At this point in the year unveiling formerly private E3 demos seems to be the thing to do. Big name titles like BioShock Infinite and RAGE have already displayed long-form gameplay cuts.

Now it’s Metro: Last Light‘s turn.

 By now the verdict on Metro: Last Light‘s predecessor, Metro 2023, is conclusive. The post-apocalyptic (seems like there’s been a lot of those lately) shooter caught on with a fragmented portion of the gaming community. Despite its hardcore proclivities the game was ultimately held back by a host of gameplay glitches and rough animations among other issues.

THQ’s Danny Bilson agrees that Metro 2023 had its shortcomings but views the game’s lack of large commercial success to be a function of insufficient marketing:

“We believe that Metro 2033 was a flawed masterpiece. It was a beautiful, original game that didn’t get the marketing support it needed. We won’t make that mistake with Metro: Last Light. This game improves on the original in every way – it will have more polish, deeper and more sophisticated gameplay, and satisfyingly visceral combat, without losing what our fans loved about the original. Metro: Last Light is another artful piece of game development from an Eastern European studio that will thrill and terrify anyone looking for a more cerebral experience than your typical first person shooter.” -Danny Bilson, EVP Core Games, THQ

When viewing the demo bear in mind that it is pre-Alpha gameplay and merely part one of a three part series. Let us know what you think of the first third of the E3 demo and also whether or not you agree with Bilson regarding the source of Metro 2023‘s deficiencies.

We’ll be sure to keep you up to date with all future Metro: Last Light news included the remaining two thirds of the E3 gameplay trailer as they become available.