As the gaming industry enters in to the new year, there seems to be a common theme where developers are continuing their previous stories compared to creating stand-alone releases. Metro Exodus by 4A Games seems have continued their plot as well. For those that want a more in depth plot to accompany the game play, this is fantastic.
After the end of Metro: Last Night and Metro: 2033, this release picks up to continue in a post-apacolyptic wasteland. Players are in the role of Artyom who is leaving Moscow to trek the lands with Spartan Rangers. While most survivors are content to live and die in the metro system, Artyom risks his life to find and save people on the outside.
The Metro series has always been defined by a feeling of hopelessness and inevitability. This entry actually has much more of an optimistic viewpoint. Artyom can not simply sit back and live a hopeless life at the end of the world. He is not looking for some lost family member or some secret cure that will solve all of the world’s problems. He is simply searching for a better life that he believes is truly out there.
Visually, Metro: Exodus looks gorgeous. A player may not always find the beauty in nuclear winter but the world an even the weather is stunning. This game also introduces a day and night cycle. Features added such as this are not just for show because missions may become harder depending on what time of day you decide to complete them in.
Compared to Far Cry New Dawn, the post-apocalyptic world in Metro: Exodus, the environment is dark and dreary in the nuclear winter. Animals are mutated and powerful, ready to kill anything in their path but this is just part of the world now. New Dawn, however, has a glowing setting. The skies are blue, the animals are reminiscent of what the world was at one point in time, nothing like a nuclear wasteland that it more than likely should be and the enemies are mostly human. Not in Exodus. The game gives you just enough hopelessness to pull you further into the story, to make it feel real to the situation.
No matter what type of apocalypse you want to play in, Metro: Exodus is by far plenty to look at in a more realistic way. The journey will captivate anyone who plays even in such a drastic environment. This plot will make you feel like you have a part in truly changing the lives of characters and making a step to have a better world one day. Exodus is definitely nothing short of thrilling.
8/10
Available on: PC, Xbox One, PS4
