Players can approach their missions in a variety of ways. [12] They can use stealth tactics such as turning off lights to remain hidden and throwing a can to distract enemies. Alternatively, they can use a lethal approach such as tossing a throwing knife at enemies to quietly kill them. [11] Players are encouraged to plan before approaching a mission. The behavior of enemies, which are controlled by artificial intelligence, may change depending on the time of day. For instance, enemies patrolling a camp during daytime may retreat and sleep inside the camp at night, making infiltration easier. The game has a dynamic weather system, allowing players to take advantages of storms and rain, which mask the sounds of Artyom's footsteps. The time of day can be changed at safehouses in the game's world. [13]

Kelly, Andy (15 February 2019). "Don't be an asshole in Metro Exodus—you'll regret it". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023 . Retrieved 22 June 2023. A final area of the game worth discussing is the sound design. At this point, it is worth noting that I played the game whilst wearing the official PS5 Pulse 3D headset. The result of this being that I am unsure exactly whether the praise should lie with the game or the technology. With this in mind, the combination of the headset and the new hardware resulted in some of the best sound effects and design I have experienced in a game in recent times. The game does my favourite DualSense feature where footsteps feel different depending on the surface you are walking on, but it also adds resistance to the Adaptive Triggers when you pump pneumatic weapons. The more they are pumped, the harder they are to press down, which is a thrilling touch, especially when you are in the middle of a fight. Makuch, Eddie (18 February 2022). "Metro Exodus Passes 6 Million Copies Sold In Three Years". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022 . Retrieved 26 April 2022.Thanks to ray tracing, lighting is incredible in Metro Exodus. From your flashlight that helps you see in the dark underground tunnels to the moonlight shining the way for you in the desert, it’s all really well done. Using your lighter to burn away spider webs looks gorgeous and Molotov’s fires burned bright. Comparisons up against the last-gen versions are entirely valid and looking at Xbox One X as the best of the lot, the new game is transformed. Yes, you're getting twice the frame-rate (last-gen topped out at 30fps) but it's the transition to an RT-based aesthetic that makes all of the difference. The rasterised real-time global illumination system of the old version looked fine, but ray tracing takes fidelity to the next level. All of the old artist-placed lights are gone, replaced with a fully ray traced alternative that 'just works'. With these optimisations arriving as a free update, there’s no excuse not to revisit what can only be described as a technical masterclass. Development [ edit ] The developers partnered with franchise creator Dmitry Glukhovsky to create the game's narrative. The game does write interesting characters. Not the entire crew are rememberable mind you, but there are some good standouts and some good villains you’ll encounter – from a religious zealot in a swamp to a slave-owning baron in a sandy wasteland. However, their characters are never used to their full potential, ultimately leading to disappointing conclusions to their short moments.

This kind of storytelling can be a hit and a miss for me though. You feel entirely unattached because the characters keep making decisions for you and keep putting words in your mouth. There are games where good writing and premise can let you get away with a mute protagonist but Metro Exodus isn’t one of them, especially considering how heavy the dialogue is. Of course, this meant that the passengers on the train did have some special moments that made the fight for a better home for them more enticing. Starting in 2014, the game was developed by a team of around 150 based in Kyiv and Malta. The Exodus studio's main objective was to combine the core gameplay pillars of the Metro series with elements from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2007), which prioritizes emergent gameplay and features a large, explorable space. The team experimented with open-world gameplay and excluded mission markers so that players can explore naturally. 4A collaborated with Glukhovsky on the game's story, which focuses more on Artyom's personal story and relationships, forgoing some of the supernatural elements found in previous games for a more grounded story. Critics generally liked the game's more-open structure. Writing for Game Informer, Matt Bertz praised the diverse biomes in the game, which kept the experience fresh as it introduced new characters, enemies, and factions as players progressed. He described the game's pacing as its "greatest triumph" because none of the large region overstays its welcome. [57] Austin Wood from GamesRadar called the locations in the game "gorgeous" and said he liked the way the linear-story setpieces and open levels complement each other. He chose the two larger levels Caspian Sea and the Volga River as one of the game's strongest points. [56] Michael Higham from GameSpot, however, was disappointed players were not rewarded for exploring the game's world, and that engaging in combat with mutants is a waste of time because they do not drop resources like their human counterparts. Both Bertz and Higham noted Artyom's movement is slow, a problem that is further aggravated by the larger levels. [58] Andy Kelly from PC Gamer praised 4A's approach to open-world design for prioritizing attention to details over size. [60] Winslow, Jeremy (19 November 2019). "The Game Awards 2019 Nominees Full List". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 23 November 2019 . Retrieved 20 November 2019. Games has also done an excellent job at making use of everything the PS5 offers as unique features for players on the system. Activity Cards are excellently implemented for the main missions, with extensive Game Help available as well. In addition, an FOV slider is a nice plus, as it allows you to customise your experience to how you want to play.a b Horti, Samuel (14 February 2019). "Metro Exodus crafting guide". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023 . Retrieved 22 June 2023. Johnson, Astrid (14 February 2019). "Metro Exodus review". Polygon. Archived from the original on 10 May 2023 . Retrieved 23 June 2023. PLATTFORMÜBERGREIFEND". GameChartz.ch. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021 . Retrieved 12 April 2021. a b c d e f Ogilvie, Tristan (13 February 2019). "Metro Exodus Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 15 May 2020 . Retrieved 13 February 2019. Saed, Sherif (23 May 2019). "The "absolute majority" of Metro: Exodus sales were made on consoles, but THQ Nordic won't comment on EGS sales". VG 247. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022 . Retrieved 23 June 2023.

a b Hurley, Leon (14 July 2021). "Where to find the best Metro Exodus upgrades and gear to survive the apocalypse". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023 . Retrieved 22 June 2023. Even the manner in which the reflections are approximated (as it isn’t mirrored reflections, it’s all still already rendered scenes being remapped onto another surface) looks a lot better. Granted, it isn’t totally accurate in terms of reflecting data that is otherwise obscured, it is a far closer facsimile than we saw on the Xbox One X. Hall, Nicole (11 January 2021). "Metro Exodus Postcard locations explained". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022 . Retrieved 22 June 2023. All that said, the title’s most impressive accomplishment remains the writing. Exodus takes Artyom and Anna’s satirically under-developed “relationship” from Last Light and transforms it into not just something meaningful, but the most compelling facet of the entire game. Their relationship serves as the driving force for much of the title, and feels authentic in a way that exceedingly few games can pull off. The cast surrounding these two are no slouches either, providing a motley assortment of soldiers, mechanics, and refugees that live and grow alongside one another, across the title’s year-long journey. Despite its other failings, Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition is a true visual showcase for this new wave of consoles and although it doesn’t quite reach the standard set by the PC version it’s not far from the mark. All of the ray-tracing goodness aside, the most immediately noticeable shift from previous versions is the bump-up to 60fps—a frame rate it holds without a sweat, from my experience. I feel like it’s a disservice to have ever released it at anything less. Metro Exodus on Xbox One X now feels like putting a two-stroke engine in a Lamborghini. Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition feels like a definitive next-gen experience for a game that, with regards to its technical application, was ahead of the console market at the time.Maxwell, Ben (2 June 2018). "The Metro Exodus train will have horrifying consequences". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022 . Retrieved 23 June 2023. Brown, Fraser (28 January 2020). "Metro Exodus is getting a sandbox expansion in February". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023 . Retrieved 23 June 2023. Comparison photos included are from Digital Foundry’s breakdown comparing Metro Exodus on both Xbox One X and Xbox Series X. Not all human survivors are hostile; some may provide valuable information and open up new points of interest, and some may join Artyom's crew. [14] [15] Subtle moral choices in the game provide karma; good karma can be gained by helping non-playable characters, speaking with survivors with Artyom's gun holstered, and sparing enemies who have surrendered. Karma affects the ending the player experiences. [16] Synopsis [ edit ] Setting and characters [ edit ] The fact of how you can influence how your enemies react makes for some good varied gameplay situations. Frustratingly, they can be very stupid. There are countless moments where I took out a man right next to his friend and his friend sat there as if nothing happened. So when I threw my blade at him it felt undeserved.

Linear locations are straightforward, and probably when I enjoyed the game most. Metro Exodus can ooze with the atmosphere when it is concentrated like it does when it is a straightforward path. That kind of focus does wonders for the game, you can tell that is what the developers know best. I will say upfront, I was wrong about Metro Exodus. I thought it was going to be a boring and cheap Russian post-apocalypse adventure through the underground train system. Instead, I was quite surprised by Metro Exodus on the PlayStation 5. I will admit, while the premise is interesting, it took me a while to get into the story. The writing isn’t bad. In most cases, it is very good. But Metro Exodus suffers from pacing – especially with the long-winded conversations that are happening around you. I say around you because you are completely mute, even though in the loading screen your character is talking out loud about what he is writing in his journal. Even on the PlayStation 5, Metro Exodus feels like you are playing an Xbox 360 game, especially in terms of gameplay.Livingston, Christopher (15 June 2018). "Metro Exodus' day-night cycle changes NPC behavior, dynamic weather can mask footsteps". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022 . Retrieved 22 June 2023.