E3 Hands On — Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus

While at E3, I was able to see Metro Exodus in a more intimate setting than just a trailer. Here is my take on Metro Exodus.

After all the plagues of delays, I was finally able to get my hands on Metro Exodus this year out at E3 and see how the game has advanced over its predecessors. Sure, we have seen quite a few interesting trailers in the past and a few tech demos where 4A Games has shown off the game’s engine, but graphics do not make a game. It makes it look pretty and in a game like Metro Exodus it helps with the immersion, but it is not the sole reason to give the game a chance. I am going to guess that is partly why Deep Silver had me in to give the game a play and see just where it is at this point and see where it can go in the time leading up to its launch on February 22^nd of 2019.

To get things out of the way, Metro Exodus has obviously kept the same first-person shooter aspect that we have all loved over the years and also continues on the story that we have poured so many hours into enjoying. These basic things have been improved upon and perfected even more. There is no reason to worry about Metro Exodus in that arena as they definitely did not try to fix something that was never broken in the first place. Instead, they added to and, for me, further improved the game’s basic structure and mechanics moving forward.

The first major way this has gone down in Metro Exodus is that while we will still have tight corridors, caves, and tunnels we will have to shoot our way through, we will also have a vast and open world to explore and have fun in. Do not read that as it is now an open-world game, but as we are now traveling across the country, we are no longer just limited to the singular paths we were before. The demo I had a chance to dive into dropped us off in the middle of a snow-packed area and gave us a mission, but it was up to us to find our own way there and handle the situation as we saw fit. I opted to take a small boat over there, but as I was informed there were other ways I could have gone to get from point A to point B. Something that also persisted in the options once entrenched in the area I needed to head too.

The main goal in this demo for Metro Exodus was to check out a small encampment that was near where our convoy was halted. While in there, I ran across a mother and daughter who were trying to escape the madness that the group had fallen to and after I helped them escape, the stealth gameplay kicked right in. At least that was how I wanted to play it as it was possible to run and gun my way out, but there was something satisfying about gutting these horrible people just so I could make it out alive. Just as in the other Metro titles, it ran smooth and became second nature to sneak and stab my way to freedom.

After all of that, I was presented with a few more optional missions I could take and left to wander the wilds of Russia again. This further nailed down the freedom we are going to be given in Metro Exodus while not being a specific open-world title. By the end of the demo, I had two or three different missions I could have taken but opted to look around at the world and search for random gear and ammo that was scattered around. It may sound like a weird thing to do in a shooter game, but that all builds into the next big change for Metro Exodus that I was able to get into. The crafting system is now mobile and with you at all times.

No longer are we confined to finding workbenches or paying random NPCs in the world to alter and upgrade our gear. At least in this demo, I was handed a backpack that allowed me to do all of this myself as long as I had the parts and items to do so. It also appeared to not pause the game while doing so, but that was something easy to get around by finding a nice place to hide out in the world. Again, something I chose to do in my demo of Metro Exodus as I saw others who were just looking around the map or getting into full firefights when compared to my more peaceful option to go.

Sadly, as this was still an early build of Metro Exodus I ran out of time in my safe spot and was stuck at a few points. What I did get to experience was very familiar to the past titles and so far the enhancements work extremely well for the franchise. It did take a bit of getting used to the freedom to go where we wanted in the world, but I think it will be a huge blessing for so many others who always wanted to get into Metro but always felt too confined. Thankfully, February 22^nd is not too far off for those wanting to get the full experience.