The story is set in the year 2035, one year after the good ending of Last Light, and focuses on Artyom's quest to leave the post-apocalyptic Russian Metro system. Convinced that there are still survivors on the surface despite the toxic conditions, Artyom commandeers a locomotive called the "Aurora" and sets out on a journey across Russia.
Exodus makes a lot of big and small changes to the series established formula, the most major being the shift from confined dark tunnels to open wilderness. I had hoped to eventually see a working train in the Metro series but never expected it to be on the surface. The "Aurora" acts as a hub area and the game takes great pains to make the train feel like a home, a sanctuary, and instill a sense of ownership in the player. Everything the player has, from inventory items to the individual train cars, has to be stolen, crafted, and fought for. In-between mission areas Artyom engages with the Aurora crew and their day-to-day activities - drinking, chatting, fighting, etc. I enjoyed the character forward approach and prefer personal narratives over some major world ending threat. A story or character reward is always something I care more about than a gameplay one, and Exodus is a great game for that with simple optional activities like finding a teddy bear for a child. She'll then proceed to carry the bear around for the remainder of the game and talk to it.
Despite the increased character focus, the game sometimes tells more than it shows, like Artyom's diary mentioning a growing friction between him and the Colonel that is rarely seen, or how Tokarev is unrequitedly in love with Anna. The Aurora's journey is also quite long for the distance traveled - 1 year to cover what should have been a 100+ hour trip by train (someone mapped the trip - not 100% accurate). I assume the Aurora crew spent most of that extra travel time fixing track and gathering supplies, but its never shown or mentioned in-game. And I have to mention the English voice acting, which isn't terrible, but there's definitely room for improvement. Like in the "Yamantau" level, Miller has a radio conversation with a government bunker official that is obviously an imposter setting a trap for the Aurora crew. Because of the voice acting, I couldn't tell if this was meant to be predictable in order to highlight how blinded by duty Miller is, or if it was meant to be a total surprise to the player and was given away by the poor voice acting. I would love to use the original Russian language, but I have trouble keeping up with the subtitles.
The game tells more than it shows.
I have been trying to get into the Metro series for some time, but something about it just never clicked with me until the final chapter of Exodus. Oh man, if only the whole game had been that good! For the first time since picking up the series, the abandoned Metro tunnels felt foreboding to me, possessing an eerily quiet atmosphere and impending sense of doom. The surface became suffocatingly toxic and disorientating in a good way. A new type of mutant called the "Blind Ones" frightened me and it was wonderful. The way they groped around, listening and sniffing the air for any hint of the player meant I never engaged them in battle and discovered how strong weak they are. My imagination filled in the blanks. What really got to me were the almost inaudible telepathic whispers to "quit hiding" and "I know you're there. I'll find you...soon." It took me a while to even realize they were talking because it was so unexpected, and it left me with so many questions: How smart are they? Are they talking to me? Do they know I can understand them? Have they encountered humans before?
The series recurring moral point system returns in a new form. Whether the player gets the "good" (Your Destination) or "bad" (Eternal Voyage) ending is dependent upon three crew members that may stay or leave based on Artyom's actions throughout the game. At least two of the three men must choose to stay to get the best ending because:
Artyom receives severe radiation poisoning, requiring a blood transfusion to save his life. If there aren't enough people to give blood, Artyom dies. Exodus even foreshadows this event at the beginning of the game, when a doctor, sick of Artyom's recklessness, warns him that "there may not be enough blood next time".
Exodus is a first-person shooter that for the first time in the series history is partly open world and set on the surface. The train makes a total of five stops, three in open areas - snow, desert, and forest. I have mixed feelings about the change. The surface areas in the Metro games were always some of the more standout moments, but they stood out because they were special occasions. Now the maps feel open for the sake of being open, leaving a lot of space devoid of anything meaningful or interesting to find. The first winter area (spring) ended up being the best mix of story and exploration, while the desert area (summer) was easily the worst offender of the "big and empty" design sin.
Another big change for the series is the switch from scavenging ammo and supplies to crafting your own, using raw materials gathered from the environment. Most essential items, like medkits and gas mask filters, can be crafted out in the field using Artyom's backpack. Bullets and most secondary weapons, such as hand grenades and molotov cocktails, require a workbench located at any of the safe houses scattered around the landscape. Because most items are now crafted, the "military grade ammunition" that was used in past entries as a form of currency is non-existent in Exodus.
The auto-save only checkpoint system is still a huge problem for the Metro series, although, it is now supplemented somewhat with a quick save option. I understand why manual saves continue to be omitted, to prevent save scumming, but the Metro games are historically too unstable to not have them and the issue has only been exacerbated by the switch to an open world design. I've had my game freeze, crash, guns vanish, vehicle doors refuse to open and more. The worst glitch I experienced was during a quest where a lighthouse lady (an important NPC) froze, preventing further progress in the mission. The only way to fix the problem was to restart the chapter and hope it didn't happen again. What really stung was that by restarting the chapter I wasn't just restarting a single mission, but the whole open world area. All those scouted locations, bandit camps, upgrades, and hours of progress - GONE!
Bugs are still an issue, made worse by the switch to an open world.
The human AI in the Metro games is well known for having its quirks, alternating between hyper aware in 2033 to totally oblivious in Last Light. Exodus generally strikes a good balance between the two, but enough AI wonkiness creeps in to become bothersome. Alerted AI is largely an improvement, moving through the environment in a panicked frenzy or methodically combing the area. They keep their heads on a swivel, rotate their bodies, and in a few scripted areas, even peak around corners. After some time has passed the guards will usually revert back to a state of calm, but there were instances where I could leave the area, wait several days and return to find the guards still on high alert. Hostile NPC awareness can also be pretty inconsistent, like when I was spotted by two NPCs with their backs to me, despite being in complete darkness and behind cover. Other times I could stand right next to a guard in front of a campfire and go completely unnoticed. There is a short video that highlights the AI anomalies pretty well - give it a look.
Enemy AI is simultaneously better and worse.
Stealth is a gameplay option that is emphasized more in Exodus than any other Metro game. By crouching and avoiding or putting out lights, the player can sneak past most guards undetected or choose to silently kill or knock out the individual. However, a common and reoccurring problem I encountered was the "Kill" and "Knock Out" prompts flashing briefly before vanishing completely. I had this happen in Last Light as well, but could still kill or knock out the guards even when the prompts weren't visible. That isn't the case in Exodus. I think what aggravates the issue further is how the player seemingly gets punished for not taking the stealthy approach, generally receiving negative outcomes and being chastised by the Aurora team. One thing I loved about the previous games was having both "stealth" and "guns blazing" as viable play options, without being told what a horrible person I was for choosing to kill hostile armed men.
Exodus is a step forward and a step back. It made a lot changes and took a lot of risks, but not all of them paid off. I enjoyed the increased focus on character interactions and relationship building but many of them felt just as abrupt as Artyom's relationship with Anna in Last Light. They also could have done more with the open world than they did. The lack of distraction was a nice change, but if there is nothing worthwhile to discover then why go open world in the first place? The best level in Exodus was, ironically, the final chapter, when the group returned to the linear tunnels underground.
First posted to videogamegeek.com
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