The Metro games have always made me admire the graphics, all the way back to Metro 2033.
And Metro Exodus does not disappoint on that factor, the demo I played through focuses on an autumn environment. But it will feature a cycle through all of the seasons, which grants us a diverse variety of visuals throughout our journey in this apocalyptic Russia.
One other thing I noticed in Exodus, as well in previous titles is the touch of minor details. Such as cleaning your mask of rain/mud, cleaning of blood from your arrows after been used (can pick up a used arrow, if not broken), cutting through the zipline rope because your stuck, etc. But the visuals, animations and environmental graphics isn’t all, what about the gameplay?
I tried the same level as IGN showcases below, I tried the demo by using mouse & keyboard first and then I tried it with an Xbox controller. (both on PC)
The gunplay runs smoothly on both Keyboard & Mouse and with an Xbox controller, the only thing that really annoyed me on the technical part, or design depends on how you put it, is the checkpoints. It is no secret that the that Metro games can be a bit of a challenge, and I can assure you, I died a lot during my playthrough. Arrows back in my head, wolves or even just a simple trap killed me. I’m not complaining about the difficulty, but I got a bit tired of fighting against the same enemies multiple times. I used about five to ten minutes fighting against a group of enemies in one area, then I sneaked past a bunch of wolves for an addition five minutes, and when I finally got past all the traps and got the cutscene, I thought finally. But no, I managed to die in the next area, and I’d had to start all over again.
Besides that, I was impressed. I could carry three different weapons, crossbow, a SMG and a pistol that worked as a shotgun? You heard that right! Blast your enemies backwards with a single shot, low ammo count, though. There is also a bunch of weapon modifications and upgrades, so be prepared to use a lot of time using the in-game user interface.
I mentioned that the ammo count was low, yes that is the case. However, you can craft ammunition, such as arrows, molotovs, bullets and so on, so remember to loot everything you can. And do not be afraid, for now, the AI is a bit stupid. As they manage to kill themselves all the time by throwing their own grenade/molotov at the wall in front of them.
The last thing I want to mention, is the nice touch of the use of elements in the game. In this case, avoiding mutated wolves and bears. For me to go from point A to point B, I could choose to run for it, or by climbing up treehouses and move myself by using the high ground. (Treehouse bridges and zip lines.)
Overall I can’t wait to see what more 4A games and Deep Silver delivers in Metro Exodus, when it releases for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox on the 22, February 2019.
