Metro: Last Light officially stumbled out of the crumbling Russian tunnel into the dazzling post-apocalyptic sunlight yesterday, with previews, screenshots and a particularly interesting teaser trailer whetting the appetites of fans. Not only was the minute-long trailer a lesson in how to perfectly edit video to music, but the pounding beat of Portishead's 'Machine Gun' meant snippets of gameplay were hidden beneath plenty of evocative artwork. This analysis rips open the pulsating mutant flesh of the teaser trailer, slicing through artwork to get to the juicy, vital gameplay shots. Eat up.



Click the images to see them in their fullscreen glory.


0m 10s Our first look into Last Light, and it's bloody. A shotgun pistol, seemingly with only a single shot left before the need to reload, takes down a mutant with brutal efficiency.


0m 12s Three enemies - I'm placing my bullets on them being Fourth Reich Nazis, from the Hansa line - take cover on a station platform as all hell breaks loose. One seems to have an exremely long sniper rifle of some sort, and the direction of the ribbons on the right indicates strong wind. Look out for the headshot towards the end of this segment...


0m 15s Fifteen seconds in, and all we can make out is an enemy firing his machine gun right in front of you. However, around the seventeen-second mark, Artyom lunges down, to stab something with tentacles. The resulting splatter of goo shows that gas marks will make a triumphant return.


0m 20s Turns out, dark tunnels play a big role in Metro: Last Light. A pistol seems to be enough to take out a whole cave full of mutants, so here's hoping that the guns are a lot more powerful this time around. The mutant, however, does have a swipe at you, making the camera sway and the screen go green.


0m 21s He looks like he's seen a ghost. Probably because he has. Eerie shadows can frighten even the most manly of players and characters alike. The player seems to be helping this poor soul up onto a railway carriage, but it could be that he is trying to stop Artyom from falling.


0m 26s Up to the 26-second mark, we've seen very unclear images of the player shooing something, but here we get the full view. A monster playing carelessly in a puddle, happy as can be. Until you plug it full of lead. There seems to be a crossbow with a sniper sight attached at the 23-second mark, and the wide, open, slightly rural setting means we'll be seeing a lot more of the Russian countryside this time, compared to Metro 2033.


0m 27s "I am 12 and what is this" seems like an apt phrase when we hit 0:27 - a mutant that appears to spurt from the ground gets the front-row view of the barrel of your AK. Some beautiful lighting illuminates the horror when fire spits from the gun like poison.


0m 29s Mutant jumps at you. Mutant screams at you. You stab mutant. You win Nobel Peace Prize.


0m 31s Assorted shooting gameplay, with some lovely reload animations. We're hoping the 'military grade' bullets as money mechanic is still in place, making every miss the stuff of nightmares.


0m 33s Stabbing someone in the back never produced so much blood. Or looked this good. Stealth seems to be a key part of Last Light, and so long as 4a Games fix the issues where AI magically knows you're fifty yards away because they can hear your heartbeat, I'm very happy to see it return.


0m 35s These agile little freaks of nature will pester you no end, a bit like a needy child. Still, they drop dead after a few bullets from your assault rifle. A bit like a needy child.


0m 38s No one likes spiders. Spiders are devious and untrustworthy little buggers. So, when they spill out of a sack of flesh in the heart of the Russian metro? Yeah, best run away.


0m 40s Much as I adore the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series (another gritty survival-horror from a Ukrainian studio), there's nothing quite as haunting as this. Note the lack of ammunition in your gun. Metro: Last Light certainly isn't for the faint of heart.


0m 43s Kill it. Kill it with fire.


0m 45s It's a bit hard to tell - this is either an explosion, or a train hurtling towards you at full speed, swatting soldiers out the way like radiated flies. Cue end of trailer. 'Coming 2012' is the only hint at a release date.

See? It might all be pretty lights and loud noises to some, but teaser trailers hold some grubby delights. Stick around for more awesomeness from Gamer's Guide to Life.com - in fact, follow our Twitter to never miss a beat ever, ever again.

Labels: 2011, 4a Games, Analysis, Chris Hawke, Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, THQ, Trailer, Video

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