Into the Light--Metro: Exodus

The Metro series exists in a bit of a weird place for me--I have enjoyed the games, but for some reason, I just don't think of them a lot.  There were parts of the game that I really liked and others that I don't enjoy as much (I used to enjoy horror/jump scare games, but not so much now).  One of the major titles that had made its way to Game Pass was Metro:  Exodus, the latest chapter in the Metro series.  Even though I was a little hesitant, I am happy to report that it's a great game and my personal favorite of the entire series.  If you have Game Pass it's definitely worth checking out (and the monster 70 gig download).

It had been quite awhile since I had played the previous games in the Metro series (Metro:  2033 and Metro:  Last Light).  I was a little bit hazy on the exact details of the previous games--I remembered the very dark and mutant infested tunnels of the Russian metro; I remembered that there were aspects of survival-oriented games--limited resources and the need to be cautious with them; and I remembered many creepy jump scares.  When it came to the story, that part was hazier.  I vaguely remember the main character Artyom, harboring an insane belief that life could potentially return to the supposedly uninhabitable surface.  There were also some sort of supernatural-like influences.

Even a swampy, ruined landscape manages to be beautiful.

The good news is that even if you have no experience with the previous games, it really doesn't matter.  Exodus keeps the mainstays of the gameplay from the previous games but moves the story out of the metro and across various environments scattered around Russia.  Early on, while on a routine patrol above ground, Artyom and his wife Anna encounter a hostile patrol from an opposing faction--they get captured and find themselves in a vehicle with two other people who inform them that they had been living several hundred kilometers outside of Moscow.  Life outside the city is possible!  The tutorial/intro sequence features Artyom escaping from his imprisonment by the Hansa.  He searches for Anna, finds her, and then discovers a train and an engineer who offers to help them escape.  In the Hansa base they also discover a huge secret--people have been living outside of Moscow for quite some time but Moscow has been jamming all radio signals into the city.  No one is supposed to know about the possibility of life outside the city, so the Hansa has been executing all outsiders.  After an intense sequence of fighting off guards, Artyom, Anna, and the engineer escape aboard the train.  Shortly thereafter they are boarded by some scary figures who turn out to be none other than the gruff Colonel Miller and the rest of the Spartans (Artyom's friends from the elite Metro fighting unit).  The gig is up and the crew can't return to Moscow, so they have no choice but to travel outside the confines of Moscow.  The story follows the crew as they attempt to find a safe place to settle down...which turns out to be much more difficult than they though due to both human and environmental factors.

Pros:
+ After two games of traversing through the claustrophobic, dark tunnels of the metro system, Exodus finally takes players into the beautiful, open-world.  This doesn't mean that there's not a serious creepy factor, but it's much more bearable.  The game takes place in several open-world locations, but also has several areas that are more linear.  I really loved the openness of the world and the added exploration aspect--there are various locations that players can choose to check out in each area.  While exploring is optional, it's recommended because most of the gear items I found were located in camps or other areas that were off the beaten path.

The rapidly drying Caspian Sea region.

+ The Metro series has always looked amazing, but Exodus is downright gorgeous.  Each area has its own unique type of beauty.  Even the darker, freakier parts of the game are perfectly crafted to convey a sense of foreboding.

+ Exodus has a great story that hinges on the crew trying to find someplace safe to settle.  They quickly learn that finding the right location is no easy task as there are plenty of human, mutant, and radiation related challenges that have spread around Russia.  The story sees the crew working to overcome these challenges (and others that I won't mention because of spoilers).

A peaceful moment in camp.

+ The Metro series has always done a great job of portraying everyday life in the apocalypse and showing very human moments in the stretches between missions.  Exodus continues this trend and builds on it.  Between missions you can spend time on your mobile base, a steam locomotive that the crew names the Aurora.  You can interact with the various crew members and hear their thoughts on the current situation or get some insight into their backstories.  There are also certain sidequests where crewmembers ask you to search for specific items which then appear on the train.  The train is also stocked with a workbench where you can customize your weapon and gear loadout.

+ The gameplay in the series hasn't changed drastically, it's still an interesting blend of stealth and shooting.  In many shooting games I absolutely hate it when they throw stealth into the formula.  In Metro, they've somehow managed to make it somewhat necessary (the survival aspect of the games has meant that you have limited resources and have to figure out the best way to conserve those resources--stealth kills require no resources, so are the best way to efficiently take out enemies) and also fun.  The good news is that there have been several items added to Artyoms loadout which are very handy--nightvision goggles help to brighten up the darker areas; various upgrades can be found and installed on Artyom's gauntlet--a compass to show the direction of the current objective, a metal detector to help find loot, or a motion detector to help with stealth.  One of the best improvements in the game is the fact that Artyom is equipped with a backpack that can turn into a mobile workbench--this means Artyom can swap out weapon parts on the fly and craft some consumable items (but not all items--ammo requires the use of an actual workbench).

+Survival aspects are still present.  Artyom doesn't get to cast off his handy (or annoying) gas mask--there are still lingering areas of radiation.  Gear also degrades with damage and exposure to the environment--the gas mask will spring cracks and eventually holes if not repaired.  In Exodus weapons also require periodic cleaning to function efficiently (which must be done at a workbench).  Dirty weapons frequently jam and can be a pain during intense periods of combat.  Keeping a stockpile of gas mask filters is also a constant need.

Anna enjoys some downtime on the Aurora.

+ Collectibles.  There are postcards scattered around the world.  They are small and very hard to find (I think I found 2 or maybe 3 and purely by luck).  If you're into collectibles and want a challenge, avoid looking up a guide and try to find them all on your own.

+Old and new foes.  The old, familiar mutants from the first two games make an appearance, but the various areas of the world are populated with other equally or more frightening foes.  The human population is also chocked full of bandits and other loonies to kill.  There are several very large and unique monsters (of the type that you should completely avoid).

Creepy....

+ Photo mode.  I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of having the ability to hide the ui, use unique filters, and pause to enjoy the beautifully crafted environments and moments in games.  Exodus features this ability and I snapped up several nice screenshots.

Cons:
- Crashes.  I played through the entire first (and possibly second if I am remembering the sequence correctly) area with no performance issues.  The game ran great and I was impressed with the graphical details.  The problems started with my arrival in the desert region of the game--I would periodically experience sudden lockups and crashes which began happening on a specific part of the main story but then were happening in the open world.  I Googled this issue and found that others had also had problems with crashing.  Apparently it is linked to DirectX12 (I had similar issues in Shadow of the Tomb Raider that were also linked to DX12).  The weird part about Game Pass is that there is no startup menu or option to switch the game into DX11 (I learned that DX11 is the "safe mode" that you will be prompted to use to start the game after a crash in the Game Pass version).  I didn't have issues in the DX11 version, but could only switch the version after a crash.  Oddly enough, I turned down motion blur (from high to medium) in DX12 and the crashing problem seemed to go away.

-Annoying loading screen upon startup/quitting.  It's a fun feature to make the loading screen change based on events taking place in the game.  It's not fun to have to sit through a slow loading screen just to wait for a screen that you will spend one minute or less on.  I found the "applying changes" screen obnoxious and wish it was gone.  I'm fine with one simple startup menu and don't need all the fanciness of a changing startup screen.  I also like to just be able to quit directly to desktop from the game and not having to go through the startup menu.

- I mentioned photo mode as a pro, but the con is that the Game Pass version (and, I think I read all PC versions) doesn't have a built-in capture button.  I had to use the Xbox overlay to snap my screenshots.  Maybe they intended that players use their own screenshot application, but I know that some players don't like using a bunch of overlays.

Recommendation:
I personally found Exodus to be the best game in the Metro series, which is sadly underrated.  If you have Game Pass I would definitely recommend putting it on your wishlist and checking it out (the remastered versions of the first two games are also on Game Pass if you want to play the whole series).  The open world of Exodus is a nice change to the series but it still manages to keep most of the core elements that are central to Metro.