Metro Exodus

Like earlier games in the series, Metro Exodus is a first-person shooter. The player controls player-character Artyom, who must leave the tunnels of Moscow and travel across the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the former Russian Federation and Republic of Kazakhstan while fighting against mutated creatures and hostile humans. The game occurs in one in-game year; environments change along with the seasons as the story progresses. Like earlier Metro games, Metro Exodus includes linear missions and introduces several large, open spaces for players to explore.

A locomotive named the Aurora serves as the game's hub area, where players can converse with other non-playable characters. Using binoculars, players can identify points of interest in each of the game's map. Some areas are severely irradiated and a gas mask must be worn due to toxic air. Each gas filter lasts one minute each, and these must be replaced provided the player has more in reserve.

Metro Exodus is set in 2035, one year after the events of Metro: Last Light, on a post-apocalyptic Earth that has been devastated by a nuclear war. Many parts of the world are uninhabitable due to radiation, forcing humans to create communities to survive, and split into factions both peaceful and hostile, who often fight against one another and against aggressive mutant creatures that roam the surface and underground. The game continues the story from Metro: Last Light's "Redemption" ending. As in the two preceding games, the player assumes the role of Artyom, who flees the Moscow Metro and sets off on a locomotive called the Aurora with his allies on a journey to the Far East.

The story takes place over one year, starting with a harsh nuclear winter in the Metro. Anna, another major character in the preceding game and the book Metro 2035, is now Artyom's wife. Miller, Anna's father and leader of the militaristic Spartan Order in previous games and novels, returns. Artyom's Spartan comrades include Alyosha, Damir, Duke, Idiot, Sam, Stepan, and Tokarev.

Metro Exodus was developed by a 150-strong team of developers at 4A Games, which was based in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Malta. Development of the game began in 2014. Andrew Prokhorov served as the game's director. 4A worked with Dmitry Glukhovsky, the franchise's creator, to write the game's story.

Following the release of the linear, story-driven games Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, the developers received feedback from players who wanted larger levels and more exploration. : Shadow of Chernobyl (2007), which has emergent gameplay and large, explorable spaces. R. into Exodus, effectively blending the two games.

Metro Exodus was released to "generally favourable" reviews, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic. The game was nominated for "Best Action Game" at The Game Awards 2019. It was also nominated for "Outstanding Technical Achievement" at the 23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and "Technical Achievement" at the 16th British Academy Games Awards.

Critics generally liked the game's more-open structure. Writing for Game Informer, Matt Bertz praised the diverse biomes in the game, which kept the experience fresh as it introduced new characters, enemies, and factions as players progressed. He described the game's pacing as its "greatest triumph" because none of the large region overstays its welcome. Austin Wood from GamesRadar called the locations in the game "gorgeous" and said he liked the way the linear-story setpieces and open levels complement each other.