Metro Exodus
The post–apocalyptic tour of Russia finally makes its way to the Mac
$39.99 From metrothegame.com
Needs macOS 10.15 or later, Intel Core i7–7820, 16 GB RAM, Radeon Pro 560 (Radeon RX 5700 XT recommended)
After two games spent in the claustrophobic gloom of the Moscow Metro, it’s a strange sensation to suddenly be staring across a vast, sun-bleached desert. Exodus is a post-apocalyptic road trip through a nuke–blasted Russia, and an arid expanse of what was once the Caspian Sea is one of a number of locations visited by Artyom and his
band of survivors. Your primary mode of transport in Exodus is a Soviet–era steam train called the Aurora. The game begins in familiar surroundings: the shattered, radioactive ruins of Moscow and the labyrinth of tunnels beneath it. But it’s not long before the Aurora is speeding out of the fallen capital, along the Volga River, and into the wintry countryside. This is your first taste of the open world in Exodus:
several large, self–contained areas, rather than one continuous sprawl.
Metro has always been a rigidly linear shooter, but now you have the opportunity to venture off the beaten path, scavenge, and properly explore the various areas. It’s a restrained freedom, limited by the size of the maps, but there’s something refreshing about an open world that focuses more on detail than size.
The brutal, kinetic first–person combat and lightweight survival elements that define the Metro games haven’t changed significantly. Ammo and gas mask filters are still precious commodities, and Artyom still spends most of the game in scrappy, tense firefights with others in gas masks.
The furiously paced combat can be thrilling, especially when you mod your guns, transforming puny revolvers into freakish weapons of mass destruction. But whether you’re fighting mutants or humans, the AI is never particularly sharp or reactive, and constantly scrabbling for ammo can be a chore.
Outside of combat there are some new features, including the ability to use binoculars. If you climb somewhere high, such as a rusty old crane near the Volga, you can scan the horizon and zoom in on points of interest, marking them on your map. You won’t know what it is until you travel there, which makes for some fun exploration, even if it’s usually just more things to shoot at.
What makes Exodus really special, and the reason it holds your interest to the end, despite the somewhat repetitive combat, is the journey. Freed from the dark maze of the Moscow Metro, the environment artists at 4A Games have achieved something remarkable here. From the frozen banks of the Volga to the dried–out
Caspian Sea and beyond, the setting is surprising and beautiful.
THE BOTTOM LINE. Metro Exodus is a pretty rote FPS attached to a setting that deserves much better. But when the Aurora’s brakes screech as it pulls into the next station, the excitement of what lies ahead makes up for its shortcomings. ANDY KELLY
METRO EXODUS
Beautiful, richly detailed open world
A road–trip experience to never forget
Combat is a bit repetitive
Loses the claustrophobia of the original
GOOD