Metro: Last Light Review

Metro: Last Light Review.

Before I start this review of Last Light, I just want to say that I didn’t particularly like the prequel to this game, Metro 2033. I think this puts me in the minority since looking at reviews of the original, it seems to have garnered pretty decent scores, averaging around 7.5 to 8. I understand why people like the game; the scenario of a post-apocalyptic world certainly isn’t a new concept, the idea to base the game in Russia, namely the underground Metro system was a refreshing change of pace. It was dark, cramped and had you second-guessing shadows in the distance. One of 2033’s unique features was how it managed its ammo and currency, as they were one and the same. It created an interesting situation for the player; should you not visit any shops and just hope that you find better guns/items, or do you spend some of your already scarce munitions on better guns and ammo types.

These few ideas could have been turned into a game that stood the test of time really well, but I found the actual gameplay of 2033 was just a bit tedious. The horror aspects of the game I didn’t find especially frightening, and at times it just seemed like an endless supply of enemies would appear and you’d have to last on whatever ammo you have. So in summary my thoughts on the first game are that it had a few neat ideas, but boring gameplay sometimes made it a chore to play.

Onto Metro: Last Light, and it seems as though somebody may have been listening, as this is a vastly superior game to its predecessor. There are minor spoilers about the story in this review so if you want to experience the story first hand, you’ll probably want to hold off on reading this. Last Light picks up roughly a year from where 2033 left off, when Artyom chooses to launch a missile strike to wipe out the Dark Ones. Due to his role is destroying the Dark Ones, Artyom has been officially accepted as a Ranger, whose role is to basically try and keep people safe from mutants and keep a sense of order in the Metro. One day, he receives word of a Dark One who survived the missile strike (because there’s always one isn’t there?) Accompanied by the Rangers best sniper, Artyom ventures out onto the surface to look for this elusive being…

The gameplay in Last Light is similar in design to 2033; you have access to a selection of the traditional weaponry in FPS games, pistol, rifle, shotgun etc. The ammo/currency system is still implemented which I think is a smart system, you can save bullets for potentially dangerous areas ahead or you can spend bullets on better weapons, but with less ammo to do damage with. Ammo can be spent on other sorts of ammo, grenades, throwing knives and upgrades to your weapons. The upgrade system is simple enough to understand, as most guns can be equipped with a stock, suppressor or even an extra barrel. (Never let it be said that quad-barrel shotguns aren’t fun). An interesting weapon type in Last Light are pneumatic weapons, which require you to pump up the pressure in your gun in order to fire; while it’s certainly a novel idea, I never found any real advantage in using them and stuck to the more conventional weapons.

Stealth is a key feature in Last Light, and it pulls it off with aplomb. As you might expect, you have to utilize the light and dark to get around your enemies and reach your objective. To help you, you can shoot out lights or turn off gas lamps to increase the amount of darkness you can move around in. These sections can be genuinely tense as you hide behind a boiler as a guard patrols about 5 feet away from you. The best way to dispatch of enemies in these stealth sections is actually with throwing knives, as they are completely silent, one hit kill weapons which are retrievable from the dead body.

The world of Last Light is certainly a nice looking place in terms of graphics, especially the small settlements that brim with colour and activity from the survivors. There are all kinds of things happening in these little havens; like children playing, people drinking at the local bar and even a gentlemen’s club. The mutant designs are creepy enough, especially when you can see nothing but their eyes charging at you in the dark. The character models look believable and the voice acting is appropriately Russian. One thing I have noticed while playing is that the texture pop-in can be pretty bad, although I am playing the Xbox 360 version so the PC will most likely fare better.

Overall then, Metro: Last Light is a much more polished and therefore better game than its predecessor and is certainly worth putting your time into. Just watch out for creepy eyes in the darkness of the Metro...

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F Review

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F Review.

Project Diva F is the first game of any sort featuring virtual pop star Hatsune Miku to be released in the West; and while her debut isn’t perfect, she presents an enjoyable rhythm game that is equal parts fun and challenging.

Project Diva F plays like your typical music rhythm game, hit the buttons in time to the onscreen prompts to get the highest score possible with more notes appearing the higher the difficulty gets. If you’re playing this game straight after playing a game like Guitar Hero/Rock Band, then you’ll notice that the prompts aren’t at the bottom of the screen as is the norm in rhythm games, they instead appear all over the screen with the notes flying in from outside.

There are nine different commands in total; the face buttons, the D-pad combined with the face buttons and the analog stick for star notes. Star notes are activated by a flick of the analog stick in any direction, as this note is made on the Vita version by swiping the touchscreen on the back of the console. Switching between these notes quickly can be a bit tricky on fast songs, especially on the harder difficulties, unless you manage to procure yourself an official controller but these are rare and can be very expensive.

There are two distinctive components in each song that give you a chance to rack up serious points; the Technical Zone and Chance Time. When the Technical Zone starts, you’ll have to try and hit all of the notes for a score increase at the end of the zone, if you miss even one then the score bonus won’t be added on. Chance Time is similar, except that a star appears in the bottom left corner of the screen and you have to fill it up by hitting notes. At the end of Chance Time a big star note shows up, if you hit it and the star in the corner is full then you’ll receive a score bonus.

While graphics aren’t everything in a rhythm game, the videos that back the music are dynamic and look great, although sometimes so much will be going on in the video that the notes and prompts will sometimes blend in, so if you’re not paying attention then you’ll miss out on points which could cost you a Perfect rank. The music as you’d expect from a rhythm game is excellent, the soundtrack has 38 tracks, which to be honest isn’t a lot compared to other rhythm games, but it includes better-known songs such as Tell Your World and Black Rock★Shooter, other good songs include Time Machine and Weekender Girl and you may even find yourself involuntarily humming them as you go about your day. When you clear some songs, you may unlock a clean music video for it so you can enjoy the song without having to play it, which is nice.

Diva Points are earned for playing songs, which can be spent on costumes and accessories for all of the Vocaloids. These points can also be spent on customizing each of the characters Diva Rooms. The Diva Room puts either Hatsune Miku or any of the other singers into their own space, where they just sort of hang out. You can buy them gifts using Diva Points; these vary from a tambourine to a box of doughnuts. Some of the items even have short cutscenes of the character interacting with them. The primary reason of buying gifts is to increase your companionship level with your chosen singer, once you get to certain levels they may even want to play games with you.

Other modes include a photo mode, which as the name suggests, lets you take pictures of the various singers in their costumes and also strike poses, but if you try to get an upskirt shot the character disappears and a message appears saying that the character needs to be reset. (Not that I’ve tried of course) Another mode is the edit mode where you are able to make your own videos, I’m no good at using editing tools in general, but after briefly surfing YouTube there are some very good original videos out there.

Overall then, while Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F doesn’t bring anything revolutionary to the genre, it’s definitely a fun time. The almost Tamagotchi-esque Diva Room won’t be for everyone, but if your waifu just happens to be Luka then you might get a lot out of it. The edit room is great for creating custom PVs in the right hands. Despite a few small issues, this is still a game worth checking out if you have any interest in music or music games.

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F is now available on PS3 in the US for $50 or on the European PSN store for £36.99