Metro Exodus Day 1 Edition - PlayStation 4

A very good game that plays well. Lots of fun and is not to difficult to play through.

First off, let’s take a minute to observe that the Metro series has, and most likely always will be, a series that’s success is built primarily on the cult following of players who’ve always had a deep love for what’s being offered with the franchise. But that’s not to say that each new entry hasn’t attempted to do something special that opens the door for new players. Not the gimmicky sort of special, but the kind that has charm and care in the details during creation - especially concerning the players immersion. 4A is by and large a AA developer, some could even consider them somewhat of an independent studio when it comes to their working conditions and team size. While this aspect definitely shows through at times in all of the Metro games, the series also operates on par with, and sometimes better than, big budget blowouts. Exodus is absolutely no different. Just like Last Light did previously, Exodus takes what came before and tries to refine the fat down, while also building upon the strengths of the series. And just like all other entries in the Metro series, Exodus releases to mixed reviews, and a somewhat bitter reception from all to the bugs that are all too familiar to a Metro release. For those new to the series: Metro is a narrative driven survival FPS, with an emphasis on SURVIVAL. While not Resident Evil, Dead Space, or The Last of us - Metro does embody elements from these sort of titles. But also brings to mind titles like Singularity, Fallout, and most importantly S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - post-apocalyptic, (mostly) stealth-driven shooters that are hellbent on immersing the player in the atmospheric wasteland, then challenging them to survive the world and it’s deadly inhabitants. Metro leans more towards the horror outings with its creature designs and dreadful tones. Previous Metro titles focused more on linear and claustrophobic levels, whereas Exodus allows the player to exit the confines of the Metro underground and explore semi-open world wastelands, each broken up by the four seasons, as well offering completely different environments. This isn’t to say the linear and claustrophobic environments aren’t still preserved. In fact, Exodus does a good job funneling it’s levels down into some intense areas that operate just like previous titles. The open environments still leave the player open for encounters out in the wild, these tend to feel a little less intense, and sometimes frustrating depending on the enemy behaviors. Human enemies can be rather dumb. And the creatures tend to be viscous and overbearing. Though these issues aren’t all encompassing of the game, nor do they really break immersion. Gunplay has never been priority in Metro, as opposed to the overall feel of the experience, but they do their job in feeling pretty good to shoot. Especially some of the more creative weapon build outs. Those who have played Metro Redux know the gunplay can feel comfortable and good, though that wasn’t always the case - and the same goes again with Exodus. The guns feel good and do their job, but the perfection of the aim falls apart at distances, and sometimes when playing stealthy. Some frustrations came from the lack of pulling off a headshot, even though you had the enemy lined up perfectly. This is an area I’d personally like to see patched up, and soon, as the guns are great and would be even better with precision. Players looking for action, twitch type gunplay will find themselves disappointed with Metro, as the series is focused on more concentrated and paced out scenarios - survival scenarios. This by and large plays into movement too. Metro is not creamy or crunchy, but more janky, like...Fallout, though with a better emphasis on gun control and button mapping. Speaking of movement, the character is definitely more of a tank - despite the sound design saying different - thus even running will make you feel like gravity is hugging you in it’s entirety. This is to translate the reality of the character to the player, and it definitely works. Right up until you take your feet off the trail and into the sticks - this is when movement gets a little sticky and the character hangs up on literally everything. Again, I get the immersion factor here, but in this case it’s absolutely breaking the immersion - a mechanic that should’ve been streamlined for the sake of optimization. Among all of Metro’s immersion mechanics, this is really the only one I felt could go far away and never come back. The rest I found to be alright, and far from the complaints of other reviewers. Many of which seem to come from lack of holding the players hand - something that opposing reviewers have knocked the game for. But by and large, most complaints that I see against the game are features overlooked by the player. As mentioned, Metro is a game that likes immersion, therefore HUD elements are greatly reduced to be non-existent, and instead incorporated onto the character - much like Dead Space. Most of these features are put on the wrist of the character in the form of watches/bands. Most importantly is the compass, which will always point you towards your waypoint. This is not given immediately, but instead a little later on after the tutorial period. Right from the start you will have a radiation gauge on your wrist, so you can monitor areas where a gas mask is needed. The map seems to be a tricky thing for some players, but fear not THERE IS A MAP, and the map does tell you what your main mission is if you flip it over. Main objectives are marked with a big X on the map, while side missions will show up as smaller (!) marks on the map - the player is absolutely free to approach what they want, however they desire - with only 1 or 2 being a little confusing at first. Side Missions will provide you with game-changing gear in some circumstances, so they’re worth doing, not to mention they’re nothing exhausting. Crafting is another fantastic addition that can be easily overlooked by both old and new players. Your backpack and crafting tables should be taken advantage of, especially if you’re a player that’s finding themself short of supplies or bullets. You can craft everything needed at these 2 places - the backpack is great for building a lot of survival supplies on the fly: health, air filters, ball bearing ammo, arrows, and other similar items to keep you going. And the tables will permit the player to get into deeper customizations and crafting. But most importantly is guns. You can pick up and put down any gun you comes across, as well as dissemble them for parts and ammo. Players can carry 2 guns and 1 specialty gun (I.E. Air Pressure gun or Crossbow) and all guns can be altered with parts found, or just to your heart’s content, straight out of the backpack. Overall, there’s a lot of greatness to be experienced in Metro Exodus, especially if you’re a fan of the series. A vast beautiful, and atmospheric game full of tense moments, as well as adventurous moments into the wild open environments to find crafting items and lore. The gameplay is great blend of survival and gunplay. It offers a stylistic blend of horror and post-apocalyptic sci-fi to immerse players in the story of Artyom and his family of merry misfits that have just emerged from the underground. Though it’s not to say the game comes without some shortcomings upon release. Hiccups and bugs are definitely present, though I personally haven’t experienced anything game breaking in my playthroughs...yet. Load times are a little too long, though as some have said - it’s mainly when booting the game up into the first gameplay of the day, or if you reset the game. The load times are a little shorter between deaths, though I’ve had a few bouts of waiting that were near 2 minutes, and that’s a little ridiculous in-between deaths. My biggest gripes are toward the lack of precision in gunplay/shooting, and getting hung up on the environment when exploring off the path. Those 2 really broke immersion for me and became frustrating at times - looking at you sticky environment. The gunplay issue can be compensated for once the player learns the guns, but it’s still something that’d really help if it were fixed. But knowing 4A Games is basically a AA developer with the skeleton framing of an independent studio, they’ve really done a fantastic job building a AAA experience, and hopefully with a little time we’ll see these minor issues with Exodus get tightened up properly for players in the fence waiting.

Prior to playing this game, I played the first two games and I loved them. Naturally, I had high expectations for Exodus and while it is a very good game, it does have its faults. Unlike the first two games which were very linear, this game decides to go more open world at times. In my opinion, these are the worst parts of the game as I really enjoyed the linearity of the first two as it helped me get immersed in the world and provided some good scares along the way and the open world levels don’t really capture that same feeling. Aside from those levels, the rest of the game is amazing in terms of story, characters and gameplay and these things are kept me entertained through my play time of this game. If you’re a fan of the first two, you’ll still like this one even though there are some annoying levels so I highly recommend it.

Taking this game solely on face value and having no previous knowledge of the series.....the game is great. Challenging, engaging, and wonderful mechanics. Although lines are cheesy, and story is predictable it's still enjoyable to see a non Western post apocalyptic game hit the mainstream. For metro fans although.....it's a okay entry and feels more of a case grab then a true conclusion to the series. Although the first two games are cult classics clearly the company wanted to earn money on the conclusion. The supernatural aspects are all but gone. There is no mention of the actions that occured in the first two games. Also, many of the story elements not only feel cheap but a slap in the face to the rest of the games. As a sole entry with someone having no background to the series it's a 8 out of 10. As a long standing fan of the series....7 out of 10.

This video game would have received a five stars if the load times were quicker, but putting that aside it is a fun and consuming game. It is a bit full world ability to wander and explore a bit. I enjoy the graphics and the ability to modify my weapons. Try and be a bit conservative with your med kits and ammo, you might find youself in a fix and have to run like hell to get to safety. I have been playing for a few days, I may have about 15-20 hours into it. The length of this game is dependent on how much exploring for weapons and parts you do. It is a fun shooter, the Russian dialouge can be a bit funny at times. Enjoy.

This series is underrated.... if it ain’t COD then it ain’t cool nowadays I guess. I’m old school and love some good single player games, red dead, Spider-Man, Metro etc... this game is so good and plays great, oh and I can’t forget to mention “THE 4K GRAPHICS ARE THE BEST lol. Sorry, had to fit in with the kids nowadays ha ha. But seriously get the game you won’t regret it, pretty intense and smooth gameplay with a stellar story!

This game isn't bad at all. But could use pointers to guide the player on the objective at hand like where to find certain items and what to do to progress the story. For instance on more than one occasion several to be exact I had to go on Youtube for help just to find out what to do to progress the story like find a generator to restore power to an elevator lift. Things like that and the unnecessarily long load times between maps make for a less than perfect score. The graphics and gameplay are solid though but sometimes the game is too confusing.

Metro Exodus is a much needed breath of fresh air for this generation of consoles. Other than DOOM and Wolfenstein, there really haven't been many high quality story driven, SINGLE PLAYER first person shooters. The structure of Metro Exodus really reminds me of CRYSIS 2 and 3. The game is inherently linear, but you are dropped into small post-apocalyptic sand boxes that you can explore as fast or as slow as you please. Also, you can customize your guns just like in CRYSIS, adding scopes or silencers to weapons to change them and fit the situation accordingly. To me, this game is meant to be played on harder difficulties and to also be played at a slower pace. If you are run n' gun type of player, you may not appreciate what Metro Exodus has to offer. The difficulty here works both ways and I love this about the game. On hardcore mode, you will die in a few shots or a well placed sniper shot will take you out in one hit, but the enemies will also go down just as fast. Put one round in an enemies unprotected head, or two to three shots to an unarmored chest and your (human) enemies drop like flies. Its extremely satisfying to kill enemies with well placed stealth shots and take downs and even when things go loud you can hold your ground if you are smart enough to run and keep moving so the enemies cant find you. The graphics are incredible and the fantastic lighting only makes things look even prettier. Your weapons are very detailed and feel as realistic as they could be in a post nuclear era. NPCs look moderate to great, their animation is kind of stiff and their faces don't display emotion very well, but it gets the job done. The mutants roaming the wasteland pose more of a threat at night time, and they are meant to be avoided when possible. I found myself sneaking around them or taking them out from far away with silent head shots. The game is not perfect though, sometimes your character will get stuck on things in the environment and he will slow down, I guess they added this for more realism, but its just kind of annoying. I also had a save bug where the game was not saving checkpoints or letting me use the quick save feature, so I just killed my character and reloaded and never saw the bug pop up again. The sensitivity settings for gun movement and aiming needed fine tuning when I first started playing, they felt really slow and slightly clunky, but after awhile I got used to them. An update with most if not all bugs addressed would really help this game, but overall a decent experience.