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Metro Exodus is a 2019 First Person Shooter Survival Horror game developed by 4A Games and released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. It is the third title in the Metro game series based on the novels by Dmitry Glukhovsky. The game was released to strong critical acclaim due to the engaging plot, complex yet fun mechanics, and strong atmospheric quality.
The game is among many in the "anti-fun" sub-genre of games. What this basically is are games that feature mechanics that are either difficult to work with or cause for some frustration in players. Games like this include Far Cry 2, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R franchise, and Project Zomboid. (Many of these games are set in post apocalyptic settings) Metro Exodus's approach to "anti-fun" involves providing strong enemies while providing limited ammo, weapon degradation, a restrictive crafting system, and much more.
The game follows a linear narrative across multiple chapters (some of which are transition stages titled Winter, Spring, Summer, etc.) While the game contains the typical corridor shooter style levels but allows the player to breath with semi-open world levels that allow the game to maintain it's slower paced gameplay with less claustrophobic environments.
"Brief" Plot Synopsis
Introduction
The game begin with a narration from the protagonist Artyom. He reminisces upon his early life on the surface before the nuclear devastation that forced the population Moscow to take permanent refuge in the metro tunnels. As far as anyone in the metro knows, they are the only humans left in the world. Artyom does not accept this. He believes that not only is there probably life out there, but that there is a good chance that there is hospitable regions that still remain.
Chapter 1: Moscow
The first real chapter of the game, we follow Artyom actively pursuing his curiosity about the outside world, making multiple surface trips. When returning from one of these expeditions, he is nearly overwhelmed by mutants before narrowly being saved by soldiers of the Spartan Order (of which Artyom is a member) he is brought back to be scolded by his wife, Anna, and father-in law Colonel Miller. This does not stop Artyom, for only a week later he is back outside again, even convincing his wife to come along for the trip. After not receiving any form of contact over the radio, they decide to give up and return home. However on their way back, they hear a rumbling coming from beneath. The source of this is that of a train, catching both Artyom and Anna by surprise. They also see an armored vehicle in pursuit of it. Believing it to be other Spartan Order members, they enter the vehicle only to be knocked out by the soldiers. Artyom awakens to Anna conversing with two strangers in the vehicle. They claim to be from outside Moscow, proving Artyom's theory correct. The car pulls over and the soldiers attempt to execute the two outsiders, and while Artyom tries to stop them he too gets shot, however he miraculously survives. With Anna captured, Artyom quickly forges ahead and meets the engineer of the train he and Anna saw earlier. Yermak offers to help Artyom rescue Anna, as long as he is able to be reunited with his train. Upon rescuing Anna, Artyom must make a sneaky (or guns blazing) escape with Yermak. Even when they do finally make it out, they still get captured. This time by the Spartans.
Upon realizing that two of the fugitives are his family, Colonel Miller realizes that to protect them would be treason, it doesn't matter though, for the soldiers back in Moscow are hot on our groups trail in an armored train of their own. Artyom is assigned by Miller (as a punishment mostly) to sneakily board the enemies' train amidst the shootout and sabotage it from the inside, while also making it back onto the other. The group succeeds, and successfully escapes Moscow, naming the train they have taken the "Aurora". However, they are unaware what may lay ahead upon the tracks.
Chapter 2: The Volga
Before we continue with the plot, I need to introduce the other members of the Spartans. Idiot despite his name is the brains of the group and the right-hand man to Miller. Duke is a naive but brave scout who looks up to Artyom. Damir is Kazakhstani and longs to see what became of his people (This is important later). Alyosha is another naive member who has a problem with his attraction to women (This is also important for later, and not in a good way). Tokarev is the craftsman of the group and aids Artyom by providing better gear throughout the game. Stepan is the most sympathetic member of the group. Sam is by far the most interesting member, being as he is an American. Unfortunately he doesn't play a very big role in the plot of the base game.
We enter the Volga with a unwelcome greeting from the locals. A cult led by a "Father Silantius" has taken residence in the region and a brief shootout occurs between the Aurora crew and the fanatics. The cult has also taken control and fortified the bridge that is required to pass through. Throughout the chapter, Artyom meets new characters and soon-to-be Aurora members such as Katya, a doctor, and her daughter Nastya as well as another engineer named Krest. In one mission, we are tasked to find Anna who has gone radio silent. We find her unconscious and without her gas mask in an underground bunker containing toxic gas. After getting her out of the bunker she awakens and claims to feel okay, however it is unknown how long she spent inhaling the gas down there. (remember this whole ordeal as it plays a huge role in the narrative later on) After obtaining Krest's railcar and Katya and Nastya's passenger car, Artyom and Duke are tasked with infiltrating the bridge via a stolen tugboat. We get to the bridge controls and find Silantius giving a sermon. After confronting him, one of two endings can play out. Depending on how you've treated the fanatics throughout the chapter both you and Duke successfully jump on to the moving train and escape or the alerted fanatics will shoot Duke and he will tell you to go alone.
Chapter 3: Yamantau
After passing the Volga, the crew gets in contact with the "Ark Project" located at a bunker at Mt. Yamantau. The Ark Project is mentioned earlier in the story and claims to be the remnants of the Pre-war Russian government and with Miller and the Spartans technically still working for the old Russian government, he plans to set destination for Yamantau, with the member of the ark project on the other side of the radio encouraging him to do so. Upon reaching the location, Artyom, Anna, Miller, Idiot, Sam, and Krest go ahead of the Aurora using the railcar due to the high outside radiation levels. When they arrive at the bunker, Miller orders Sam, Idiot and Krest to stay atop and watch the railcar while he along with Anna and Artyom prepare to meet their supposed future employers.
The meeting is short-lived however, as the trio are ambushed by a large group of people and knocked out. As it turns out, the true government did make it to the bunker, however they ran into a food shortage and due to the high radiation levels outside, they weren't able to go out to hunt or scavenge. Instead, they turned to luring in Unsuspecting survivors claiming to be the government, and it seems the aurora crew has fallen into the same trap. After awakening, Artyom is faced with the horrors of of human desperation. After being narrowly saved by the crew members that Miller left above. Anna however, was taken deeper into the bunker. After fighting our way through, we finally find her being held in the clinic of the bunker. With Anna and the rest of the crew we make our escape from the bunker and back into the wasteland, now back to square one with no seeming place to go.
Chapter 4: The Caspian
The group travels south and arrives at the location known as the "Caspian" located on the south-west coast of Kazakhstan. The region mostly contains deserts and a partly dried up sea. It also contains a group known as the Munai-bailer, a group of slavers hailing from the oil companies that existed before the war. Like Silantius, they manipulate the people of the region using religion. The Aurora is forced to stop due to a combined lack of fuel, water to cool the engines, and multiple crew members suffering from dehydration. All of these necessities are in the hands of the Munai-Bailer and their leader, "the Baron"
Artyom must fight this group to obtain what they need, and fast for the group will likely not last much longer. Damir, one of the crew members, also has a personal stake in this fight, considering his people are that of which being taken advantage of by the Baron. After aiding a local rebel by the name of Giul and obtaining information about the , Damir aids us in our quest to find water, however the Baron soons sends his regards with a massive assault on the Aurora. After fighting them off, The final plan is set into action, with Artyom, Damir, and Giul to infiltrate the Baron's fortress (an oil platform on the coast) and steal a full oil tanker. Giul also uses this as an oppurtunity to kill the Baron for the crimes against her people. Like the Volga, two endings can play out: One in which Damir escapes with Artyom or stays behind to aid Giul in her fight. This depends on if the player frees and doesn't kill slaves throughout the chapter. Either way, the main group is able to survive the harsh desert, but just barely.
Chapter 5: The Taiga
After fleeing the Caspian, Anna falls ill. Breaking out into long coughing fits and spitting up blood. The group, especially Artyom and Miller, are greatly concerned. Katya proposes that it could just be the dust from the Caspian, and while the group is obviously skeptical, they hope it to be true as they are approaching an area that could potentially be habitable known in game as "The Taiga", an area with plenty of fresh air. Before sending in the whole group, Artyom and Alyosha are sent to scout ahead using the railcar. On their way, a landslide causes the tracks to collapse and the railcar plumets into the river, Artyom almost drowns when he is rescued by a woman named Olga from a group known as the children of the forest. She tells us to avoid the other Children of the forest as they will likely make us for a bandit and kill us. She also tells us that The other tribespeople have captured Alyosha. As we make our way through the forest, we too are captured by the the Children of the Forest, only to be sort of saved by a giant mutated bear known to the locals as the Master of the Forest, that chases off our captors.
After making it to the camp where Alyosha is supposedly located, we find him nowhere to be found. continuing on to the hilltop chapel, we have a fight with the Master of the Forest, however we are only able to wound him before he flees. Upon entering chapel, we reunite with Olga who informs us that Alyosha has continued forward towards the dam, where we will have to rendezvous with him. Getting there involves stealing a boat from the Children of the Forest and crawling through irradiated tunnels filled with spiders. We meet Alyosha, who seemingly has developed feelings for Olga. He also points out a large amount of nuclear waste water that, if the dam breaks (which is highly likely) will flood the region with radiation. However, the Master of the forest returns for one final fight in which Artyom is victorious. The Aurora has also arrived, having sped ahead due to having lost contact with the scouts. Once again, like the Volga and Caspian, two endings can play out: Olga and the other Children of the Forest either allow Artyom and Alyosha to go peacefully, or begin shooting at both of them, hitting Alyosha in the back and leaving him wheelchair-bound for the rest of the game. It depends oh how Artyom treats the children of the Forest. The whole group makes it out, but their spirits are lessened, for another potential paradise has been lost.
Chapter 6: The Dead City
We are informed that Anna's condition is not merely that of poor climate, but that she has a serious health crisis, likely due to the toxic gas in the Volga bunker and the only thing that can save her now is a supposed experimental military drug held at a medical institute located in Novosibirsk. The problem is, Novosibirsk is heavily irradiated, 8 times the degree of which Moscow was. For the sake of the crew, Miller and Artyom will be going alone for this mission. using a car that Artyom stole from the Munai-Bailer, they will drive ahead through the dead city as far as they can, and the take the metro tunnels until they reach the institute. Upon entering and exploring the tunnels, they find evidence that a metro society like the one in Moscow was formed, but has long since been ravaged by some form of civil conflict. Further inside we encounter a survivor. A boy by the name of Kirill who tells them of what happened to the residents of the metro, and how his father is likely dead. Miller also discovers that the SAT-COM site in Novosibirsk has incredibly recent intel and decides to split from artyom and head there.
Artyom now alone on his mission for the medicine, begins to suffer from the intense surface radiation and begins hallucinating, making the search even more difficult. Even when he does reach the institute, he must face off against the "blind ones" creatures that are incredibly dangerous and prove difficult to Artyom. Artyom eventually does find the medicine, and narrowly escapes one of the blind ones. Artyom is injured in the process, and is rescued by Miller. They begin their difficult return to the Aurora. Both men have suffered intense radiation poisoning. Miller dies before they reach the Aurora, and Artyom is barely even able to walk. From this point the game has two endings. The bad ending results from Artyom not having enough crewmates to perform a blood transfusion (This happens if crew members like Duke and Damir are still with the group) and dying. The good ending sees Artyom live for the inverse reasons as the last.
Main Complaint and other Minor Critiques
The Taiga Chapter is really bad
Almost every chapter in the game is fantastic. They make great use of the games harsh mechanics, and are aesthetically and atmospherically pleasing. except for one. The Taiga. The entire chapter is definitely the lowest point of the game. For starters, although it is technically one of the game's open-world sections, it is quite linear. The main faction in the area, the Children of the Forest, just suck. Everyone says that they're basically just boy scouts and we should treat them that way, however they are actually quite hyper-violent, especially during the section where Artyom must steal one of their boats. The front gate guards to the docks do the whole "we give you to the count of 10" routine but at 5 they just start blasting. I feel this would be improved if the Children were more like the fanatics, where they are definitely a threat but can be interacted with peacefully. But instead the only way to deal with them without putting crossbow bolts between their eyes is to just avoid them like the plague (which is incredibly difficult). Alyosha also just sucks during this chapter. Damir's personal attachment to the Caspian made sense and worked really well. Here, Alyosha's entire role during this chapter is to simp for Olga, which is super annoying when you get the chapter's bad ending, and he uses this as a reason hate you for the rest of the game. Also the Master of the Forest boss fights, while fun, are of the incredibly generic "bull-charge" type where a large enemy runs at you and you need to dodge out of the way and attack during their cooldown. Aside from that, there is one positive. The area looks really pretty, like any taiga biome in the summer likely does.
Other Minor Notes:
Encountered a bug in the institute section of the Dead City chapter in which Artyom's inventory disabled, including his very necessary gas mask, which just made the section way more frustrating then it needed to be. Thankfully it wasn't game breaking
The car Artyom gets access to in the Caspian chapter has a bug where if Artyom pulls up his map while the car is still moving, he will somehow grow a foot taller (the camera position is raised) and it makes driving kind of a pain.
Some craftable items require far too many recourses for their effectiveness,
Conclusion
With all of that, Metro Exodus remains a pretty strong game and I would gladly recommend it to anyone who enjoys anti-fun games or anyone who just likes consuming post-apocalyptic themed media. While one of the chapters isn't as strong as the others, thankfully it is quite short. In fac that's what I'd say about the game in general. It doesn't waste the player's time like many games coming out nowadays do, and deserves appreciation on that subject alone. The game can typically be found for $20-30 dollars on Xbox One/Series X, PlayStation 4/5 and Windows PCs.
My name is Gunner Farrell, and you should expect articles about gaming on this column. You can imagine considering I chose gaming as the focus of my column, that I am quite of interest in the genre.Â
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