Speaking in an interview, THQ’s Mark Madsen revealed that the Wii U version of Metro: Last Light never began development, and it would be “correct” to say that it is no longer a confirmed title for the system.

This is disappointing news, as Metro: Last Light looked to be a rather promising game. While there is still a chance that THQ may reconsider a Wii U port, it’s likely at this point that it will not happen.

THQ produced a chillingly gritty, live-action short film based on Metro: Last Light. They sent over the following quip to describe it, along with the film itself:

The Moscow Metro. A monumental feat of Soviet engineering, with a dark secondary purpose – to serve as a refuge in the event of an atomic attack. As the Cold War thawed and the threat of nuclear annihilation seemed to fade, this purpose was forgotten – except by a few, waiting for the signal, ready to open the vaults… the last refuge for the remnants of mankind.

It’s a well-made teaser for the game, which, unfortunately, won’t be hitting stores until next year. I’ve uploaded it for you after the break

It has been confirmed that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Metro: Last Light will launch within the first quarter of 2013, but the Wii U version is a bit further off according to a statement by THQ’s Huw Beynon:

We’ve been working on the Wii U version. At the moment we’re focusing on current-gen or existing platforms and PC, so it’s unlikely that the Wii U verson will come out at the same time as those formats.

It’s unfortunate that the Wii U version of the game will be late to the party. But on the bright side, it’s extremely likely that the delay of that particular version means THQ plan to put additional development into it – ergo, it will be more than a direct port of the first release. Hard to complain about that, isn’t it?

On the topic of how long the single player campaign would be, 4A Games had this to say:

We expect the campaign to be at least as long as Metro 2033, and we’re also working hard to ensure there are more reasons to replay the campaign … although we know a lot of you have played and re-played the 2033 campaign multiple times already!

Another fan asked whether the game will have gun customisation:

We’re adding some weapon customization options and we’ll be talking about this feature in more detail later in the year.

When asked about whether the game would feature “exploding barrels” the development team said:

One of our design goals has been to avoid FPS clichés … so no, you will not find exploding barrels on the game. We do have many destructible objects, and in very specific instances some of these can cause damage to a wider area, but these are used judiciously and are appropriate to the environment.

A countdown trailer for the film has appeared on the website ‘Enter the Metro’ but doesn’t give much details about what the film will be about. Head to the website now to stare unwaveringly at the countdown clock until the film is shown.

The first question asked what visual and graphical changes there were from the previous game to Metro: Last Light. The answer was:

We’ve improved virtually every aspect of the visuals. Some of these changes are subtle, some will be very apparent when you play the game. We’re particularly proud of the advances we’ve made to our outdoor environments, something we hope to show off in the not too distant future… The long answer starts to get a lot more technical, so rather than try and address that here we’ll be talking more about the advances we’ve made to our tech in a lot more detail further down theline.

Another fan asked whether there would be more side quests in Metro: Last Light than in the first Metro title.

By side quests, we assume you mean secondary objectives (like sending the distress signal in “Outpost”). If so, then there will be about the same amount of secondary objectives in Metro: Last Light as were available in Metro 2033.

Another fan posed the question of whether weapons would break or get jammed in the game.

Some weapons overheat. For example, the “Bastard” is prone to overheating during sustained fire and you’ll be able to see a plume of steam venting to warn you that this is about to happen. Keep firing and the gun will jam prompting an emergency field repair and volley of swearing from Artyom … Guns do not permanently break though.

We’ve received a variety of feedback regarding the voice-acting in Metro 2033: many players loved it; some disliked it; but a majority of the time it came down to individual characters and personal preference. For example, “Khan” has always been a fan-favorite. However, we believe reaction to the voice-overs generally speaking is very subjective.We’re aware how important both the dialogue and quality of voice-acting is on a story and character driven game like Metro. With THQ’s help, we’re investing a lot more time into the voice recordings this time around. For now, all we can say is we hope you like the result! Regarding the ambient voices and battle chatter, this aspect of the game world is being completely re-done and will be much more extensive than in Metro 2033

Another fan asked whether it was possible to use stealth to go through the entire game without killing any enemies. The answer was:

It’s certainly possible to complete multiple levels without killing anyone. However, for narrative reasons it’s not possible to complete the entire game without killing any humans.

Metro: Last Light will release in  2013 on the Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC

THQ announced at a recent investor relations meeting that Metro: Last Light has been delayed to the fourth quarter of their 2012 fiscal year – this translates to the first quarter of 2013, so we won’t be getting the game for at least another year from now.

But despite this, Amazon are offering pre-orders for every variant of the game, including the Wii U version. If you’re interested in Metro: Last Light but think you might forget about it by the time its release rolls around, putting a pre-order in now might not be a bad idea.

The site FedWars had the chance to talk to a THQ developer who had a few comments to share about the Wii U. The anonymity of the interview harkens back somewhat to the Project Café era, but unlike the anonymous “leaks” we had back then, this employee doesn’t make any ridiculous claims – his comments seem quite reasonable, and don’t clash with anything we already know about the Wii U.

One of the things he made very clear was that the Wii U versions of Metro: Last Light and Darksiders 2 would be graphically superior to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 releases. He compared the Wii U version of a multiplatform release to a Blu-ray movie vs. a DVD. But he did warn that “this will only happen as long as a developer or publisher puts in the time and effort instead of doing a straight port.”

Most of the employee’s words had to do with the power of the Wii U console, and they shed some much-needed light on how far beyond the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 it lies. According to him, the Wii U would be capable of full 1080p in “most” of its games, which I’m sure many of you will find relieving.

Expect majority of third party Wii U games from most publishers to have true 1080p, additional content, and smoother framrates than what the PS3/360 versions offer.  If you want the DEFINITIVE version of any game in your library, I would suggest either the PC version or the Wii U version…at least for now.

Let’s just hope that most developers really do sit down and take the time to make the Wii U version of a multiplatform game a “deluxe” experience instead of settling for a lazy, direct port.