Metro Exodus

Great game marred only by a bug. This game is an experience. Beautiful locations, moving back-stories, a depressing environment with humans struggling to make a better life. Where this game shines is in sitting down to listen to numerous characters share their thoughts, struggles, and dreams, read through the journals and tape recordings scattered throughout the levels, and spend time just exploring/interacting. This does take time and may not be for those favoring high-octane excitement. The gameplay itself was fun, although on the normal difficulty it was rather easy to dash from bandit to bandit and knock them all out in melee. The mutants provided a better experience of the gunplay, soaking up precious bullets and rushing you with agressive fervor. The weapon variety and modification make for fun, customizable approaches to combat. Exploration is rewarded with collectables, crafting materials, and weapon/armor modifications. Each ecnounter has different paths and approaches available for those who want stealth, combat, or a good sniping position. Each level has a different style, with some being very linear in progression and others encouraging the open world exploration. This comined with the changes in setting/season make for an enjoyable ride from start to finish without the scenery getting stale or old. The biggest issue with this game, is the tendency to freeze and crash during certain parts. In particular I ran into this bug during the Caspian level on the approach to the lighthouse. After several tries and some research, I was able to pass the section by looking at the floor and slowly moving forward. Other than this section, there were a couple of other crashes that usually occured during an animation. A great game, almost had to give up on it due to the Caspian lighthouse crash. Loved the characters, setting, and story.

This game tries to be S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Call of Duty at the same time, failing at both. Metro simply wasn't made for this format. The linear style of the previous two games suits it much better. And this is coming from someone who does not like linearity in games. This game executes the alternative wrong. +Good controls +Good performance +Mostly good sound design +++Absolutely stellar environmental storytelling in every tiny detail of the world +Mostly stealth and nonviolence-compatible level design --HUD graphic elements are incompatible with normal desktop Field of View (90°-100°) -Repetitive combat with weapons that become unreliable simply from walking around -Simplistic stealth -Annoying navitation in the world. The more classic style linear levels work much better. --Careful resource distribution replaced with crafting -Weapon classes mean that you need to carry something you don't want and abandon things you do want -Voice acting is horrendous across the board. There is no direction and the actors don't even seem to know the context in which the characters are supposed to be speaking ---Every piece of dialogue says one short thing in fifty long sentences and nothing can be fast-forwarded or skipped. They just drone on and on wasting everyone's time -The silent protagonist actively hinders storytelling as every other character's interaction has to be unrealistically worked around his inability to speak

Nice graphics. Good play too... when allowed. Seems the game spends a great amount of time playing with itself. A few cut-scenes are okay, but this reaches the absurd. Every time I start enjoying what is happening the game rudely takes control from me and does it's own thing. As for the save games... I'm an old school retired coder, and I know it is not overly complicated to code for player controlled saves. I'm not sure if the new check-point save game system, now spreading like an evil virus, is due to laziness or simply incompetence on the coders part. I suspect this may also be the result of 'copy-paste' coding. Either way it really stinks. The Metro story itself is pretty decent, and the books are good reading.

I have experienced no bugs, and am 3-4 hours into the game. I have completed the prior Metro games, and have always been amazed at how a game like this one can be considered to be a double A title. Honestly, the gameplay is super tight. The story is WAY better than any triple A title I've played, and the crafting is super fun; never mind the atmosphere (which will keep you on the edge of your seat) which is amazing! Amazing story Fantastic gunplay Super atmospheric Epic game I've loved it so much, I originally bought it on Epic, and then on GOG as soon as I could. I will replay this game over and over again in the years to follow.

After almost 2 hours of endless NPC jibbering about the nonsensical plot are you let loose, and when this happens you are given over to fairly standard and uninteresting looter-shooting. You can rub up on enemies without them seeing you and anyone who does will instantly shoot at you because in the world of Metro everyone is so fed up of all the talking that they will shoot you on sight to avoid any dialogue happening, presumably. Maybe I was just having a bad day but between all of the above, quick time events, and "hold to pick up" I was just having an attrociously bad time and stopped playing. Janky animations, bad voice acting, and uninspired gameplay. Not worth sitting through what must, judging by the first 2 hours, be 80% unskippable cutscenes.