Metro Exodus

The atmosphere is very impressive, this is by far the best looking FPS I have ever played. The gameplay is awesome and the story is gripping. You can really tell how much care went into development. Every single character is memorable. The feelings are genuine, I actually cared about them. Making every mission that much more intense. The mix between the linear segments and open world areas fits perfect with this game. And cruising around the train while it's in motion through the country is so awesome I've been waiting for a game like this for very long (having a mobile home base in an "open world"). Metro Exodus is everything Fallout / Far Cry should've been. Metro highlights that intense FEAR and HORROR that would come with surviving in the post-apocalyptic world, great survival features / HUD, having to patch up holes in your gas mask if it gets too damaged, changing filters, or even just having to wipe it so you can see better, the depth of each mechanic makes it feel that much more immersive. My main negative criticism would be; it crashed a lot on me (about 10 times), in typical Metro fashion there were segments where I couldn't figure out where to go and I would miss what should've been obvious (I blame the developers, I never beat the other Metro's because of this, I probably just suck). And the ending, either one good or bad, should've been a couple hours longer, I truly feel the story was cut short. I know there's a limit to everything, but after investing all that time I expected to see more fruit of my labor and to be able to play in the orchard of those labor trees for a while longer. Like come on, what if uncharted 4 just ended without that ending you play on the beach? It'd feel like a lil hole is missing. Anyways, this is my favorite post-apocalyptic game by far.

In terms of aesthetics, which was achieved, inclusively, by using the latest technology, the game is impressive. For example, ray tracing, used in Metro Exodus is the first full application of this technology. This gives the game both realism (it turns out that light plays a leading role not only in the physical architecture, but also in the virtual one) and beauty. The change of day and night, sunrise and sunset, the change of seasons - winter-spring-summer-autumn, blizzards, rain and sandstorms, the smoke of a locomotive - the visual effects are of extremely high quality.

The visual aesthetics of the game is accompanied with the beautiful music by Oleksiy Omelchuk ("Race Against Fate", sounding in one of the scenes in Novosibirsk, as well as guitar solos will definitely be remembered by fans of good music), the developers' attention to the small details and the general atmosphere.

The gameplay is slow, but fascinating and requires concentration. The game has a lot of text and dialogue, the disclosure of characters occurs through long monologues, actions and descriptions in the diary. The romantic line is not realized through the "classic" stereotypical "conquer the girl" nonsense, which is so fed up both in the movies and in games, but through showing main character's married life, his relationship with his wife Anna. Something similar to what Lewis described as "family romance" in English literature of the Victorian era.

Among the shortcomings are imperfect face animation as well as the fact that the game is rather short and does not have a gameplay "after-play".

In general, Metro Exodus is one of the few games that deserve attention. It has interesting gameplay, story, characters, semantic load and meaning layers, as well as aesthetics - visual and musical.

Amazing have a few minus points for lack of characters expressions and many times useless dialogues...

I have always been a fan of Metro games, seeing the trailer for Metro Exodus got me so excited and that excitement was justified. The game is incredible in so many ways.

The story looks like the storyline from previous Metro games but after the 1st level it's clear this is nothing like the previous Metro games. Being able to roam around the surface for so long and exploring it is great change from those claustrophobic metro tunnels. Seeing all the different regions in Russia from deserts to snowy cities. Story really takes you on a ride because the characters are so well made. They have a personality, they have a backstory and they have something to fight for. When you make a wrong choice it keeps haunting for quite some time because the absence of that character is noticeable. Also the ending will make even the manliest of men cry, it's just so touching.

Soundtrack in this game is amazing, I actually listen to its soundtrack off game because it's so good. The music brings so much to this game. When time is running low you and you hear the music your heart start racing and you expect the worst or when the intense fight begins and you hear that intense music that makes you want to just start shooting all the enemies.

Another amazing aspect of this game is its replayability, there are few different ending and that's just one big reason to replay the game. Then there's the New Game + mode where you can modify your game and make it even more difficult and cruel. The game mechanics in this game are quite similar to the previous Metro games. You can customize your guns and you have to use your gas mask every now and then. The gas mask is an unique element and when you have to put it on and you get attacked and it breaks you know you have to act quickly.

Overall I absolutely loved this game. It's beautiful, it's enjoyable to play, it's scary and it's touching. So if you are looking for a long journey play all the Metro games because that's the only way you're going to enjoy this game to its maximum potential.

The narrative and story is great, the factions you meet upon Artyom's journey is interesting but with the lack of side quests it felt like there was too little action with the factions, making us wanting more of them. The stuff we did get was simply great. The baron in the desert part felt like a good villain but ended up being dealt with too fast. The forest map was my favorite as it felt realistic and a lord of the flies vibe to it which I liked. The Dead City had some serious Metro 2033 vibes which I loved, exploring a hunted metro is what made the predecessors great as the atmosphere was something we had never seen in a game before and they succeeded in creating something new with the outside world, making all the factions different and interesting whilst keeping the tone the same. All chapters were outstanding, getting everything right. The Volga, Yamantau, The Taiga and The Dead City were superb. The Caspian was the only chapter I felt wasn't as high quality but it was still needed and entertaining to play through. Superb game.

Overall the game needed some side quests but we might get some good story DLCs like in the previous installment. They did a marvelous job at creating well written and likeable characters and giving more attention to the returning characters, making them perfect. All characters that you come across are different and great. I played the game like you were supposed to, killing almost no one and I managed to get the good ending which I loved and I don't want to spoil anything but there might be a sequel in the near future? Would be awesome.