Since its beginnings, the Metro series has stood for a thrilling mixture of doomsday scenario adventure and ego action with horror elements. A refreshing eastern perspective on the post-apocalypse usually told by western media. Instead of dark subway shafts, however, glistening sunshine awaits players in a new chapter called Caspian Sea.

Metro takes to the desert with its Caspian Sea chapter.

The Open World outside of the Metro

Like its predecessors, Metro Exodus is not a classic Open World game, but takes you through a mixture of larger, more open areas and narrower, tube-like sections. According to Brand Manager Huw Beynon, you should never be sure what to expect in the next few hours. The link between these areas is your mobile headquarters, the Aurora train, which apparently has set itself the goal of exploring all of Russia's landscape zones. After a stay in the frosty tundra and an autumnal forest, you'll head to the Caspian Sea, where the sun burns from the sky and sand spreads through every hole.

But the climatic conditions are not the only problems of Artjom, the Spartan Ranger, which is the main character since Metro 2033. In the once huge, now dried out lake, mutants have settled down, drawn by the radiation. They, unfortunately, can camouflage themselves perfectly in the barren vegetation and therefore often only attract attention when Artjom can already smell their foul breath. Furthermore, human opponents also make your life difficult. Metro Exodus has resisted the temptation to simplify its gameplay and open up to newcomers.

The landscape of Metro: Exodus is filled with debris to explore.

Weapons, attachments, tactics

Those who try to complete the game in a hurry and shoot without aiming will have little success. Ammunition and resources are scarce, and you can't leave a single item behind without worrying. With your backpack, you can make makeshift provisions at any time in quiet moments, but major repairs and weapon upgrades are only possible on stationary workbenches. There, it is possible to equip your weapons with new rifle scopes or larger magazines.

In some situations, however, it's a better idea to take a quiet approach. Despite its perspective, Metro Exodus is not a conventional first-person shooter. If Artjom finds himself confronted with a superiority, his chances rapidly dwindle. Therefore, he has to use his stealth abilities or kill opponents from a superior position. In order to overcome the large distances of the area faster, you can also take a seat in various vehicles. Fans of the past Metro games will be able to find caves and bunkers in which the usual claustrophobic feeling is created.

Caves bring back the claustrophobic feeling known from past games of the franchise.

What are the missions like?

A sample mission leads the player into such dungeon, where you have to repair a satellite link - infested by spider monsters as disgusting as they are light-shy. As long as there is enough lighting, everything is fine, but of course, the power fails sometimes and players need to fall back to Artjom's generator or storm lighter. Since Metro Exodus largely plays without a HUD, moments like these are especially immersive providing a real horror feeling.

During the excursion into the bunker, Artjom finds the diary of the father of one of his comrades-in-arms and hands it over to her later - Small tasks like these are optional. According to the developers, Metro Exodus won't be a game in which you'll have to run after a dozen different side quests one after the other. The ongoing story of Artjom, Anna and the Aurora is clearly a central part of the game. Once again, the 4A Games team is working very closely with Dmitry Glukhovsky, the author of the Metro books, who regularly gives input and advises the developers.

Like Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, the new part of the series also makes an excellent graphic impression. Above all, the lighting effects are at the forefront of games as we know them today. If you are looking to dive into the deep world of the game, you can find a Metro: Exodus PC key cheap here.