Metro Exodus / Enhanced Edition

Overview

Metro Exodus is a post-apocalypse survival-based first-person shooter and is the third entry in the Metro series. Unlike the two games before it, Metro Exodus features more of an open-world structure across several different areas.

Story

Following the events of Metro: Last Light, Artyom becomes disillusioned with the political and social structures in the metro system and beings making regular excursions to the surface with a radio to search for outside broadcasts from other survivors. He begins hearing faint signals, but is unable to clearly receive the messages.

On one such excursion, Artyom and his wife Anna witness a train traveling along a railway and are apprehended by soldiers from Hansa, one of the major metro civilizations and an adversary of the Spartan Order to which the two belong. During their escape, the two accidentally disable a radio jammer that had secretly been blocking outside broadcasts from reaching Moscow, causing a flood of messages from around the world to pour in.

With the help of Yermak, himself a disillusioned Hansa resident, Artyom and Anna escape aboard the train and are nearly captured again when Colonel Miller and his Spartans intercept and save them. Miller reveals he knew about the radio jammers. According to Miller, the war that destroyed the world is still ongoing, justifying the jammers as a way to isolate and protect Moscow. The Spartans discuss returning to the metro to reveal this truth to its residents, but believing that Hansa will have them executed for what they've done, decide the only course of action is to proceed towards the Ark, where the last remnants of Russia's government is believed to be holed up.

Gameplay

Much like the previous two games, Metro Exodus has a strong emphasis on survival mechanics. While exploring, players must be mindful of their supply of ammunition, healing supplies, and other items like air filters and throwables.

Combat

In his travels, Artyom encounters human and mutant enemies that can be engaged loudly or stealthily. Artyom carries with him a backpack that is used to change weapon attachments and to craft simple items. Every weapon in the game can be outfitted with a variety of barrels, stocks, optics, magazines, and laser sights. These are acquired by dismantling weapons found in the environment or on dead enemies. Every weapon the player picks up is permanently added to Artyom's collection back at the train. The train is the only location where the player can change their equipped weapons aside from swapping them in the field.

As a weapon is used, it will begin to accumulate dirt that will eventually cause it to start jamming. Weapons can be cleaned at workbenches found throughout each region. These workbenches also allow the player to craft ammunition and are often accompanied by a bed that allows the player to sleep till day or night.

Radiation is less of an issue in Metro Exodus due to it taking place outside of Moscow, but there are still areas that necessitate the use of a gas mask. The air filter on the mask must be swapped every few minutes while in use. As the player takes damage, the mask may become damaged to the point where Artyom begins to suffocate. Holes in the mask can be quick-fixed in the field using tape, limiting the player's vision. Repairing the mask proper requires a workbench.

Exploration

Each region of Metro Exodus is a self-contained open world environment with locations to explore. The player can use binoculars to identify locations to be marked on the map, such as bandit camps, ruined structures for looting, and safe houses. Some of the game's regions have vehicles to facilitate travel, such as a row boat or a van, as well as ziplines to allow for a quick and safe descent from tall structures. There is a day/night cycle that affects ease of stealth and in some cases the type of enemies in the environment, as well as a dynamic weather system.

Expansions

The Two Colonels

After Artyom and Colonel Miller split up in Novosibirsk, Miller sets off alone into the Metro to find a satellite map detailing the location and radioactivity of Lake Baikal. He is guided over a radio by a young boy named Kirill, the lone survivor of a devastating war that took place in the city's Metro.

The Two Colonels features the boy's father, Lieutenant-Colonel Slava Khlebnikov, as the protagonist during the final year of the Novosibirsk Metro's life. Khlebnikov, an officer in the station's OSKOM military police force, directs his men on excursions deep into the Metro to burn away an invasive organic slime that periodically spreads throughout the tunnels.

Meanwhile, the station has begun running low on "green stuff," an anti-radiation medicine that had been sustaining the Metro's population beneath the heavily radiated ruins of Novosibirsk. OSKOM begins confiscating excess supplies of "green stuff" from residents, causing discontent.

Unable to solve the "green stuff" shortage, OSKOM announces an evacuation of the Metro. At the same time, a civil war erupts between the Metro's residents and OSKOM. During the battle, Khlebnikov witnesses OSKOM General Tolya releasing poison gas into the Metro. In the ensuing confrontation, Tolya reveals that enough "green stuff" remains to sustain OSKOM's leadership only, and the poison gas is their attempt to mercy kill the residents on their way out.

General Toyla commits suicide after learning that the evacuation has left without him, and Khlebnikov survives the battle. Disillusioned with OSKOM and determined to save his son, he sets out into a bunker in the city ruins to find a the satellite map of Lake Baikal. He successfully retrieves the map, but succumbs to radiation poisoning shortly thereafter.

One month later, Colonel Miller, having followed Khlebnikov's journey, finds the colonel's body and retrieves the map.

Sam's Story

Following the end of Metro Exodus, the American member of the Spartans, Samuel Taylor, decides to leave the crew to pursue his dream of finding passage back to the United States to reunite with his father. He sets out alone in the crew's van and reaches Vladivostok.

On the outskirts of Vladivostok, Sam encounters a Captain named Eduard Baranov, who points Sam to an operational nuclear submarine sitting in the harbor. Baranov was the commander of the submarine during the war that destroyed the world, and explains that he never allowed any of its missiles to fire.

Sam is shortly thereafter captured by some men who take him to the submarine, where he meets another American named Tom. Tom has a plan to refuel the submarine and use its nuclear arsenal as power projection, promising to take Sam to San Diego if he helps accomplish this task.

Sam ventures out into the ruins of Vladivostok with the help of Captain Baranov. The two are eventually successful in retrieving the fuel rods needed to power the submarine. On the way back, Baranov reveals that the fuel rods have a built-in self-destruct mechanism designed to eliminate any chance of the submarine being captured, and asks Artyom to consider detonating the charges to prevent Tom from having access to the craft's intact arsenal.

Upon returning to the submarine, one of Tom's former subordinates, Krim, launches an attack. Krim had grown disillusioned with Tom's philosophy of power projection, believing instead that the nuclear weapons on board should be used offensively right away. Sam helps put down the attack as Tom and Captain Baranov sail out into the harbor.

Depending on the player's choice, Sam can either board the submarine and travel to the United States, or detonate the fuel rods and sink it.

Enhanced Edition

Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, free to all owners of the original game, was released for PC on May 6, 2021. The Enhanced Edition adds support for DLSS 2.0 and includes fully ray traced lighting.