moment you spend in this toxic air, a
timer ticks down, meaning you have
to find a steady supply of
replacement filters. There’s crafting
too, which makes scouring the world
for materials to build ammo and
repair your mask and guns an
important part of your routine. None
of these systems are invasive,
however, and the light-touch survival
management reinforces the fiction
without being overbearing.
LOOK AND SEE
Outside of combat there are some
other new features, including the
ability to use binoculars. If you climb
somewhere high, such as a rusty old
crane near the Volga that rattles
violently in the wind, you can scan
the horizon and zoom in on points of
interest, marking them on your map.
You won’t know what it is until you
travel there, which makes for some
fun exploration, even if it’s usually
just more things to shoot at. I do like
how each map is littered with stories.
Some are relayed through diary
entries and tape recordings, but it’s
the ones told by the environment that
are the most vivid: a crashed plane
with its skeletal pilot still at the
controls, or an abandoned school
littered with mouldy textbooks and
colorful kids’ drawings.
There are a few
vehicles too, usually
reserved for the larger
maps, and slightly silly
ziplines straight out of
a Far Cry game. The
weather can change
suddenly, and there’s
an ever-shifting day/
night cycle, which you
can speed up by sleeping at
campsites. If you go somewhere at
night there may be fewer enemies to
deal with, but you could also be
harassed by deadly ball lightning,
which seems to be the Metro
equivalent of the anomalies in Stalker.
But this idea is underdeveloped, and
I would have liked more weirdness in
the wasteland, to make leaving the
relative comfort of the Metro feel
more alien and frightening.
What makes Exodus special, and
the reason it held my interest all the
way to the end despite the weak
combat, is the journey. Freed from
the dark maze of the Moscow Metro,
the environment artists at 4A Games
have achieved something remarkable
here. From the frozen banks of the
Volga to the dried-out Caspian Sea
ears, talking interminably about what
you’re going to do next rather than
just letting you, you know, do it.
Between major locations you can
explore the Aurora as it hurtles along
the tracks to its next destination, and
it’s here where the real heart of the
game lies. The overarching plot is
enjoyable enough, but it’s the
interactions between the characters,
and how they spend their downtime
on the train, that I found the most
resonant. You’ll see a character
serenading another with his guitar;
someone looking wistfully out of a
window as the scenery rolls by;
people telling jokes and shooting the
shit in the communal area. The sense
of community here, of family, is
palpable—which gives those
moments when these people are in
danger added weight.
By leaving the tunnels of the
Moscow Metro behind, the artists
and world-builders at 4A Games have
created something incredible here.
This voyage through a bleak Russian
wasteland, from abandoned cities and
burning deserts to autumnal forests
and freezing tundras, is full of
surprises and stunning scenery. It’s
just a shame your interaction with
this brave new world largely consists
of shooting at it.
Metro Exodus is, in many ways, a
pretty rote FPS attached to a setting
that deserves much better. But when
the Aurora’s brakes screech as it pulls
into the next station, the excitement
of what lies ahead always makes up
for its shortcomings.78
An incredible trip through
a stunning post-
apocalyptic world, let
down by some
uninspiring FPS combat.VERDICTElsewhere it
feels like a
post-
apocalypse by
numbersALL MOD CONS Turning a boring revolver into a monster
1
SNIPER STOCK
A wooden grip from
a hunting rifle. Greatly
reduces recoil.2
REGULAR
BARREL
A long barrel that
increases both damage
and accuracy.3
SCOPE 4X
A telescopic scope
for zooming in.4
6-SHOT
CYLINDER
Massively increases the
revolver’s rate of fire.5
RED LASER
Increases accuracy
if you ever need to fire
from the hip.1(^253)
4
REVIEW
and beyond, the setting is constantly
surprising and hauntingly beautiful.
We’ve seen post-nuclear wastelands
in a thousand videogames, but there’s
something about 4A’s take on the
concept that really creeps under your
skin. A subtle air of hopelessness and
melancholy that emphasizes just how
woefully tragic this world is.
But by reaching out into the wider
world, Metro loses some of its
identity. The Moscow Metro, and the
weird communities and cultures that
developed there after the bombs fell,
is one of the most interesting things
about the series. Some of what you
encounter in Exodus is just as
imaginative, such as
the origins of a strange
tribe you encounter in
a lush boreal forest.
But elsewhere it feels
like a post-apocalypse
by numbers, with
shanty towns and
bloodthirsty raiders
straight out of Mad
Max, and a general feeling that you’re
treading familiar irradiated ground.
BAD ACTING
Metro Exodus also has some
problems with storytelling. For one,
the English voice acting is, for the
most part, terrible. I don’t usually
mind a bit of amateurish acting in
games, but here it’s so overdramatic
that I actually found it distracting.
There is the option to switch to
Russian voices, which feels more
authentic to the setting, but
there’s so much crosstalk
that keeping track of the
subtitles while playing is
impractical. And there are too
many scenes where you have to stand
and wait as people heap big
spoonfuls of exposition into your