Game Name: Metro Exodus
Publisher: Deep Silver
Developer: 4A Games
Release Date: 15 February 2019
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, XBOX One and Google Stadia
Introduction
I reviewed Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light which were the first 2 games in this series. The main reason why I played those 2 games was to play this one. I figured if I would play the third game in the series, I might as well start with the first games.
As you can see from the first 2 games, I had fun with them. They had some flaws, but in the end they were very good games. Let us see if this installment is a good entry into the series.
Story
The story for Metro Exodus is quite different from the first 2 games in the series. The one thing that does not change is the fact that you play the character of Artyom. He is a survivor from The Exhibition metro station.
Some characters comeback from the previous games such as Colonel Miller and Anna, who you learn is now your wife.
The game starts in very familiar territory. You are pretty much hidden from the outside world due to the radiation and unbreathable air. Artyom is convinced that there is a life outside the Moscow Metro walls, but no one else believes him. However, in one instance you go to an exhibition with Anna and you end up seeing a moving train. This means that there are other people living around Russia.
Anna and you end up bringing this back to Colonel Miller and you set out to capture this machine which will eventually be named the Aurora. During your exhibition, Anna falls down in a very toxic area and she was unconscious. When she fell her gas mask came loose and she was breathing some toxic air. This is relevant for the last half of the game.
The first part of the game is essentially trying to find your way where the air is clean and "The Order" can settle down for good.
The accident from earlier in the game is more serious than initially thought. As the game progresses Anna's condition worsens (lung condition) and Artyom and the team, need to find medication for her condition.
Are you successful ? That all depends on you, young Artyom!
Metro Exodus (XBOX One) - Sample Gameplay
Bottomline
I believe that this is a great entry in the series. It does lose a little of that Metro charm but it does expand on that universe.
The game is setup a little different from previous games. In Metro 2033, you had chapters with sub quests. In Metro: Last Light it was just a laundry list of quests. In Metro Exodus, they kind of took the best of both worlds. You have a smaller list of quests but each area has sub quests.
Let us continue with the graphics. For the most part, the game looks awesome. Especially when you start seeing the different seasons and the colours. It was definitely not dull. However, there were some instances where the foliage looked 2D or was glitching out. It did not take away from the game but it was enough for it to be noticeable.
The voice acting was very good. Again, there were times where the lips were not moving to the words but I really liked the way the characters were voiced. Chris Parson returns as the voice of Artyom. Technically in game, Artyom has no voice but the narration between loading screens is done by him. There is just something about his Russian accent that is appealing.
The one thing that I will say about the voices, there were times where I could barely hear the conversation. If I needed to listen to the convo, I had to look at the character directly. In some cases, I wanted to do other things and I could not. The same happened if I listened to tapes. If you move just a little away the voices sound faint. I do not know if this was an XBOX thing or if it is the game in general. It was more annoying than an actual bug.
New to this installment is the crafting. You have the opportunity to modify weapons on workbenches based on the number of used parts that you picked up and the chemicals that you pick up along the way. You can make bullets, knives, molotov cocktails and much more. You can also fix your gas mask. In previous games if the mask was broken, you needed to find one that was not broken. Now you are given the chance to repair your own equipment.
There is less ammo available in the world, but since you can make some yourself, it is not that bad. You have a trusty MacGyver backpack that you can use to make health packs and air containers so that you never run out of air in toxic areas. So all in all, this was a welcome addition and it did not feel like a chore to maintain your weapons and equipment. I think it was a good balance and 4A Games did a good job with this.
I found that there was a lack of a soundtrack in the game. When music did play, it was awesome but there was many instances where there was barely any background music. I will say that the music at the end of the game (Final cut scenes) is really good and adds good atmosphere.
My biggest complaint about this game are the loading times on the XBOX One. I was playing with the original XBOX One and sometimes the loading screens took over 4 minutes to load which is unacceptable. I know that the XBOX One is known for its slower loading times but this is ridiculous.
When this game was released it was touted as being Metro in an open world. It is not a false statement but it is not as open as one would think. If you think that you are jumping into a Fallout 4 in Russia, you will be disappointed. Although there is the opportunity to walk around and scavenge stuff, the story is still kind of linear. There are very rare occasions where you can deviate from the main story lines. There are some side missions which are pretty good, but they feel more like part of the main mission more than a side quest.
When I played the series for the first time, someone on my Twitch chat mentioned that this is the Fallout that everyone wanted. I would tend to agree. Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 feel more complicated that they needed to be. Where Bathesda moved away from NPC's initially, 4A Games went all in with the dialogue and the story. Some say some of the dialogue was a little too long in some parts and I would agree, it was still fun to see those NPC's tell you their stories and their thoughts.
Like in pervious games there are multiple endings that you can get. In the past, this was result of Artyom's good karma. If you had enough good karma, you saw the good ending. Here, they expanded on that idea. There are 4 main sections in the game. Each section, you can complete with a positive or negative result. Based on those section results, the game ending will differ for you. I personally received the good ending for the first time in the series.
The one thing that I am a little disappointed with was the supernatural side of things. You kind of get a glimpse of that towards the end (radiation poisoning), however for the most part it is a straight survival story. I kind of missed the Dark Ones. There are some Easter Eggs as to where you can find them. That was a nice addition, but I hope that we see them again one day as main characters in the story.
Metro Exodus - Dark Ones Easter Eggs (courtesy MrReign)
I think Metro Exodus is worth a try for sure. If you are someone that likes games that do not take too long and focus on story, then this is for you. It is on XBOX Game Pass and I am sure that it will go to the PC Game Pass as well. It took me about 25 to 30 hours to complete, which is not much compared to Fallout 4 or The Witcher III.
The first 2 games felt like Dead Space. You are in a tight space and there are monsters and it is very dark. There were many jump scares. Exodus feels like if Fallout 4 and the new Wolfenstein series would merge together. Take the semi open world concept from the Fallout series and add the action sequences from Wolfenstein with the sneaking and the shooting. It is not a perfect game but it is fun nonetheless. I fully recommend that you play it and see for yourself.
What did you think of the game? Let us know at the coordinates below.
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