Metro Exodus Preview – Metro Extra-Sick

Metro Exodus is hot on track for its February 15 release so it was a welcome opportunity to check out a big section of the game at a preview event. The summer level, Caspian, shows off the open world environments and highlight the various opportunities for players following the critical path or just simply want to explore and do side activities.

First thing I noticed, resources are scarce and my typical FPS instincts were not welcome here. This is a game about survival and is a key theme that permeates throughout the design and its gameplay. Best practice is to scavenge as you go and limit encounters wherever possible. When you have to face down an enemy, each variant will have a weakness to exploit. Mutants are prone to shotgun shells while spiders are afraid of light and fire.

Traversing the Caspian level, I quickly discovered how large the map was. So it was opportune when I found a van that I “borrowed” to drive around the large desert. The vehicle also came with a open sunroof that makes me suspect to any flying monsters grabbing me. Nothing feels safe here. While a majority of my time was spent exploring the wide-open environments, there are certain moments where Exodus brings you back to its tight, confined spaces the series its known for. Here the survival takes a whole new dimension whether it’s using the gas-lit environment to quickly take out enemies and turn the tide.  

Back to survival, the on-person indicators of the various meters like health, radiation, and even stealth is easily accessible and acts as your radar to the support systems. Every so often, I had to charge my flashlight once the energy started to dwindle or swap out the air filter once the timer on my wrist indicated that the contaminated air started to affect my health. It puts the player in the “always be on alert” situation that is reflective of the post-apocalyptic world. The story also plays into this as well. The main lead, Artyom, leads a band of Spartan Fighters across the continent and seasons. Riding along a locomotive, Artyom and his band are seeking refuge and a home. The story beats are followed through the “critical path” missions and you can influence the outcome of several characters you meet throughout Exodus. Exploring the world, the buildings were largely explorable and contain little tidbits about the story in the pre nuclear days. For the most part, the outside world is irradiated except in certain areas. Most of the underground, however, requires a gas mask.

And crafting. There’s a lot to unpack here. I’m not just talking about the backpack but also the workbench which acts as the hub to craft healing items or swapping out different weapon parts. This is where scavenging the various weapons, scrapping them, and ultimately modifying existing ones comes into play. Fancy a bigger ammo slot? Adding a compass to your wrist? You can do that.

While I had two hours to digest a small portion of a relatively large section of Metro Exodus, the experience left me with a good feeling about what’s to come. Metro Exodus releases February 15, 2019 for PC (Epic Games Store), Playstation 4, and Xbox One.