So after a lot of messing around, I'm finally playing Metro Exodus. I had intended to stream it but still remain unsure of whether or not I can actually do it?
I'll probably be stream testing Metro Exodus throughout the week and asking for your feedback on whether or not it's watchable.
On to the game.
The Good:
Metro Exodus looks and plays great. Considering this is their first crack at pseudo Open World they did a good job.
Much like The Witcher 3 the world is fed to you in pieces. Each district is handled separately, each requiring load times.
The Metro series has always been like this so it comes as no surprise that Metro Exodus is not a true Open World game and it really doesn't detract from the experience.
4K has also polished some long standing features such as enemy swarming if you're too visible and/or too noisy. In many cases you can actually flee and take cover losing enemy NPC's and mutants alike. Enemy also hunt and feed on each other which I can't say I've noticed previously.
Weapons handle terrifically and in a believable manner given their homemade appearance. I also love the way weapons wear, jam and become nearly unusable if you don't maintain them.
The addition of a Backpack is a Godsend. Now you can customize weapons for particular combat situations in the field as well as craft ammo and supplies.
Day/night transitions are also a very welcomed addition and really serve up a plethora of variable experiences. As an example, you may want to attack an NPC controlled position during the night as it's easier to conceal yourself. The problem is, getting there is made more difficult as some of the mutants become more active at night.
The Bad:
Maybe bad is a strong word to describe sound in Metro Exodus but it's more accurate than calling it good.
The sound design is not all that great, at least through headphones, have not had a chance to listen through Desktop speakers.
I found this quite shocking as the previous Metro games had decent sound overall. Having said that, I'm not sure Metro has ever been known for groundbreaking sound design.
A part of me thinks it has to do with the variable environments served to you in Metro Exodus. No longer are you confined to tunnels (for the most part) so simple reverb isn't nearly enough.
Hearing footsteps of NPC's around you is spotty at best as positional audio is pretty much nonexistent. Numerous times I couldn't tell if an enemy was in the next room, a room over, above me or below me.
To combat this issue I inch out of cover and listen to the ingame sound queue that ramps up as an enemy becomes aware of me (visually). It's very much how The Last of Us worked in that if you heard that particular sound play you'd know to duck back into cover.
Another trick is to move your crosshair around and pay attention to when it goes red, red means enemy.
Some sounds like the flying mutants that can pick you up sound just plain horrible. Not only is the sound used horrible, it oftentimes doesn't even sync with the wings flapping.
Also, sounds are lumped together in the Settings Menu so forget adjusting dialogue over background. So if you have to talk to an NPC with a radio nearby you'll have to rely on text to fully understand what they're saying.
The Ugly:
It's buggy.
I've never noticed this many bugs in any prior Metro game if I'm to be honest. I've had all kinds of weird issues such as being attacked in a rail car DayZ style by a Watchman. It was clipping through the side and agro'd on me for absolutely no apparent reason.
Yesterday I had an NPC who had some bizarre pathfinding issue that moved him from walking a 3rd story catwalk to walking in 30ft in the air alongside the building he was to be guarding.
I also cannot clean my weapons to save my life even though I clearly have enough parts to do the job. The only way around it I've found is to just strip a cleaner weapon from an NPC and put my attachments on it.
This is apparently a bug if you use custom keybinds as I do in all games.
The game is also quite inconsistent is some very obvious ways. As an example, you are prompted to squeeze into certain areas where the game wants you to. However there are similar places throughout the game that you cannot squeeze into simply because the game doesn't want you going there.
You are also prompted to crawl into very low lying spaces, again, where the game wants you to but cannot hide under a rail car (for example) which is actually much higher.
Don't even get me started on vaulting, it's worse than any Battlefield game on it's worst day. Sometimes Artyom will vault over something and it's a site to behold, other times you can be stuck on a 4" crack in the pavement unless you jump over it.
Also jumping, I think Artyom has little wings because it's awfully floaty.
Lastly, I really think it's time 4K consider giving Artyom dialogue options.
Now that he's married and all, it's really quite jarring he never speaks except on the load screens between maps. He reads you the entire prologue yet never says a word ingame, it's weird and doesn't lend itself well to consistency or immersion.
Conclusion:
So is Metro worth your hard earned dollars? Unfortunately this is tough to answer as the answer won't be the same for everyone.
If you've played the series before and/or just want to see what Ray tracing can do, Metro Exodus may be a smart buy.
Having said that, if you're new to the series and not running beast hardware it may not be a good fit for you at this time. Although the game has clearly advanced beyond the Metro tunnels under Moscow, it's got some work left to do to make it as immersive.
