Metro Exodus is one of the games that most excited fans when it was first revealed during the Xbox conference at E3 2018. Now, over a year later, we've finally had the chance to try it out at gamescom 2018. How far have 4A Games' ambitions pushed them with this new installment?
Metro Exodus is the third game dedicated to Artyom's adventures in a Russia devastated by a nuclear war that forced the population to hide underground to escape the lethal radiation. While humans cowered like frightened rats in the depths of the Moscow metro, new and aberrant creatures appeared on the surface, lethal mutants always in search of food. In Exodus, however, we will leave the grim tunnels of the metro to travel through the boundless spaces of Mother Russia aboard a train called the Aurora.
The demo we were able to play, however, was not set on the Aurora or in a subway. We started by resurfacing from a river into which we were drowning. Saved by a mysterious woman who soon leaves us to our own devices, after making sure we are conscious. Not far from the shore, a group of houses form a kind of village. After passing the first buildings, all dilapidated and devastated by neglect and the elements, we arrive at a small bridge. On the other side, three men appear who order us not to proceed, on pain of death. Obviously, we do not follow their advice and decide to open fire. Metro Exodus is an FPS, but not one of those in which we can shower millions of bullets on enemies: every shot counts, and if we can avoid wasting some lead, it is advisable to do so. Our enemies do not even use firearms but a type of crossbow that is decidedly lethal, capable of killing us with a single shot if we remain impaled in the middle of the path.
The clash immediately becomes brutal: the enemies call out to each other, both verbally and with whistles, in order to coordinate the attack. We, on our part, soon run out of bullets and have to make do with what we find: it's out of the question to try to craft ammunition using the game's crafting system; there's no time. We steal a crossbow from a man; in any case, wherever he's going (to hell), he certainly won't need it. Armed again with a few arrows, we can resume the meticulous task of clearing the area. The important thing is to stay mobile, seize opportunities, and avoid being surrounded by enemies. Exodus, much like Metro 2033, is a game that favors an intelligent and stealthy approach over brute force. It's possible, as we did, to eliminate many enemies, but it's always preferable to go unnoticed and play slyly. The problem, in the case of the demo, is that we had no idea what to do. Artyom is equipped with a sort of compass that indicates the direction we need to take. The problem is that it doesn't indicate exactly where we need to go (just as the map doesn't; it only indicates the area we need to reach). To discover that we had to climb a tower to cross a ditch by sliding down a rope, we spent precious minutes (of the extremely limited time we had with the game). Almost immediately, a certain frustration set in, a feeling that didn't leave us for the rest of the playthrough.
After crossing the ditch, the atmosphere around us changed. Night fell, the wind picked up. In the distance, unsettling cries of predators hunting. Out of nowhere, a kind of unnaturally large bear, distinctly mutated by radiation, appeared along with a group of strange wolves. The latter immediately attacked the former, and we felt damnably exposed and in danger. We fled into the forest, amidst crazed animals around us and increasingly close howls. We found temporary refuge on a platform atop a tree. Up there, we waited for the hunting pack to move away, took the opportunity to gather some useful crafting items, before descending back to forest level and resuming our terrified flight through the night. Finally, traces of human works! A ladder leads us into a natural passage between rocks: we cross it to find ourselves prisoners of a group of humans.
The group is clearly composed of two factions arguing over our fate when the mutant bear makes its entrance: chaos erupts and amidst Molotov cocktails, gunfire, and the agonizing screams of the dying, we find ourselves free and alone. We are near a larger base and this time, following the vague directions of the compass, we decide to sneak in. We easily bypass some guards, moving from shadow to shadow, and penetrate the complex. Inside, due to the haste that made us careless, we were discovered and once again had to sell ourselves dearly. We won't hide the fact that we died multiple times, trying to survive relentless enemy attacks commanded by the game's AI. We even managed to craft some extra arrows to eliminate as many enemies as possible. Once the area was “pacified,” the frustration of not knowing where to go reappeared. We wandered in circles for a few more minutes before the demo ended.
Metro Exodus is a major departure from 2033: by leaving behind the cramped tunnels of the Moscow Metro in favor of an open-world setting, it completely rewrites the game’s core mechanics. Crafting remains essential, as does resource gathering, and a stealthy approach is still highly recommended. More than just a simple sequel, Exodus feels like a blend of its predecessors and titles like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. We at 100% aren’t 100% convinced by these changes, but we’ll definitely need to evaluate the final game, which—in addition to introducing new features in a much more gradual way—will surely find a way to communicate more clearly where it wants us to go. Right?