More heavy stuff going down in the Metro. But again, it all looks gorgeous and hits you like a slap in the face

And so we return to the Metro. After the collapse of Metro 2033's publisher, THQ, it looked uncertain as to whether this game would be made at all or not, but thankfully, Deep Silver bought the license and all was well.

It was initially thought that this game would be named after and based off the follow up to the original Metro 2033, Metro 2034. But it was eventually revealed that would not be the case and that it would be a new story written with consultation from the author, Dmitry Glukhovsky.

This sequel is just as beautiful, if not even more beautiful that the previous entry again providing a game that is both an excellent system benchmark and great to play. Powered by the same 4A engine as before and tweaked a little, everything below and above ground is rendered gorgeously especially in DirectX 11. A Playstation 4 version is planned but I'm quite sure even that one will not look as good as the maxed out PC version. For shame.

The gameplay itself remains mostly unchanged bar a few control layout tweaks some of which are good and some of which are not. Mask filters are also no longer automatically changed for you, so you can suffocate should you somehow not notice Artyom gasping hystericly and change the filter for yourself. There is also a fair bit less stealth in this entry compared to the last one. In Metro 2033, you were very very underpowered and were forced to stealth through some areas (as best you could) due to simply not being able to take on all the enemies at once. For whatever reason, that concept was thrown out the window and you can now force your way through pretty much any situation with enough shooting and stabbing. Maybe not comfortably, but it is doable whereas there were a lot of situations in the previous game where it simply was not. This is mainly due to the fact that you seem to be able to absorb 10 times the amount of bullets to the face that you could before. This could be explained by the fact that Artyom is now an official Ranger of the Spartan Order (an independent group of excellent and strong willed soldiers) and wears proper armour and such. Or it may have been done simply to make the game a little more accessible. Whatever the reason, it means you now can and do get into a lot more large firefights and mutant swarms and even a few boss fights and feel a tad more comfortable in doing so than before. But none of this means that the dark, quiet and lonely sections no longer fill you with genuine tension and apprehension. Because they still do. And still make you freak at the slightest sound in the distance. Especially when you travel through the areas containing masses of lingering spirits of those lost in the nuclear holocaust. Those sections are something to behold indeed.

A fantastic sequel to a brilliant and original game. I hope the series can continue because I feel like I too am part of the Metro now....and I want it's people to be able to return to the surface one day.