izigame.me

Metro Exodus is the last of a three game series based on the novels of the same name by Dmitry Glukhovsky. For the purposes of this review I have played the regular edition of the game though the “Enhanced Edition” comes with it for free. My main reason for this is that the Enhanced Edition has Ray Tracing you can't turn off.
Once again, relatively large spoilers throughout the review due to the highly narrative nature of the series.
Fortune favors the bold — Discovery
It turns out the world beyond the Metro underneath Moscow is not completely uninhabitable. Through a series of events Arytom discovers that the Metro has been being purposely radio jammed — under the purview of one Sergeant Miller. Himself believing this would protect the Metro from outsiders.
The war is still going on. After this minor, yet Earth-shattering perspective change — the game begins.
Gameplay
Not that much is different from the previous iterations — aside from a few major ones. It's a relatively linear story-driven FPS with open-world... elements. Technically speaking, you're able to traverse most of the maps in any way you see fit but there is typically one big location and objective to accomplish at any given time. And once you leave a specific location, you cannot go back — so it's more akin to a chapter-based open world. There are many places to explore outside of main objectives, most of which you'll find supplies but some have valuable equipment upgrades not found anywhere else.
The other major change is that... you're not in the Metro anymore. What this means is that the military grade ammunition you used to be able to exchange for new weapons or more but still inferior ammo, medikits, throwables etc is no longer a viable option. Instead, you'll be crafting... essentially everything. Stay for some weapon and armor modifications. You can strip those off of weapons you find, or swap the weapon out entirely. You're able to exchange some parts out in the field.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2799415232
Everything you need to craft effectively is derived out of two resources. So there isn't a ton of needless management. Guns need to be cleaned after excessive use, gas masks also need to be repaired — these tasks need to be performed at workstations. The Tikhar (a pneumatic rifle) uses steel balls as ammo and can be fashioned relatively cheaply on the fly out in the field. Whereas other ammo types such as pistol or shotgun rounds need to be crafted at a workstation. The “Helsing” — a crossbow obtained later in the game uses bolts that are also able to be fashioned in the field. Though, at a much higher cost than the steel balls offset by the ability to pick them back up.
The hidden morality system is still in play here. This is persistent through the series, 2 endings each, decided by this hidden system, 1 ending is canon in each — but there is no importing saves to the next game so it's largely just for your own benefit — and achievement hunting.
Tech stuff
This is a relatively demanding game, but I was able to run it using a 5600X and a GTX1060 (power limited to 50% in the interest of testing low TDP) at 2560x1080 UW med/low mix at 40-60FPS dipping into the 40s when a lot of action was taking place or many lighting effects were compounding each other. Such as a dimly lit corridor with a numerous flashlights while I burn some cobwebs down. With further testing, I found that running that game at 720@60 on high settings dropped my overall system draw to under 70W and I thought the game still looked pretty nice, especially on a smaller screen where the pixel density is higher.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2799418829
Anecdotes
The game feels like an odd mixture of Fallout 4, the Thief reboot and Far Cry 2. Specifically the areas in which you can drive vehicles and hold the map up while looking around still. It feels uniquely familiar (and old) despite how new the game is.
I don't feel like the game does an expressly good job at explaining the world at large — chance encounters and fractured information. Though, before embarking on larger missions, when a morality decision is approaching, many of the characters will voice concern over not killing specific NPCs so it leaves a lot of the ambiguity out, it's very clear cut — which from my perspective only serves to remind me that I'm playing a video game, rather than me being immersed in the atmosphere. I could be getting tense as I contemplate that the small splash of water I just heard behind me might be a giant mutated fish that is going to suck my boat into the river while I'm screwing a new gas mask filter in. But, at the end of the day, it's fine. I know I'm playing a video game — I just felt it could've have been handled... differently.
The Gist:
I think it's a great ending to the series and a no-brainer if you've played the other two games. You could probably play it by it itself, but I think you'd get a lot more out of it you play the other two games first.
My total playtime was around 23 hours for the main campaign. I have not played any of the DLC at the time of writing this review.
If you've found this review helpful, consider following my curation — Station Argus
Metro 2033 Redux review here.
Metro Last Light Redux review here.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2799420229