Metro Exodus is hauntingly beautiful. It echoes the loneliness of a broken world in a way few games have, making you feel genuinely hopeless as the crumbled lands before you offer little salvatation. Earth is already in ruins, and your mission as Artyom is to find what little safety there is amongst the nuclear devastation.
Aboard a goliath train known as The Aurora, our hero embarks on a trip across Russia in search of a place to call home. Spanning four seasons, this is the most ambitious experience 4A Games has created, and it most definitely shows.
A series once known for its linear, scripted set-pieces and claustrophobic exploration, the journey of this formula expanding into the realm of open-world design is an intriguing one, largely because it could all go horribly wrong. Luckily, it retains everything I love about the series while positively building upon it.
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During a recent preview event, I was given free reign to explore a trio of seasons: Autumn, Summer and Winter. They’re all diverse in their landscapes and mechanics, while also advancing an overarching narrative while you travel across the country.
Having already spent a few hours in the cold harshness of Winter, I opted for something a little more cheerful and decided to see what nuclear sunshine was all about. It turns it isn’t just another day at the beach, but yet another ill-fated fight for survival.
The Summer begins with our mode of transportation screeching to a halt in the midst of the desert. A vehicle – pretty sure it’s a vengabus – has been spotted with heaps of bandits in tow. To make matters worse, the climate is making it increasingly difficult to progress or keep the dwindling number of citizens hydrated, so I had plenty on my plate to deal with.
Following a brief introduction, I’m given my equipment and let loose into the open world. Exodus isn’t a traditional adventure, but instead gives players a quartet of wide environments to explore with missions contained within them. They’re all massive, encouraging you to abandon the beaten path whenever possible in search of supplies.
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My map points me to an outpost on the horizon, no doubt swarming with bandits waiting to slaughter anything that crosses their path. I decide on a stealthy approach and slowly make my way toward the structure. Unfortunately, the local mutant population has other plans.
After eliminating a couple of unsuspecting guards by the entrance, a flurry of screeches are followed by almost a dozen humanoid mutants swarming the place and murdering everything in sight. It saves me a bit of trouble, but also means I need to deal with the disgusting things now sprinting toward me.
Metro Exodus might look like a first-person shooter, but relying solely on your firearms will lead to the wasteland eating you up and spitting you right back out. Your weapons simply aren’t powerful or reliable enough for you to march in like Master Chief and emerge victorious.
Instead, you must take your time with every single encounter, opting for the silent approach whenever possible to avoid wasting medkits and other valuable resources. Gunplay isn’t especially strong, but the myriad systems that surround it make things far more bearable.
Artyom’s saving grace is his rucksack, which I imagine is horrendously heavy with all that he manages to pack in there. A press of the button brings up an interface that allows you to craft items, ammo and customise your weapons with different attachments. You’ll need to visit a workbench to craft the best stuff, but this is still an essential tool in your arsenal.
It’s wonderfully integrated, showcasing one of many examples where 4A Games has achieved something I didn’t expect: morphing its shooter template into a place far larger than in previous iterations. It isn’t perfect, but is so achingly immersive it’s hard not to be blown away.
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Metro Exodus is heavily inspired by Half-Life, a homage that becomes immediately obvious upon coming across a vehicle in the desert. My dilapidated vengabus was in poor condition, but served as an ideal vessel for exploring the wasteland and mowing down mutants.
While my primary objective was clearly marked, small radio messages and clever environmental cues make exploring the wider environment a necessity. That, and there’s so many excellent touches waiting out of sight. Abandoned shacks and remnants of the civilization long left behind are exquisitely placed, retaining the world-building I was worried might be sacrificed with a larger setting.
Now let’s talk about the spiders – there are so many spiders. This section takes you away from the sprawling desert for the better part of an hour to explore an underground bunker in search of archaic documents. Sadly, an influx of sand and lack of light makes it the perfect home for giant nocturnal creepy-crawlies.
Exodus still revels in claustrophobia, making the player feel insecure to the point of paranoia. Sinking into this bunker did exactly that, causing me to play an exhausting game of cat-and-mouse with my flashlight as spiders desperately tried to ambush me. My arachnophobia got the best of me, as I hurled molotovs about with reckless abandon.
Linear sections such as these are juxtaposed perfectly with the wider world’s ambitious freedom, providing the game with a pace that encourages exploration while ensuring you remain focused on the unfolding narrative. It remains to be seen whether the entire game possesses this quality, but for now it’s hugely promising.
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I also spent a brief amount of time in the Autumn season, which is a stark contrast to what comes before it. While I won’t spoil any specific story beats, it begins with you losing your equipment and being left with nothing but a crossbow.
Emphasising the survival elements allows Metro Exodus to shine, putting exploration and resource management above the so-so gunplay. Precariously stumbling through abandoned shacks and dispatching enemies one by one is an absolute joy, regardless of how strangely morbid that sounds.
My time with Metro Exodus came to a conclusion after I wandered into a clearing filled with wolves, presumably mutated by the ample radiation around them. Before I could gather myself, a gargantuan beast roared past them, tearing through canines as it went. I had no idea what it was, but knew that it stood between me and my mission.
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Metro Exodus feels like the culmination of 4A Game’s ambition for the novel’s adaptation, coming to a crescendo of innovation that builds upon everything that makes the series so special.
Exploring its broken rendition of Russia is a delight, no longer confined by the dark, dank subways with brief glimpses of the outside. Instead, you’re free to do as you like, working toward an impossible solution.
Small niggles aside, I can’t wait to experience Metro Exodus in its entirety, even if it leads me to facing my fears and finally saying goodbye to characters I’ve followed since 2010.
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