Metro: Last Light

Like the labyrinth of tunnels it was set, it story was funnelled straight and true with pure cinematic experience. However, in the pitched three-way battle between dark, shadow and flicking torch-light to create the atmosphere and game mechanic that served as its calling cards, those footfalls were less than confident and it stumbled in the dark; always a danger when competition in the FPS market is fierce.

So here we are again for the redux version. Labelled Metro 2034 by internal codename and news-sniffing net-hounds, it's now stepped out into the limelight as Metro: Last Light. The name change is to disassociate it from the original source text, which it bares little or no resemblance to. Author Dmitry Glukhovsky is still offering consolation in Last Light's creation, but THQ felt the 2034 novel offered little in the way of videogame-friendly adaptation rights. Exit any slow-burn discussion on the fall of man, (re-)enter monsters, maniacs and machine guns as returning developer 4A Games work on shoving the title up past the "cult" tag and into "bona-fide hit".

What's shown today is three short, sharp hits of gameplay spliced together from a lengthier segment that forms the game's opening hours and preceded by an atmospheric opener that trails through the debris of the world above before plunging back into the tunnel systems below.

THQ use this opening cinematic to stress that the game is retaining the core of its predecessor; atmospheric survival horror with pure stealth or full-combat dependent on the player's preference. The mechanics are being overhauled, the system retooled to make good on those elements that were flawed the first time round. What those were isn't lingered on, but we're told in Last Light the enemy AI will be much more advanced, the weapons meatier in their power. Other things are still being tinkered with, such as ammo for currency, in this early development stage (the game's due next year on all major platforms). Some things are only being acknowledged, but not talked about; multiplayer, alternative endings.

For the moment at least, the foundations of the series are still very much in evidence as we follow one operative of two descending down a sewer hatch as both try and find a way into a underground metro station and break out a prisoner. The icy wastes above freezing the gas mask's visor, our character twisting a lightbulb to kill illumination as guards patrol past, and the silent takedowns as he follows them through the darkened tunnels. Other armed personnel at an away-station blinded by their own light, letting you flit between cover points until you're knocking off troops one-by-one at near point-blank range. The custom-build weapons as he holsters a rifle with a fuel-gauge bolted on top and enters the station proper.

Whether it's been rigged to mark ammo count or atmospheric conditions we're not given time to track, as its quickly replaced with a gatling gun swiped from a security station. As in any film, the grab initiates a sequence in which a multitude of soldiers stream into the base. Cue Space Invaders, Metro-style as you chew through flesh and cement in a cascade of bullets. Reinforcements send you skittering up stairwells and and behind blocks like a trapped rat, bullets blowing chunks out of your cover.

Flash forward to what appears to be the tension-filled minutes later on, as you and your fellow infiltrator walk through the station in plain sight, your nonchalance a better disguise and hope than navigating the station's crowded walkways unseen by its populace.

There's a beautiful section that riffs on both Assassin's Creed and Indiana Jones as you slowly push your way through a packed rectangular auditorium decked out in banners that recall Nazi Germany, masquerading as fellow supporters, heading towards the raised podium and its speaker at the front. A brief flight of fancy causes us to wonder how the characters are likely to survive such a brazen assassination attempt, before our companion draws and fires his pistol to the ceiling, using the confusion of running bodies to head towards the prisoner transfer station. Only to find the transfer transport is already on its way through the tunnels ahead.

We transfer to a linear but action-packed section as we steal a modified mine-cart and chase after it, our character laying down suppressive fire on enemy-filled carts in hot pursuit until we come up beside the transport and cut-scene kicks in to provide the first train transfer attempted at seventy miles per hour. One leap later and we're back on solid (if shaking) ground, sneaking up through the carriages and protracted firefights with the train's guards.

There's a very nice visual and audio acknowledgement of the speeds we're going at here; the tarpaulin over the crates that serve as cover flap and crack in the wind, while the tunnel lights whip past with all the urgency of a rave club. The train's own lanterns burn our vision white and cast elongated shadows from cargo and guards. The rattling of both train and chains tying down the cargo provide a symphonic clash with the gunfire. The situation is so engaging that we're half-surprised our hair isn't billowing in the apparent wind shear.

It's a slow trawl to the train's front until rather inexplicably, the carriages before us explode.

Screen goes dark and we're back in the conference room where today's presentation takes place. It's fair to say THQ is working hard to make good its claim that Last Light will be the poster child for PC hardware up and down the country. The game does look great, these segments obviously polished hard to stand tall in the E3 crush that's imminent. It'll be interesting to see whether the developer strays from the cinematic beats that made the original title such an compelling concept or expose it to a different conditions to widen the premise and evolve it.

Even if it strays not far from 2033, with likely another twelve months ahead to filter that polish through the rest of its frame, Last Light could potentially offer one of the more interesting future-set experiences of next year.