4A Games’ Metro series is based off of a popular novel series by Dmitry Glukhovsky. The videogame franchise began last gen on the Xbox 360 and PS3, and saw both the original Metro 2033 as well as the sequel, Metro Last Light. Both games were remastered and re-released on current gen in Metro: Redux. Having not played either game for several years, I just finished replaying through them on the Redux set a couple of weeks ago on Normal difficulty and with Normal combat difficulty selected as well (yielding more ammo). The third game in the series, Metro Exodus, was released a week ago, and continues the story that 2033 began. Players reprise the role of the young protagonist Artyom, who is desperately trying to hold onto a belief that the world and his life has more to offer than living in the subways of Moscow following a world-ending nuclear war that happened some twenty years prior.
If you haven’t played the original Metro games, they’re certainly worth playing through and Redux can be had for cheap. That said, if you don’t have the time or the interest, you can catch up on the story thus far thanks to an officially released video on Youtube. For what it’s worth, in my play through, I got the “bad” ending in Last Light, in which Artyom dies. As is obvious from the pre-release commercials and other info, he’s alive in Exodus so the ‘good ending’ is what 4A ran with, understandably. Just as Last Light had a hidden morale system that culminates in a good or bad ending, so too does Exodus.
Besides the protagonist Artyom, several NPCs from the series make their return as well. These include Colonel Miller and his sniper daughter Anna. You may recall from Last Light that Anna and Artyom had a relationship developing; in Exodus, they’re now married. Exodus continues the story, and the gameplay is very familiar as well, at least to start with, before it evolves into something even better. I was perfectly fine with Exodus being basically another straight-forward sequel in the series, but I was very pleasantly surprised whenever you reach The Volga chapter, just a few hours in. At this time, the game world literally opens wide up, and what began as a reference or two to STALKER (see the excellent PC franchise from years ago) in Metro 2033 now blossomed into very STALKER-like gameplay in Exodus. Having greatly enjoyed STALKER, I was happy to see Metro evolve in this way. Time of day, weather, an expansive open area to explore, hidden objectives and enemy camps with upgradeable items, even crafting now, has all made its way into the Metro franchise, and for the better. This is the type gaming experience where hours can fly by before you realize it because you’re so engaged in the game world, exploring things at your own pace and having the benefit of being able to set the story objectives aside until you’re ready to tackle them.
Series veterans might recall the original currency used in the first two games: military grade ammo. Players would use this to purchase weapons, weapon upgrades, ammo, and secondary items like throwing knives, grenades, and medkits. This is no longer the case in Exodus; instead, players accumulate loot in the form of mechanical and chemical components and you then craft items as you need them. Many things you’re able to craft on the go, but others you need to find a workbench. Cleaning your weapons (which improves their Damage and Accuracy ratings), is vital. Repairing your gas mask and making most types of ammo (in fact, all types except for steel balls used for the pneumatic rifle) are also things you can only do at a workbench. Now, there’s one workbench that is always available “at base” (I know that’s vague, but I don’t want to drop any spoilers), but often getting back there can take a very long time because you’ve explored out so far and there is no fast traveling. Other workbenches can be found with exploration. Just like enemy hideouts are not marked on your map, neither are the hidden safe houses that you can discover. These safe houses are always a treat to find; for one, they’re safe. Secondly, they have a one-time supply of crafting materials, as well as a workbench and a bed which you can use to sleep in to pass the time of day and to heal up.
Having to craft on the go, finding safe houses, looting crafting materials (and to a lesser extent, ammo), and having the freedom to explore is a welcomed evolution to the Metro series. For me, this was especially true give my enjoyment of the STALKER series and the gritty, post-nuclear war atmosphere. Strange creatures, many of them dangerous, violent sects, bizarre things like the anomalies, it all makes for a really compelling open world first person experience. Furthermore, the NPCs that you travel with all have a welcomed part to play; they’re developed well enough, get involved in the story sufficiently, and never taint the experience.
Like previous Metro games, 4A does a good job of blending FPS action with survival horror like elements and stealth. For the most part, this is not a survival horror game, although at times it reminded me of Dying Light. Initially, resources were scarce for the first few hours, but somewhere around my sixth hour or so I have gotten to a point where I’m typically well stocked on supplies. The key is to just explore and loot all of dead bodies (whether they were dead when you got there or after), most of which contain some resources, even if it means stripping their firearm. So maybe not so much of a survival horror game, but stealth gameplay is still very encouraged (though rarely, if ever, required). Stealth can be a lot of fun, but I like that if things go sideways, you can usually shoot your way out of things if it comes to it. Depending on your preference, you can handle most situations either way. Typically for me, it starts as either stealth or guns-blazing and then reverts to the other before it’s all said and done. Varying enemy types, terrains, lighting conditions, etc., keep things fresh and interesting.
Looking back over my notes, there are a handful of things I’d like to mention that don’t really need their own paragraph or elaboration. First, I thought it was interesting that there is no Russian audio anymore like the previous two games had. I always played with Russian audio and read the English subtitles, for me it made the experience just that much more immersive, kind of like watching kung fu movies that were subbed, not dubbed. On a related note, there is an option now for “Sign Subtitles,” in which signs Artyom comes across will be subtitled. Strangely, I found this did work, but not all the time, like only a handful of signs were subtitled, but the majority of “signs” were hand-written graffiti or things like that, and those were not subbed. Oh, Artyom still does not speak a word in the game, which, in 2033 was kind of like “well, ok” but in Last Light it become cringe-worthy awkward at times. In Exodus, there are a lot of times when I wished Artyom could speak, or if 4A might have given the players some dialog options to choose from to maybe steer the direction of relationships with NPCs — that could have been interesting. Oh, there is also now a Photo Mode and you will find ample opportunity to snap some beautiful outdoor pictures — a full moon glimmering off of a lake, a rising sun or storm clouds rolling in, there’s a lot of really great photo ops.
Other grab-bag notes include that you can save your game at anytime, in one slot. Simply pause, press X to Quick Save, and that’s it. I liked that the game, just like its predecessors, is pretty good about dropping in checkpoints often. Of note, however, is that the load times are long — almost always at least thirty seconds, sometimes notably longer (especially, and understandably, in the open world areas). From the pause menu, you can see how many in-game minutes ago was your last quick save and your last checkpoint, a nice touch. Another random point: I liked how Artyom was able to climb onto or over a lot of “things” in the environment, be it climbing into the back of a broken down pickup truck or over a fence or onto a ledge or something like that. It’s a little bit hit and miss, but I’d say more hit than miss, and that was cool. One thing that would have been neat, potentially, would have been the ability to go prone — you can stand upright or kneel/crawl, but no prone, which would have been nice/realistic for those times when you’re exploring and using binoculars to scope out an area to decide on your approach. One thing I really liked that might seem minor is that players can holster their weapon at anytime by holding right on the d-pad for a second. This is not only more realistic, but shows NPCs (who recognize when you’re not aiming a gun around) you are coming in peace. It also just makes for a better-looking experience as well.
In sum, Metro Exodus takes the best elements of 2033 and Last Light and adds a major evolutionary component with open world exploration and crafting. A potent balance is struck between the claustrophobic atmospheres of previous games alongside the new design of expansive open world areas. The blend of full-on action with stealth and survival horror is nicely done as well. I found Metro Exodus to be a more engaging and hard-to-point down experience than I anticipated, and whether you have played the series before or not, Exodus is well worth checking out.
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