New Metro 2033 in 2012

Fans of the Ukrainian cult hit can look forward to another waltz down Moscow’s post-apocalyptic metro system as studio 4A Games has confirmed a direct sequel, entitled Metro: Last Light.

THQ’s Huw Beynon called the original game, Metro 2033, a “flawed masterpiece,” referring not to the studio’s ability to craft a compelling, engrossing survival-horror atmosphere in a post-apocalyptic setting, but to the lackluster, bug-ridden combat system. In a move contrary to what is expected of big-name FPS games, 4A managed to perfect the storytelling and plot (the “first person” part), but botch the core mechanics such as combat, stealth, and AI (the “shooters” part).

To address this concern, Beynon announced that Metro’s gameplay has been redesigned from scratch to provide more tactical combat, smarter AI, better stealth and more balanced weapons. The changes are restricted to gameplay improvements, so there should be no worries about drastic changes to the dark tone of the game. Beynon states that THQ is “giving the studio complete creative freedom to tell the apocalypse their way.”

A4 is also reportedly working on implementing multiplayer into Metro: Last Light. Efforts were made to include this option in Metro 2033, but never finalized. At this point it is unclear whether the multiplayer plans are for co-op, deathmatch, team-based competition, or all of the above.

As for why the studios have decided not to go with the obvious sequential title for their sequel, the answer is simple: author Dmitry Glukhovsky’s actual sequel to Metro 2033 was called Metro 2034, but had little continuity with the original. It’s storytelling style was different from the former’s, which is not the goal of Last Light.

The game is meant to be a true sequel, with the player once more put behind the gas mask of Artyom, in Moscow’s hostile underground metro.