Review for Metro Exodus. Game for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Google Stadia, the video game was released on 15/02/2019
Metro Exodus it really needs no introduction, given the fame and the large slice of aficionados that the post-apocalyptic shooting saga has gained over time. For the haggard who ignore the roots of the saga, the videogame dynasty originates from the stories of the Russian writer Dmitry Gluchovsky, whose first chapter (homogeneously to the videogame saga, Metro 2033) was released in digital version in 2002, only to appear in paper version and spread evenly between 2005 and 2010. Compared to the strong competition, the electro-playful saga by THQ Nordic has always been characterized by the often shapeless plethora of shooter / survival precisely for the masterful script and the dark and desperate atmospheres, which have made each chapter of the series a great little masterpiece of videogame entertainment.
Will the new chapter succeed in plunging us back into a devastated and dying Moscow? Let's find out together.
Has humanity lost?
If we wanted to playfully define Metro Exodus, we could label it as a first-person shooter in a post-nuclear setting with survival elements. The story offered by the title is chronologically set two years after the events that occurred in Metro: Last Light, the second chapter of the saga, and inspired by the novel "Metro 2035" by the aforementioned Russian artist. The protagonist is always ours, heroic Artyom who, after having faced significant ups and downs and potentially overturning choices, finds himself reluctantly forced to leave the dark tunnels of the metro in search of a new homeland, this time in the sunlight. This partial dilution of the burdensome playful atmosphere - already lightly applied also in Metro: Last Light - is easily “breathable” even when looking at the playful plot. The Metro Exodus story line, while obviously of high scriptural quality, will be a bit different from the past in scope and intent. Although the map and the game missions are strewn with dangers and horrors old and new, the progress of the tale will surely tend towards brighter and more normal shores than the dark desperation and the absolute unknown that was the paradigm of the previous adventures.
If in the past Artyom had to deal with pseudo-paranormal beings and travels to the limit of reality, in Exodus our hero will basically be called upon to face a "more ordinary" reconquest of the surface, inhabited in various ways by humans and pseudo-such . This premise leads us to the first big news of the game: Exodus will in fact be set up as an open world title, in which we will be able to freely explore maps rather large and full of points of interest, between dungeons full of mutants and camps of violent bandits. It should be noted that we will not have the entire map available from the beginning, but it will gradually unlock as we proceed with the main missions of the game. Although this is a mechanical addition of certain value, which undoubtedly takes a step forward in the saga in terms of gameplay, the "worshipers" of claustrophobia and the sense of continuous danger of the first chapters will probably remain a little banned from advancing more relaxed than the new chapter.
Bandits, mutants and demons
However, the novel open world orientation is not the only novelty of the game: Metro Exodus introduces in fact, for the first time in the dark epic of the series, a solid and sufficiently structured crafting sector which, even if not absolutely original, will be consistent with the "desperately" survival context of ludo. The title will allow us to spruce up our character with specific weapons and armor, which will also be partially modifiable through various components that we will be able to find during the game, and can be used by accessing the inventory or one of the many work tables scattered around the map. The concept behind the changes is as simple as it is interesting: starting from a few basic models (at the beginning, for example, we will only be able to track down Kalashnikovs, revolvers and the like), we will be able to obtain weapons of different types and classes thanks to the possibility of modifying the main sections of each instrument of death.
Here, by adding a long barrel, an optical sight and a suitable stock, a revolver can easily transform into a practical post-apocalyptic sniper rifle. As it was already possible to notice in previous chapters, in Metro Exodus there will not be many weapons aesthetically speaking, but we will have substantially many possibilities to detail the weapons available to make them more suited to our purpose and adapt them to the context of the moment. Dwelling on the "weapons" topic, the general gunplay has undergone a visible technical upgrade compared to the past, offering obviously not simulative dynamics but which give a certain flavor of realism especially when we will test various components on our weapons, the effects of which will be visible not only "coldly" through special menus but also and above all in the field. However, the crafting sector does not end here: in the game world it will be possible to track down a series of basic mechanical and chemical resources - through the exploration of ruins and places of interest - from which we will be able to obtain useful tools such as medi-kits or extra filters, as well as to be able to proceed with the maintenance of the weapons which will get dirty, with consequent loss of power.
The train of hope
As already mentioned, during the game we will face various types of enemies, including bandits, mutates and "demons" of various kinds, which will offer a good level of challenge even if they will not shine for intelligence. In general, the AI of the game is not particularly elaborate and we will often see "inexplicable" behaviors even at the highest difficulties, such as enemies who stop chasing us for no reason or who, in a flash, do not notice our presence (not even if we point a laser directly in their faces). The question, in addition to naturally impacting the overall difficulty of the game, which will be really challenging only to the maximum degree possible, will also have a significant weight on the general immersion and horror atmosphere of the 4A Games title.
Open World and Crafting could lead to imagine a "revolution" of the title towards fallout shores, but it is not so: Metro Exodus keeps intact or almost its soul as a pure First Person Shooter, alternating phases of "heavy firing" with sections dedicated to Stealth as it had already done in the past. Is gender failure a negative or a positive issue? In reality, adding a greater role role to the play experience would certainly have given greater depth to the title, which has certainly taken a step forward compared to the past, but in a less "courageous" way than it could have been. Potentially Metro Exodus could have been the perfect center of a hypothetical segment at the extremes of which we find Fallout and STALKER: the role / shooting balance of the first together with the narratively desperate and violent universe of the second. In reality, the chapter in question stands as a sort of "unfinished" transition, the result of an evolution of the saga softly planned, probably in order to be more easily digested by longtime fans accustomed to the canons of old school shooters.
The cold of the world
Technically speaking, the 4A Games title is certainly a high quality product. The wastelands of post-apocalyptic Russia have been represented quite well and will partially vary in terms of biome composition as well. For example, we will pass from the "classic" snow-covered and dead lands to desert areas, all in a natural change of baton that will not be excessively forced. The game was tested with a medium / high level gaming rig (I7 6700 K, 16 GB of Ram, 1070 OC) and at various resolutions. From the test it was easy to see the excellent programming work done by the developers, which allowed the game to maintain a rather solid frame and not the victim of excessive swings based on the chosen orientation. For example, a solid 30-frame 4K frame was achieved with medium details, with little or no noticeable drops in fluidity.
In general, the quality of Metro Exodus is certainly on a par with a canonical triple A even if it does not escape some imperfections. First of all, it is quite easy to find sub-toned textures especially with regard to secondary scenic objects, such as inaccessible buildings or tree trunks, which will burst into the negative in the valuable impact that the general setting has. Always focusing attention on graphic details, the textures of the enemy models will be quite repetitive and will be reduced to a few different types in total: although it is not exactly a "game break" problem, killing the exact same mutant changed only in color two / three times in a row, it won't exactly help make the dive more vivid. It will be so easy to spot enemies in situations bordering on the "comic", such as lurkers stuck in car wrecks or bandits walking in midair on the edge of buildings. Of course, these issues will almost certainly be resolved with the release of post-launch patches.
Metro Exodus is a sure step forward in the series, which has finally made its entry into the open world, partially freeing itself from the old-school FPS concepts. In addition, the playful possibilities offered by crafting and deeper exploration give the title greater depth, which preserves its dark atmosphere (almost) intact. The game, however, remains a great playful “what if”, and to all effects more a transition chapter than the definitive consecration to popular acclaim. With a little more courage probably, we will be facing a new benchmark in the hybrid Shooting / RPG sector.
► Metro Exodus is an Adventure-Shooter game developed by THQ Nordic and published by Deep Silver for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Google Stadia, the game was released on 15/02/2019
