Metro: Exodus

I was really hyped about this game after the reveal at 2017's E3, it just seemed so amazing in the trailer and this really big world to discover. In retrospect I might have overhyped myself, because the game is good but not something that really pushes video games further. Or perhaps me not being a fan of stealth and survival mechanics, which are a good portion of the gameplay in Metro Exodus.

The game starts in a very linear way, you advance and shoot things until you trigger some story elements that makes the game move forward. It's only in the 2nd area where it becomes more "open world", but it's really limited as you'll only have a few optional side areas that you can visit. Most of the time you'll be focusing on your objective as there isn't that many interesting things to do outside of it. As mentioned the game includes stealth options, you can either kill everyone in sight to complete your missions or try to be sneaky with minimal casualties. I'm personally not a fan of these mechanics at all, so I'm always shooting the shit out of the enemies. Additionally this is a game that provides you with very limited ammo and resources (survival), I found playing on Normal was a little too hard for me as I'd always end up with nothing and wasn't particularly enjoyable. The game got more fun when I switched it to easy (granted the challenge was very minimal) as I could make the story progress and could enjoy the shooting parts of the game which are pretty good. Another annoyance is that it's not always obvious where the damn switch/lever to make progress to the next area I'd often run around for 5 minutes trying to find it until I google the answered.

As you progress you can get upgrades to your weapons by dismantling the guns of your enemies, giving you options of what type of guns you want to bring on your missions. The modifications can give them pretty different styles, you can even put a scope on the shotguns if you want (not recommended, but still fun option). This is a nice mechanic but about halfway in the game you'll have seen most of them and already chosen your favorites, I felt the game lacked the "late game" addition of mechanics as you're just running through the motions in the later stages. My favorite aspects of the game was the story and the atmosphere. You get into these really dark places and you hear all these weird sounds from afar, really makes you wonder what the fuck is happening. The story is pretty good, a good what if Nuclear holocaust had happened and how do people live in it. It makes me wish I had played the earlier titles before getting into this one. You'll also get to connect with all your crew members with their extra dialogue if you feel like talking to them (the entire game is voice, a definite plus).

Overall the game is flawed and kinda clunky at times, but I did have fun playing it and enjoyed the story as it unfolded. It's not quite exactly my type of game, but I liked that it gave you the option to go away from the stealth mechanics and play it more light a straight shooter. I don't think that any of the elements (crafting, shooting, stealth) are done amazingly, but their combination together somehow works. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it and I can perfectly understand the criticism of the game, but I do think it's worth a try anyway.