The Caspian sun.
Metro Exodus is the third entry in the Metro series developed by Ukrainian developer 4A Games. These titles are set in a post-apocalpytic Moscow crawling with mutants and strange factions. As protagonist Arytom, you're not a superhero, nor are you engaging in the standard FPS power fantasy. Bullets are scarce; much of the surface air is toxic, so you have to budget your filters for your gas mask, which can be damaged. You are equipped with a hand pump flashlight that even on maximum charge provides little light in the pitch-black metro. These games are loaded with atmosphere; even some of the standard tropes of the genre are fresher due to the incredible artistry and graphical fidelity of Exodus. Instead of lingering in the metro, this time Arytom and his gang of special ops soldiers find themselves on a bullet train speeding through the dilapidated countryside, having just discovered that life continues past the nuclear wastes of Moscow. This is a solo journey, however; your buddies are there just for a little flavor. And that's fine. Exodus isn't quite an open world game, but you are given more freedom than ever before. You start your journey in the swamps of the Volga, surrounded by religious zealots who worship a giant, mutant catfish. From there you continue to the Caspian deserts, where you battle sand-colored mutants and raiders lifted from Mad Max. The forested Taiga was my favorite biome, with its Slavic forests and homicidal bear. The final sequence is in Novosibirsk, called the Dead City, an incredibly creepy bombed out waste populated by ghosts and blind, psychic gorillas. Sounds pretty wild, eh? There is also a section in Novosibirsk where you have to paddle a boat through an underground canal infested with twenty foot long leaches which had me squirming in my seat.
The City of the Dead.
This isn't a game like Doom or Half-Life that feels good to play. Moving is awkward for Arytom, since he's a soldier weighed down by a heavy pack. Guns are modifiable but have realistic recoil. Even on normal difficulty, Arytom goes down after a couple of bullets. There's quite a few instances where control is taken away from the player, which I normally hate, but it's not abused too often. Sometimes you'll have a QTE if a monster jumps on you. There's some general wonkiness. The game crashed several times. I even had my computer power down automatically, which I initially blamed on Metro, but I've had a few stability issues that are either power supply or cooling related, so I don't think Exodus will blow up your PC. It's a great single player shooter, one of the best I've played in a while. You can check it out on Epic Games store or Microsoft Game Pass.
More screenshots for your viewing pleasure:
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