Metro: Last Light

Like its predecessor Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light is a post-apocalyptic-themed first-person shooter video game with stealth and survival horror elements. It is played from the perspective of Artyom, the player-character who is a silent protagonist. The story takes place in post-apocalyptic Moscow, mostly inside the metro system, but occasionally missions bring the player above ground. Combat alternates between the player fighting mutants and hostile humans.

Areas are larger in Last Light compared to 2033, and the game encourages exploration by having multiple routes. The game offers more freedom to players, allowing them to utilize different tactics to combat enemies. It features destructible environments, in which certain objects, such as pillars, collapse after being shot. Numerous diary entries, written by Artyom, providing additional insight regarding the game's story, are scattered throughout environments for players to collect.

Metro: Last Light takes place in 2034, one year after the events of Metro 2033, following the ending of the original novel in which Artyom's missile strike against the Dark Ones — mysterious beings that seemingly threatened the survivors of a nuclear war living in the Moscow Metro — occurred. The Rangers, a neutral peacekeeping force that operates throughout the system, have since occupied the D6 military facility Artyom visited during the first game. This is a huge, and not fully explored pre-war bunker, and Artyom, now a Ranger himself, remains unsure whether killing the Dark Ones was the correct decision. Rumors of D6's discovery and its great riches have spread around the Metro; rival factions, such as the Soviet Red Line and Nazi Fourth Reich, hope to seize the bunker and its contents.

Khan, a wandering mystic, informs Artyom and the Rangers that a single Dark One survived the missile strike. Khan believes that it is the key to humanity's future, and wants to communicate with it; Colonel Miller, the Ranger's leader, wants to eliminate it as a potential threat. Miller sends Artyom to the surface, accompanied by Miller's daughter Anna, the Rangers' best sniper, to kill the Dark One.

The Ukraine-based lead developer 4A Games made the game with a team of more than 80 people. A sequel to Metro 2033 written by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, Last Light, is not related to his next book Metro 2034. Instead, it serves as a direct sequel to the first game, with the majority of the ideas created by 4A Games. According to Huw Beynon, head of communications for of THQ, the team chose not to make a video game adaption of 2034 as they thought 2034's tone was drastically different from its predecessor.

He described it as an "art-house thriller", and believed that, unlike the first game, it could not be converted successfully into a video game. However, Glukhovsky offered creative input to the project and wrote a brief outline of the game's story, as well as the game's dialogue, which used 3,000 spreadsheet cells in Excel. The team chose the bad ending of 2033, as they believed that it offered an interesting beginning for Last Light, and is consistent with the novel's dark and depressing tone. Glukhovsky claimed that the story would explore the theme of redemption, people repeating their mistakes, and the idea of having a "second chance".

Metro: Last Light received positive reviews from critics, with most complimenting the graphics and world design, but criticizing the linear sequences. The game was nominated for Best Shooter for Spike's 2013 VGX game awards, and Xbox 360 Game of the Year by GameSpot.

The gameplay was generally well received. Critics praised 4A Games for fixing the apparent gameplay missteps featured in its predecessors, and noted that the combat was improved, satisfying and riveting. Jeff Marchiafava noted that the gameplay is on par with its competitors. However, some noted that the game lacked innovation and was generally too conservative.