A soggy, post-apocalyptic underground is no place to find oneself trapped in—so let's jump right back into it, shall we? The second of Metro: Last Light's DLCs was released yesterday. Okay, so the screenshots don't look like the post-apocalyptic Metro we've become far too familiar with—in fact, there's an odd, clinically Portal-like feel to some of these scenarios. That's because 4A Games is using this DLC as an opportunity to focus on what it feels wasn't given enough attention in the base game: the combat.

"We changed everything —from the control scheme, to our animation system, AI, projectile modelling, audio…" 4A says in a developer blog post. "And ultimately, all this work only really came to bear in a few gunfights spread across the campaign!

"We wanted to create some DLC that took advantage of these new, refined combat mechanics, that allowed players to explore the system in more depth—and so the Tower Pack was born."

The Tower is a "combat simulator" almost entirely removed from the Metro universe, with the only familiar carry-over being Last Light's combat mechanics. It's a kind of arena, filled with all of Metro's enemies and weapons, in which you'll get to really let loose with the mechanics in a place separate from Artyom's mission.

The Tower Pack went live on Steam yesterday. If you previously purchased the Season Pass, your game should update automatically. This is the second of Last Light's planned four DLCs, and we've also got some vague hints about the content of the final two DLCs. The next pack, the Developer Pack, will include a shooting gallery, an "AI arena" and a museum of all things Metro, as well as a new solo mission. The final Chronicles Pack sounds like it'll be the real corker of the bunch, though, offering three new single-player missions played from the point of view of four side characters.

Good news, Metro fans! According to Deep Silver CEO Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, more Metro games are planned beyond this year’s Metro: Last Light. Speaking to Joystiq at Gamescom last week, Kundratitz refused to officially announce a Last Light sequel, but emphasized that the franchise would have more entries eventually.

"I’m very glad we acquired that brand," Kundratitz said, referring to Deep Silver’s purchase of Metro from THQ during that troubled publisher’s asset auction earlier this year. "While it launched in a very dry space in the gaming calendar this year, it still got a lot of attention."

Kundratitz also said that future games would be made “more accessible to a broader gaming audience," but insisted that Dmitry Glukhovsky, the author of Metro 2033, still holds the license and has some say in the creative process. Any changes to broaden the audience for future Metro games will have continue to be approved by Glukhovsky.

We enjoyed Metro: Last Light, so we’re happy to see that more Metro games will probably be heading our way in the near-ish future. Now begins the long, long wait.

Thanks, Joystiq.

It's a little late - Metro: Last Light's Faction Pack DLC came out a couple of days ago - but this launch trailer gives you a good idea of the styles of play associated with each of the game's factions. Essentially: sneaky, snipery, and - er - hate-y, as you complete three missions as a Polis Ranger, a Red Line Sniper and a Reich Heavy. It never said they were nice factions.



The Faction Pack is the first of four planned DLC updates for Last Light. Other add-ons will include the Developer Pack, which will "give creative players some interesting tools with which to explore the world of Metro"; the Tower Pack, which is said to offer a "unique solo challenge to Metro veterans"; and the Chronicles Pack, which will bring more single-player missions to the game.

Metro: Last Light Faction Pack is out now, available for $4.99 / £3.99 / €4.99