sequence then work through the city’s tunnels to get to safety.
They reach a Red Line settlement, where Pavel shows his loyalty to them and allows Artyom to be captured in order to move higher in the ranks. Artyom doesn’t remain in custody long and manages an escape.
On his way out, Artyom overhears plans regarding the Red Line’s head of military intelligence General Korbut with regards to capturing his D6 base in order to take control of the entire Metro. Pavel is helping him out, along with a former Ranger by the name of Lesnitsky.
With the help of Khan, Artyom manages to rescue the young Dark One and experiences a series of flashbacks where more of the truth is revealed. The Dark Ones actually saved him back when he was a kid and he owes them, despite everything that happened at the end of 2033. So he vows to keep the child protected at all costs.
Lesnitsky and Pavel manage to come across Artyom as he takes the Dark One back to Polis, the Metro’s central station. With the alien’s help, he learns more about the plans to take over D6. He also finds out about the existence of a bioweapon that can wipe out any human life that isn’t aligned with Red Line forces. Following each confrontation, Artyom can choose to either forgive them or take revenge on them. This can lead to one of two endings, which we’ll explain shortly.
The pair arrive at Polis and see peace negotiations taking place between Hansa, Red Line and the Reich. With the Dark One in hand, the Red Line leader Chairman Moskvin is manipulated into confessing what all he’s done, including the fact that he’s distracting everyone so General Korbut can unleash his attack on D6. With the help of Khan and his fellow Rangers, the group take a stand against Korbut’s invading forces. Following a battle where they are all nearly defeated, orders are received to destroy D6 with General Korbut riding in on a train armed with a self-destruction device. He rams into the station, wiping out any standing defenders. Artyom is nearly dead from his injuries and finds Korbut and his men baring down on him, preparing to finish any surviving members off.
Now, here’s where things get interesting.
If you have the “bad ending” (where you took revenge instead of forgiveness), Artyom activates D6’s self-destruct device, killing everyone including Korbut’s army. Later we learn that Anna had a child with Artyom and explains how brave he was in saving the remaining people on the Metro.
If you have the “good ending” (where you took the path of forgiveness), the young Dark One attacks Korbut’s team with the help of fellow Dark Ones that stowed away in a hidden chamber within D6. They overcome them and prevent the self-destruct device from obliterating the base. As a result, the alien child is revered for bringing a “last light” of hope for humanity.
Both endings tie into a final sequence where the young dark One leaves with his surviving group, explaining to either Anna (in the bad ending) or Artyom (in the good ending) that they will return one day in order to help humanity restore its civilization.
It’s cool to see how the story can go either way depending on your actions throughout, but there are certain rewards to both and that little glimmer of hope that maybe humanity can survive in the future after all.
Metro: Last Light is available now for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
