2019-05-01_PC_Gamer_(US_Edition

I say road trip, but your primary

mode of transport in Metro Exodus is

an old Soviet era steam train called

the Aurora. The game begins in

familiar surroundings—the shattered,

radioactive ruins of

Moscow, and the

labyrinth of tunnels

beneath it. But it’s not

long before the Aurora

is speeding out of the

fallen capital, along the

Volga River, and into

the countryside.

This is your first

taste of the open world in Exodus,

which is made up of several large,

self-contained areas, rather than one

continuous sprawl.

Metro has always been a rigidly,

sometimes suffocatingly linear

shooter, but now you have the

opportunity to venture off the beaten

path, scavenge, and explore. It’s a

restrained freedom, limited by the

size of the maps, but there’s

something refreshing about an open

world that focuses more on detail

than size. Every location the Aurora

stops at feels hand-crafted and the

weather, atmosphere, and lighting

regularly change as the story spans

the seasons, making for an excitingly

varied game.

But this variety

extends only to the

setting and structure.

The brutal, kinetic first-

person combat and

lightweight survival

elements that define

the Metro games

haven’t changed in any

significant way. Ammo and gas mask

filters are still precious commodities,

and Artyom still spends the majority

of the game in scrappy, tense

firefights. This means, despite the

spectacular change of scenery, it still

feels like part of the series. But it also

makes Exodus, in some ways, rather

disappointing in its lack of ambition.

OUT AND ABOUT

The context, stakes, and location will

change, and there are some

fantastically dramatic set-pieces here,

but it’s a shame how, fundamentally,

every encounter in Metro boils down

to shooting people. I know it sounds

like I’m criticizing an FPS for having

too much S, but if you’re going to give

me this big, fascinating, beautiful

world to explore, I feel like there

should be more interesting ways to

interact with it. Sometimes you can

approach a situation stealthily, tossing

tin cans to distract guards and quietly

killing or incapacitating them, but

that’s about as exotic as it gets.

The furiously paced combat can

be thrilling, especially when you start

modding your guns, transforming

puny revolvers into freakish weapons

of mass destruction. But whether

you’re fighting mutants or humans,

the AI is never particularly sharp or

reactive, and constantly scrabbling for

ammo can be a chore. The guns feel

great, and I love how you can strip

enemy weapons and attach the

scavenged parts to your own at a

workbench. But the novelty of

shooting hordes of crustaceans,

bandits, and zombies soon wears off,

and after a while I found myself

yearning for more depth.

As for the survival elements, they

do add some welcome texture to the

game. Even though you’ve left the

Metro, there are still moments where

you have to equip your gas mask:

Radiation leaks, sandstorms, poison

gas, and other nasty stuff. And every

NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT?

A post-apocalyptic

first-person shooter

EXPECT TO PAY

$60

DEVELOPER

4A Games

PUBLISHER

Deep Silver

REVIEWED ON

GTX 1080, Intel

i5-6600K, 16GB RAM

MULTIPLAYER

None

LINK

http://www.metro

thegame.com

Now you

have the

opportunity to

venture off the

beaten path

A

fter two games spent in the claustrophobic gloom of the

Moscow Metro, it’s a strange sensation, at least for a

Metro game, to be suddenly staring across a vast,

sun-bleached desert. Exodus is a post-apocalyptic road

trip through a nuke-blasted Russia, and an arid expanse

of what was once the Caspian Sea is one of a number of locations visited

by Artyom and his band of survivors. But even with blue skies and the

closest thing you can get to clean air in this grim, dead world, survival

is still an everyday struggle.

OFF THE RAILS

METRO EXODUS leaves the grimy tunnels of Moscow behind and takes you on a whirlwind

tour of post-apocalyptic Russia. By Andy Kelly

KITTED OUT Essential wasteland survival gear

CHARGER

Batteries are hard to

come by, but this

hand-pumped charger is

the next best thing. If

your flashlight flickers

it’s probably low on juice,

and a few pumps of this

will sort it out.

NOTEPAD

Calling this a notepad

undersells it because

this tool incorporates a

radio, compass, and

map. There are no

objective markers on the

HUD, so you’ll have to

refer to it often.

BINOCULARS

If you find yourself

somewhere high up, take

out your binoculars.

Anything interesting you

spot, and zoom in on, will

be marked as an X on

your map, reminding you

to explore it.

GAS MASK

If you encounter

radiation, toxic fungus,

or other gas, equip your

gas mask. But the filter

won’t last forever. You’ll

need to change it

regularly, and if you run

out... hold your breath.

BRACER

Another versatile tool,

letting Artytom monitor

his radiation levels, see

the time, and orient

himself with an

objective. The compass

isn’t default—you’ll have

to find one.

NIGHT VISION

GOGGLES

Locate this handy piece

of old world technology,

and you’ll be able to see

clearly in the darkest

areas. Just remember to

keep the battery juiced

up with the charger.

REVIEW