Metro: Last Light Diaries Part Eight

This is my ongoing exploration of the Metro games, played in release order. I will chronicle my playthrough of each title in turn and discuss any recurring themes and noteworthy events. This time I continue Metro: Last Light Redux.

Khan had taken me on a wild ride through the River of Fate, and I had wound up bonding with the Dark One child as we went to thwart Pavel at Red Square…

Despite my original mission being to kill the Dark One, the last few hours had bonded us in the same way I felt a certain kinship with Khan. Though I didn’t actually know where Khan even went, after the train exploded…

The Dark One led me into the ruins of Moscow, warning that there were “shadows” that couldn’t see it. That led me to believe that there were ghosts, such as the ones Khan could communicate with. The ruined buildings gave me few supplies, but the lightning crashes kept trying to scare me by showing me shadows of hanging corpses that weren’t there.

Hopping down from a ledge, I was suddenly hit by a car! It quickly turned into a watcher, which received a blast from my shotgun, but it was certainly a fright. Three of its mates came along, just having a sniff around, but as I wanted to explore a bit I blew them away too.

In the basement of a building, I found a radio transmitting a message about hearing voices, and that they were going to turn around. As I explored more, I kept having flashes of the past. One room had a family watching the bombs fall, and at one point I was in a park just like I had seen last year.

After avoiding some watchers that the Dark One told me weren’t trying to kill me, I climbed a ladder up to the roof of a building. It warned me that there was a demon, so I approached the top carefully, and almost had my head taken off by the damned thing. I legged it across the roof, heading back downstairs to safety.

As I left the city, I was told to once again ignore some watchers, as I was an intruder in their home. True to the Dark Ones word, I escaped with my face still attached. However, the storm had been growing in strength, and now out in the open, I had to cower against some dirt banks as I slowly made my way through the radioactive rain and wind that could move wrecked cars.

Even when that let up, I wasn’t safe as ethereal hands grabbed at me. The Dark One pulled me free, and I had to follow it to safety. I’ve no idea exactly how many people died in Moscow, but thousands of them must have been in Red Square alone, since that’s where I was. There were several barricades set up around the area as I approached, with a number of bodies ripe for the looting.

Suddenly, flood lights came on, and Pavel addressed me, demanding I put down my weapons. Until he noticed that it was me. Apparently, I didn’t have to put down my guns at all - because he wanted his men to murder me straight away.

What followed was a fight involving snipers, soldiers and several of various explosives. It was a battle I could only win by using my ammo money, so I did. The gates opened, and I took out the two heavily armoured men before heading for the nearby staircase, where Pavel was firing down at me. After a few shots, he retreated up a level, and I followed.

Another level, another few shots and he was finally done for. I approached him, knife in hand, and the Dark One child jumped in, connecting us both like it did with Lesnitsky. Transported to an earlier time, I witnessed General Korbut give Pavel orders to take over D6, once the peace talks in Polis were underway. With Miller away, it would be easy pickings.

As the Dark One weakened, Pavel was grabbed by the same ethereal hands that had snatched me. I saw him being held against a wall by the hands, and the Dark One told me to decide - leave him to his fate, or save him. Despite betraying me, I had enjoyed our time together, and during our fight the Dark One had told me that he no longer wanted me dead. I pulled him free, and as I woke up in the real world screwed a filter onto his gas mask.

Leaving Pavel behind to make my way to Polis, the Dark One said that it would remember what forgiveness was. Which was a good thing, since again I had murdered its entire species a year ago.

Scaling a gate into a park, the Dark One said that it sensed something “different” inside, and that it wanted to see what it was. Probably whatever was big enough to take down the trees that I could see being felled…