I played this straight after finishing Fallout 4, and wow, what a difference a development studio makes. If fallout 4 is wide and shallow, then Metro Exodus is narrow, but deep. Deep characters, deep choices, deep storyline that all feels more impactful. The mechanics are also deeper, though not as wide. You can't grab any old thing to use as scrap. Instead you only have two resources: parts and chemicals. You use these to make everything, and also to clean your weapons. Neglect your weapons and they'll jam more, and become less accurate. Who cares if you can't eat ten different kinds of meat to restore health? All you need is stim packs, but you need chems to make those too. Enemy AI is a bump up from Fallout 4, too. Human enemies hide better. Animal enemies may even run away, especially if you start shooting them from a position they can't reach, like the top of a bridge. Their chatter is entertaining as they know when they're getting trounced. The last few may even surrender! Keep them conscious if you like to hear their complaining about their predicament like children. The lighting and graphics are fantastic. The lighting impacts gameplay, and you can destroy light sources to change the environment and be more stealthy. The characters are great, too. Sure, you can't pick from a multitude of companions like fallout, but these guys seem so much more human than any NPC or companion fallout has to offer. Except maybe Valentine. He was cool. The DLC is worth playing, too, with its own characters and plot twists. It's not as polished as the main game, with some areas being blocked off by invisible walls. But they're still fun and engaging. Rumor has it, they're working on another Metro entry. I can't wait.
