Furthermore, the display is made out of nixie tubes, with a countdown that tells the player how long Artyom's filter will last until it needs to be replaced. Replacing the three lights system is now only one blue light that illuminates when Artyom is detectable. In Metro: Last Light, Artyom's watch has changed significantly. If the marker is in the red the player will need to move to safety quickly or they will have to change it/run out of filter time, which can be very problematic in levels such as Outpost. If the marker is in the yellow it means the player has several minutes of filter time and should be working their way to safety or trying to find another filter if they are on their last one. If the marker is in the green it means that the player has a sufficient amount time in the filters for most jobs, the player will have around 15 minutes until the next change. Also, the watch display features three colors, which are connected to how much air-time Artyom has left in his current filter when using his gas mask. In Metro 2033, the watch can be brought up to the center of the screen regardless of what Artyom is holding in his hand (with the exception of turrets, cutscenes, etc.). Equipping stealth armor will help with all stealth related ventures, sometimes amply reducing the stealth level so much that the indication lights may not even show on Artyom's watch. Keep in mind that a stealth approach is rather useless when fighting mutants because they will smell Artyom, although in some encounters (such as in Caves) it is possible to sneak on a monster with its back turned, and if the mutant is sleeping the player will have a chance to sneak past it as long as you don't make any loud noise. It is especially useful in stealth situations when Artyom must hide from an enemy, but it's important to remember most enemies one would hide from have headlights or night vision goggles. When no light is displayed, he is completely hidden and will not be seen. Yellow means he is not well hidden and red means he is fully visible. Green means he is hidden, although enemies that are close will see him. This is used to measure how visible Artyom is. It also has three LED lights on it, one red, one yellow and one green.
Throughout the entirety of the games, Artyom always wears a watch on his left wrist.Īrtyom's watch is used as a tool to measure how long the filter in his gas mask will provide function before clogging up.