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Video Game: Metro: Last Light

Enter the Metro

Metro Last Light is a second game in the Metro series.

Several months after the first game all major factions of the underground system are preparing to fight over the mostly intact pre-war D6 bunker while Artyom is rushing to save a mysterious Prisoner who is said to hold the key to peace in the Metro.

The game is a First-Person Shooter with Survival Horror elements continuing the canon story of Metro 2033, and is scheduled to be released early in 2013 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and was planned to be released on the Wii U at a later date as well. Plans for the Wii U version are currently scrapped.

The official website can be found here: http://enterthemetro.com/

The game features the following tropes:

Abusive Parents: The brief conversation between Moskvin and his son implies that he isn't the best father.
Action Girl: Anna, Colonel Miller's daughter and the Ranger's best sniper.
Air Vent Passageway: At least one trailer shows Artyom sneaking through a Nazi base by using these.
Alternate Continuity: Whereas the original video game followed the plot of the novel it was based on, the sequel will tell its own story, with no plot relations to Metro 2034. This is probably because Metro 2034 had very little to do with Metro 2033: while it does occur after the events of 2033, Artyom is not relevant and the plot is set in a different location with a different main character.
- Although it has been revealed that the author of the novels is working on a book called Metro 2035, which will follow the events of Last Light and expand on them.
Affably Evil/My Country, Right or Wrong: Major Pavel has an upbeat, fun-loving attitude and actually seems to be a decent guy (sparing a surrendering enemy soldier, for example), but ultimately has no problems carrying out General Korbut's genocidal master plan in the name of Communist victory.
As You Know: At the beginning of the game, the supply officer that outfits Artyom gives him a tutorial speech which seems rather out of place given Artyom's status as a hardened veteran Ranger.
A Taste of Power: The first chapter gives you a free choice of high-end weapons like the RPK and Valve rifle, along with free upgrades. Ten minutes later, you fall unconscious and are taken prisoner by the Nazis, causing you to lose all of your weapons and forcing you to find new ones.
Ate His Gun: The Metro is full of corpses of lost, starving, or doomed people who have shotguns lodged in their jaws.
Apocalypse How: Class 3, to the point where many believe that Human life no longer exists anywhere outside of the Metro.
Bad Future: As par for the course.
Bait-and-Switch Boss: The first few levels make it look like Fuhrer and the Reich are going to be the main antagonists of the game. However, after several levels it turns out that General Korbut and the Communist Red Line are the most dangerous threat to the Rangers and the people of the Metro. The Red soldier who befriends you and helps you escape from the Nazis even turns out to be The Dragon to the real Big Bad.
Before The Dark Times: Pre-War Earth will be seen at times.
BFG: The minigun and the sniper rifle.
Big Bad: General Korbut of the Red Line, who's planning to trigger a second apocalypse in order to gain control of the Metro.
- Co-Dragons: Lesnitsky the traitor Ranger, and your "buddy" Major Pavel Morozov
Bittersweet Ending: In the Bad Ending, Artyom is forced to activate D6's self destruct to prevent it from being captured by the Red Line. He destroys the Red army and prevents them from getting D6's biological weapons, but at the cost of his and the rest of the Rangers' lives. However, Anna manages to survive and it is revealed that she is pregnant with Artyom's child.
Burlesque: The Theater station stage performance.
Call Back: Artyom messes up a boost maneuver the exact same way in both 2033 and in Last Light.
Cain and Abel: Moskvin and his brother
Can't Hold His Liquor: Artyom. It gets him in trouble more than once.
The Chosen One: Artyom, again.
Cool Train: Artyom gets to drive around a sweet single-seater train which looks like a sports car and is covered in lights to scare away mutants.
Crapsack World: Less so than the first game, on account of the coming spring, but still treacherous and draining.
Face Heel Turn: Pavel, the Communist soldier who acts as your partner for the first several levels, ends up becoming your primary enemy for most of the rest of the game.
Flashback Echo: Numerous interviews imply those will happen much more often than in the first game. E3 2012 demo flashback throws Artyom and Pavel into a joint hallucination inside a crashing airplane.
The Coconut Effect: Since the game is set in Russia, in universe you'd expect all the characters to be speaking Russian to one another. Instead they talk in heavily accented English, for the sake of Western players, even though the Translation Convention should make them unnecessary.
Darker and Edgier: Seems to be playing up a lot more of the horror elements.
Despair Event Horizon: Artyom's nuking of the Dark Ones in the previous game was this.
Devil but No God: Sort-of, there is a hellish purgatory where dead or dying people go, since the atomic bombs literally blew up Heaven and Hell.
Dirty Communists: They're back! Also, Pavel is a heroic Communist (at least at first...)
Pavel: Good communist does not believe in souls, but this place's dead make me wonder.
Disaster Scavengers: Stalkers.
Driven to Suicide: A side-room in the near-surface-level Metro is full of the ghosts of people who killed themselves when the world ended.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: The first couple of levels show that Artyom is acknowledged as the savior of the Metro and has been a Ranger for several months, but it seems he's still considered to not have "made his bones" among the Rangers. He's also given the rather embarrassing callsign of "Rabbit" and is mocked by Anna.
Earn Your Happy Ending: If you manage to unlock the Good Ending, the Dark One child thwarts the Soviet assault on D6. Artyom then considers the Dark One child the "Last Light" of hope for humanity.
Enemy Mine: Invoked by the Communist trooper that helps Artyom escape Reich ("Our superiors, they are not on the best of terms, yeah? But I say fuck that.") This lasts longer than you might think, but he eventually turns out to be The Dragon to the real Big Bad.
Everything Is Trying to Kill You: Roughly on par for the series and genre.
Even Evil Has Standards: The live action trailer, which has a soldier invoke this; while following the Civil Defence protocol to the letter and locking numerous civilians outside the safety of the Metro, a soldier spots a woman holding an infant, only for him to take the child and leave the mother to die in the incoming blast.
- One could even call the protocol an I Did What I Had to Do moment in that letting too many civilians into the Metro would overcrowd it to the point of it being unsustainable, especially when you consider that those civilians could and would procreate, adding even more mouths to feed.
- Another live-action trailer focuses on said soldier and the events from his perspective.
Fire Breathing Weapon: Heavily armored soldiers with flamethrowers at the Theater station. The game's "final boss" is a flamethrower trooper protected by a shield wall of several riot shield wielding soldiers.
Gas Mask Mooks: Every human being in the transition zones or on the surface. Dying horribly of radioactive air is something to be avoided, after all.
Gratuitous Russian: Even if you play the game with English audio, the characters still pepper their speech with numerous Russian phrases and exclamations.
Gun Porn: Even more than in the first game.
Harder Than Hard: Hardcore mode is going to make a return.
Heaven And Hell: There was both before the nuclear apocalypse, and it's stated that the great evil of wiping out most of humanity basically overloaded them both to the point that they simply disappeared, forcing the dead to either wander the earth reliving their final moments, or sent to a hellish Purgatory to be tortured. It's implied that they both will return if humanity rises out of the ashes and rebuilds itself both physically and morally.
Heavily Armored Mook: One of the new enemies introduced are human soldiers wearing heavy metal armor. They can take a lot of hits (a couple dozen bullets at least), and while the armor does slow them down a bit they're still fairly manueverable.
Hotter and Sexier: Compared to the first game, which only had one "sexy lady" in it, who was actually Schmuck Bait for a mugging. Here there are strippers, a semi-nude lap dance, and part of a first-person sex scene (similar to Far Cry 3).
Idle Animation: As in the first game, stand still for a while and Artyom will fiddle with whatever he has in his hands.
Improvised Weapon: Last Light sees the return of the metro-made weapons, and introduces many new ones, including a hand-held flamethrower, a bolt-action frankenrifle, and a minigun.
- More recent trailers also have Artyom using what appears to be a flare gun modified to accept shotgun shells on some mutants.
Interface Screw: Presumably, one of the primary effects of ghosts.
- Also, with the rain on the surface causes condensation on Artyom's gasmask. He will periodically have to wipe it off.
Killed Off for Real: No matter which ending you get, Ulman always dies during the final stand at D6. Almost everyone gets this if you get the bad ending.
Kill It with Fire: E3 2012 demo shows new incendiary grenades and flamethrowers. Military rounds seem to be incendiary - firing them at enemies causes them to briefly catch on fire.
King Mook: A few unique, humongous "big mamma" versions of regular mutants are fought as boss battles throughout the game.
Land Mine Goes Click: A hollowed out case from a soviet MON-90 anti-personnel mine filled with plastic explosives mixed with nuts and bolts. Unsurprisingly goes by the name "Claymore" in the english version.
Last of His Kind: The Dark One child, who is the last surviving Dark One, plays a major role in the game.
- At first at least
Living Shadow: The returning ghosts.
Lost Technology: The D6 bunker, uncovered during the course of the previous game, becomes the driving force of the new plot. It has what would have been modern military technology at about the time that the world got nuked.
Majorly Awesome: Pavel, as it turns out
Mama Bear: The large mutant about three quarter in is defending her children according the Dark One. Also quite possibly literal, as mutants generally at least look like what they mutated from, and that thing just screams "BEAR!".
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Discussed with Khan, Artyom isn't sure whether Khan is a crazy old man, an enlightened supporter of the Dark Ones, or an otherworldly being. The good ending suggests the last answer is true, with Khan just disappearing after the Ranger's last stand.
Multiple Endings: Like the first game, the ending is different depending on whether the player's actions lean primarily towards understanding or aggression (or, in a few major decision points, towards forgiveness or retribution).
- Heroic Sacrifice/Someone to Remember Him By: In the "sacrifice" ending, Artyom detonates D6 to prevent Korbut from getting the supervirus and wiping out the remnants of mankind. The ending shows Anna telling Artyom's story to their child.
- Redemption Earns Life/Big Damn Heroes: In the "redemption" ending, Artyom's actions teach the Dark One child the value of forgiveness, and he and the surviving Dark Ones show up to take down Korbut's army.
My God, What Have I Done?: If the dream at the beginning of the game is anything to go by, Artyom has come to regret killing the Dark Ones
- If the visions the Dark One child show you are to be trusted, Moskvin regrets poisoning his brother.
No Canon for the Wicked: Averted. Last Light uses the Downer Ending of the previous game as canon, although it's left ambiguous if Artyom was the selfish bastard the player needed to be to get the bad ending, or just ignored all the signs that the Dark Oness were friendly.
Never Found the Body: Khan disappears after the good ending, and the game suggests that he was a emissary of the supernatural who ascended to a higher plane.
Nightmare Sequence: Developers claim to have added a lot, since that aspect of the previous game turned out to be very popular.
No Swastikas: Neo-Nazi symbols are the same as before, a large C in a white circle on a red background.
- Ironically, the game's publisher, Deep Silver, has a logo that matches the description of the three pronged swastika from the book
One-Man Army: Artyom. Someone even drops the trope title.
Our Ghosts Are Different: See Living Shadow above.
Puppet Secretary General Moskvin is the Secretary General and official leader of the Red Line, but Artyom remarks that it is very clear that General Korbut is the one who is running the show.
Quick Melee: Artyom's knife no longer occupies a separate weapon slot.
Ragnarok Proofing: Averted, as with the previous games, a mere 20 years After the End, everything outside of D6 is falling apart.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Colonel Miller and Khan, expanding on their conflict philosophies briefly seen in the first game.
Rodents of Unusual Size: With the graphic overhaul, Watchers look even nastier.
Rogue Agent: Lesnitsky, a Ranger, steals a bioweapon from D6 and disappears shortly before the events of the game. Turns out he's a mole for General Korbut, the Big Bad, and acts as The Dragon for a while.
Scavenger World: A mainstay of the series and genre.
Sinister Subway: In a series that has yet to have an entry not about a dangerous subway system.
Schmuck Bait: Suspiciously empty room with a few goodies in it during the E3 2012 Demo. Guess what happens.
Sour Supporter: Eventually Miller agrees to work with the Dark One child, although he makes it clear that he still considers killing it the preferable option.
Spiritual Successor: To the STALKER franchise, like Metro 2033.
Stay in the Kitchen: Averted this time around. There is an armed woman in full combat gear seen in the Genesis trailer.
Stealth-Based Mission: Developers say it is possible to go through the whole game without killing anyone by using stealth. In particular, by scoping out an area Artyom can find fuseboxes, which will shut off the lights in an area and make sneaking a lot easier.
Super Speed: The Dark Ones are shown to possess this, although the Dark One child only seems to use it occasionally.
Survival Horror: As the first game was.
- Arguably still so to an extent as ammunition still doubles as currency, requiring the choice between an overpowered weapon or actually being able to buy supplies.
Survivalist Stash: The D6 bunker in spades, as it contains the sort of Lost Technology and (preserved) military hardware needed to reclaim the surface world.
Touched by Vorlons: The reason Artyom can understand the Dark Ones is because of a "gift" they gave him when he was a child
Took a Level in Badass: By the time the game starts, Artyom has been a Ranger for several months.
These Hands Have Killed: The game opens with Artyom dreaming of stabbing a mutant in the throat, only for it to instantly turn into a Human, resulting in this trope.
Universal Ammunition: Averted this time. There will be more calibers than 2033's ubiquitous 5.45mm available, and the guns to use them.
- This time around they seem to be named "weapon_name ammo" to avoid confusion with new players.
Moscow Metro: As the series mostly takes place in Moscow's underground.
- The live-action trailers show both what it looked like before (which is to say, clean and well-maintained) and 20 years later (which looks a hell of a lot worse for wear).
Vader Breath: Artyom with a gas mask.
Viral Marketing: Three internet episodes follow The Preacher, The Model, and The Commander. All three are major characters from the trailer, most notably The Commander being the soldier who condemns the civilians to the bomb blast.
- The Preacher is the same one cackling maniacally as the bombs were launched in the trailer. He's also the only one with some semblance of a happy ending, given that he seems to have become a respected clergyman to the Metro's denizens.
  - Knowing the source material and that in general Metro is a Crapsack World , it's more likely he's leading a cult
"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The good ending has Artyom discussing the fate of the major characters after the last stand at D6.
You ALL Look Familiar: Averted. According to the published material so far, enemies should have a rather big gamut of faces to pick from.
Zombie Advocate: Kahn is pretty much the only one who vouches for Sparing the Dark One child at first. Although eventually Artyom comes to agree with him, and even Miller relucrantly goes along with it