Metro exodus flees the underground and finds a violent wasteland.
Oh shit, a bear! I see It for the first time In a forest, silhouetted In moonlight. It scares away a pack of wolves with a roar, and then crosses the road to reveal Its massive, mutated bulk. It could eat a pickup truck. It vanIshes Into the trees, and I realIze that I’m about to go In after It...
There was a mutant bear in Metro: Last Light too, but this one is much bigger. In fact, everything about Exodus feels bigger. The game is moving out of the underground and into the wilderness on a four-season journey into the east. The forest this bear lives in is a wide corridor, full of squirrelly little side paths and elevated networks of wooden pathways. As I move up into the canopy, I hear the bear roar, not too far off, and then a crackle of rifle fire.
In the moment it’s tense. I spend the rest of the zone crawling through the dark and trying to escape the bear’s attention. However when I repeat the area a few times the sounds play out the same way regardless, and no matter how much I explore I can’t find the shooter or the bear until later when the creature shows up in a cutscene.
Metro Exodus is an odd hybrid. Sometimes it’s a claustrophobic corridor shooter like the first two games, sometimes it opens up into wide sandbox areas, and sometimes it’s an amalgamation of the two, combining exploration with the sort of smoke-and-mirrors trickery you find in a linear story-driven shooter.
This forested area does a good job of suspending my disbelief for the first playthrough. I happen upon some secrets hidden down side paths, and always end up moving organically to the next section. On repeat runs I notice the way the game is shepherding me into a zipline or cave trail that serve as area transitions.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
SCREENBOUND
How a 5D platformer went viral two months into development
OLED GAMING MONITORS
A fresh wave of OLED panels brings fresh options, greater resolutions and makes for even more impressive gaming monitors
CRYSIS 2
A cinematic FPS with tour de force visuals.
PLOD OF WAR
SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE 2 fails to find a new path for its hero
GALAXY QUEST
HOMEWORLD 3 is a flashy, ambitious RTS, but some of the original magic is missing
FAR REACHING
Twenty years ago, FAR CRY changed the landscape of PC gaming forever.
THY KINGDOM COME
SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE is the culmination of decades of FromSoftware RPGs, and a gargantuan finale for ELDEN RING
KILLING FLOOR 3
Tripwire Interactive's creature feature is back
IMPERFECTLY BALANCED
Arrowhead says HELLDIVERS 2 balancing patches have 'gone too far'