The Dead City (Metro Last Light Level)

"He who sows the wind, shall reap the storm. A peace conference is being held at Polis. Laughable, the war has already started. All trying to stop it could just as well try and stop a tornado with their bare hands. I have to reach Polis to denounce the liars. And face the storm."

- Level description

The Dead City is the twenty-sixth level in Metro: Last Light.

Overview
The Dead City (or The City of Ghosts/Spectres - Город Призраков in Russian) was once a thriving residential area in the city of Moscow. As a result of the nuclear explosions, however, the people inhabiting the area at the time of the impact were trapped in the form of ghosts. Every once in awhile you will come in contact with these strange phenomenon, and while not hostile they can still disorient you or can sometimes be disturbing to the players, making sure they don't linger for long in one area. Along with these ghosts, Artyom will also witness the events preceding the nukes if he in the right place at the right time. Locating all of these past visions is part of the Back to the Past achievement.

Throughout the level you may come in contact with recordings offering some insight into the area - most appear to be from a team of Stalkers who were exploring the area, though only their camps are to be found. These recordings vary from being recent to years old, giving information over a good extent of time. Most of them refer to a strange noise, which one can only infer is that which is heard at the end of the level, the noise is claimed to be immensely threatening. These recordings, for example, include a Ranger's last words warning future adventurers to avoid the noise. The Dark One also helps to clarify the background to the mysterious location through his observations.

The only live inhabitants of the Dead City are mutants - namely Watchmen and Demons, the latter of which have nests there. However, many can be avoided by following the Dark One's guidance. The main adversary is simply fear, as there are many ghosts and supernatural occurances that can startle the player.

Diary Entries
35. Going through the Dead City you will have to enter a building and there will be a door you’ll open with a red table inside it, the note is behind it on a desk.

36. Further on in Dead City you will have to climb a ladder to get to a roof with a demon on top of it, the note is on the nest she is sitting on, shoot at her to get her to fly away. If you're feeling brave, you can spare a bullet by simply approaching her, at which point she will fly away as though you had shot at her - this also minimalizes any risk of losing the positive moral points. However, this will still aggro her so it's best to be careful before you get indoors.

Moral Points
Gain:
 * Do not kill the watchmen in the area with the ladder that Artyom must climb. The point is earned at the top of the ladder. The watchmen are not hostile and leave a blue-green trail when the Little Dark One augments your vision.
 * Do not kill the Demon on the rooftop protecting her nest, or her baby. You will gain the point after going down the stairs, and jumping through the hole in the floor.
 * See all visions (this will also unlock the achievement: Back to the Past).

Lose:
 * Kill the watchmen in the area with the ladder that Artyom must climb. Sometimes the little Dark One says that they are just going somewhere.
 * Do not interrupt the little Dark One while he is playing the piano after the hallucination, or you may lose a moral point (unavailable in Metro: Last Light Redux).
 * Kill the Demon of the rooftop protecting her nest. The little Dark One will ask Artyom why he killed her.
 * Killing the baby demon will lose another one and a remark from the little Dark One if Artyom would do the same to him.

Trivia

 * At the very beginning of the level, there is a building on the right hand side of the street. Enter this building, turn left, and head to the far room. The screen will go white and you will be able to hear whispering and laughing.
 * Head back to the staircase where you entered this building. The stairs look broken and unusable. However, Artyom can walk up then. On the floor above, you will find a supply cache with some ammo.
 * One flashback occurs as you are walking across a street, in which a car runs you over. However, when you flash back to reality you find that it was just a watchman.
 * This is an annoying occurrence in Ranger Mode as the watchman can easily hit you a few times before you recover and fire back, sometimes even killing you.
 * The Demon on top of the building is the easiest one in the game to kill with the Helsing to earn the achievement "Van Helsing", as there is a Helsing nearby and she stays in a small area.
 * After climbing up the ladder, if you follow the left side of the roof to near where the staircase is, you can drop down off the edge of the building and enter the outskirts of the level. If you go too far out, however, you will be killed instantly by multiple watchers.
 * The strange noise mentioned by the Ranger in the recording appears to be the loud foghorn-like sound at the end of the level, in the tunnel when it goes dark. It does no harm to Artyom, however, despite the Ranger's warning, other than being very frightening.
 * Towards the end of the level while you are traversing through the darkness, you will encounter a lurker, then after walking a few steps forward, you will begin to hear large amounts of whispering from behind. If you stop and turn around during this time, you will see a human wall comprised of multiple bodies who will stretch their arms out towards Artyom and quickly disappear. The human wall sighting will not appear if you don't stop and walk too far after the voices show up or you are not looking forward at the moment the voices should appear. This encounter seems to foreshadow the appearance of the damned souls in the next level.
 * In the flooded basement near the playground, the ghost of a crying child can be seen, but not directly looked at. If Artyom tries to approach it, the child ghost will step back and disappear, then manifest in another spot. If Artyom shoots the ghost, it will disappear and the crying will stop. The helsing, knife, and claymore mine cannot hit it though. If you shoot it with a shotgun, sometimes the child ghost will spawn in another spot with the lying down posture and still be crying. You can still shoot the ghost again until it disappears and the crying stops. If you attack it with grenade, the crying will stop but the ghost shadow will still linger.
 * If Artyom looks around during the flashbacks, he can notice that part of the scene is post war.
 * There is a locked safe in the stair well of the building to the left after entering the level. It's in the building to the left of the garage. The key is in the same building in the bathroom.
 * In the vision where a child was waiting for her mom, in the english voice the Dark One used "he/his" words for the child while the child is actually a girl.