Tweaking Field of View in Metro Last Light







Company: Deep Silver

Author: Sean Ridgeley

Editor: Sean Ridgeley

Date: May 23rd, 2013

Field of View examined, test setup, requirements

As noted in my review, Metro: Last Light, while not technically flawless, proves solidly PC oriented, sporting a reasonable amount of graphics options, strong performance, and luxurious visuals. That said, it's been missing an option that's become ever more important to PC gamers: Field of View (FOV).

FOV determines how much of a given scene is shown to you; a high FOV means you'll see a lot you wouldn't otherwise, and a low FOV means you'll be restricted to pretty much just what's in front of you  the feeling is akin to having no peripheral vision (or simulating the effect).

The setting is of concern to PC gamers for many reasons: 1) everyone has their preference; 2) it can greatly affect standings in multiplayer shooters and the like; 3) console games need a low FOV as they are played from a distance, so scenes need to appear 'bigger', and with multiplatform games everywhere, it's important PC gamers don't have to suffer for playing close up, and 4) a low FOV can cause migraines and other problems for some people.

Thankfully, after learning of the demand for the setting, developer 4A Games added in the ability to tweak it with file editing, courtesy of a prompt patch. In this article, I'll be investigating different FOV values for Last Light and showing you how they look, and how they fare performance-wise.

Test Setup

Processor: Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz (Stock)

Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3-1600 (1333 mhZ)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 3.5" 7200RPM / OCZ Agility 3 6Gb/s (Cache)

Video Card: EVGA Geforce GTX 680 2GB (Stock)

Driver: 314.22

Resolution: 1920x1080

Input: Logitech G400 mouse @ 1900dpi, Leopold Tenkeyless Linear Touch Mechanical Keyboard

System Requirements