The Dead City (Metro Last Light Level)

“	He who sows the wind, shall reap the storm. A peace conference is being held at Polis, but 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 reached Polis to denounce the liars. And face the storm.	„
— Level description

The Dead city
Previous:	Depot
Next:	Red Square
Information
Game:	Metro: Last Light
Walkthrough
	A walkhrough for this level is available on Metro Wiki. See walkthrough.

Overview

The Dead City - the City of Shadows - 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 and can sometimes be disturbing to the players, making sure they do not 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.

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. A useful tactic is to make a quick run for the ladder.
• 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.

Lose:

• Kill the Demon of the rooftop protecting her nest.
• Killing the baby demon will lose another point.

Trivia

• One flash 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 occurance in Ranger Mode as the Watchman can easily hit you a few times before you recover and fire back, sometimes even killing you.

• There is a Demon in the level, on top of the building you climb. Although it is not openly hostile, it will attack you to try and defend its baby.
  • The Demon 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.
  • However, doing so will gain negative moral points, as well as the Dark One chastitising you, saying it was only defending its baby.
  • You gain more negative moral points by killing the baby too, and again, the Dark One will get upset, asking if you would kill him too in the same way.
• Judging by the appliances, state of building integrity, and amount of life in the flash-backs, this was probably a upscale apartment complex. It could also mean that Russia was in an economic boom before the war. This could indicate why Russia went to war.
• 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. However, it does no harm to the player, despite the Ranger's warning, other than being very frightening.

Achievements

Back to the Past

	Back to the Past	20
	See all Visions in the Dead City