Metro: Last Light – FOV Locked, DX9 Workaround, Aim Assist Enabled By Default


Metro Last Light
Expect to read more about Metro: Last Light in the coming days. As we got a review copy for it, we can take a brief look at some features that may – or may not – disappoint PC gamers. We won’t be discussing Last Light’s performance in this article, as we’ll have a Performance Analysis in the coming days. So, for now, let’s look at the FOV settings, how players can run the game in DX9 mode (yes you read that right) and what is going on with the game’s aim assist system.
Metro: Last Light suffers from a low FOV. And quite disappointingly, 4A Games has not included any slider to adjust that setting to our liking. Therefore, a lot of PC gamers will get sick while playing it. Truth be told, Metro 2033 didn’t feature such an in-game option either, however PC gamers could adjust the FOV by editing the game’s config files. Unfortunately, players won’t be able to increase the FOV as there isn’t any value to edit in Metro: Last Light’s config files.
Metro: Last Light is said to be a DX10/DX11 only title ignore DX9 if you’re owners of a DX10/DX11 card, however there is a way to run 4A Games’ latest title in DX9. All you have to do is change the ‘r_api #’ value that is located in the %APPDATA%\Local\4A Games\Metro LL\(numbers)\user.cfg file. In order to run the game under DX9, PC gamers will have to change it to a 0 value. For DX10 they’ll have to change it to 1 and for DX11 to 2. It’s ironic but with this workaround – and despite the company’s claims about the game’s DX11-only renderer offering a better overall performance – PC gamers can run Metro: Last Light in DX9. Not only that, but DX9 comes with a huge performance boost, meaning that this option will be ideal for all those with low-end DX10 GPUs.
Last but not least, aim assist is enabled by default in the PC version. 4A Games has not provided any in-game option to disable it, therefore PC gamers will have to open %APPDATA%\Local\4A Games\Metro LL\\user.cfg and set aim_assist 1 to 0. It really puzzles us why 4A Games has not provided such a basic option; an option that will definitely frustrate a lot of PC gamers.
Enjoy this small article, and stay tuned for our Performance Analysis!