Metro: Exodus survives WWIII, explores the fallout

The latest game in Metro’s post-apocalyptic trilogy emerges from Moscow’s underground railway station, exploring life after World War III.

Metro: Exodus explores the stories of survivors in Moscow after World War III.

When World War III breaks out, where is the best place to avoid the fallout?

If you were in Moscow, one answer would be the city’s extensive Metro underground railway

system, parts of which were built during the Cold War.

It also has a secondary advantage of acting as a nuclear attack shelter, should Doctor Strangelove stop being a work of fiction.

Fortunately, they’ve never been needed for anything except train travel, but exploring the “what if?” scenarios has become the foundation of a popular book series and some great video games under the moniker ‘Metro’.

The third entry in the game series is rolling out of the station next month.

Metro: Exodus is the third game in the Metro trilogy, based on the books by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, that explore the stories of survivors living in the Moscow Metro underground railway system after World War III.

Where will you go when World War III breaks out?

Developed by Deep Silver, and published by 4A games, the new offering will be released on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on February 15.

While Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light were mostly set in the Moscow Metro, with forays to the surface, Metro: Exodus is mostly set above ground.

The protagonist Artyom, his wife Anna, and fellow Spartan Rangers leave Moscow, aboard a Soviet-era steam engine called Aurora, and head east in search of a better life.

That life will hopefully be free from radiation, mutants and all the other horrors that a post-nuclear world can offer.

Artyom, his wife Anna, and fellow Spartan Rangers spend the game in search of a better life.

Deep Silver held an extensive hands-on preview in Sydney earlier this week, and I was able to spend several hours with the Xbox One X version of the game.

I loved the previous games in the series, so I was interested to see what the third instalment would offer.

The short version? It looks good, plays well, and has strong and welcome echoes of Half

Life 2.

The shift from underground railway tunnels to the surface did not change the Metro: Exodus

aesthetic at all, and the environments I explored — winter in the Volga region, summer in the

Caspian and autumn in the Taiga — were detailed and believable.

Each section in the preview began with the Aurora chugging into some new region and

encountering an obstacle — a roadblock, bandits, a damaged track — that required the train to stop while Artyom and his mates dealt with it.

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In the first case, it was a small village where the local priest had started an electricity-hating cult, while the Caspian region had a very strong Mad Max feel toit, being largely desert with raiders and mutants fighting over oil and remaining technology.

I had a lot of fun in this region; the presence of vehicles made it easier to get around and was a positive addition.

Rather than featuring mazes of tunnels, with one route from start to finish, the levels are more like open worlds with different areas to explore.

Combat was similar to previous games and, as always, ammunition was at a premium, meaning spraying bullets everywhere simply wasn’t an option.

Stealth is important, as is knowing when to beat a tactical retreat or avoid a fight.

The levels is this edition are like open worlds, with different areas to explore.

There were a range of weapons in the preview, including homemade shotguns, a crossbow, the iconic AK-47 and the fan favourite Tikhar ball bearing gun.

Your weapons and equipment can be upgraded using scavenged parts — I was able to build a compass which could attach to my wrist and served as an on-screen “this way to your next objective” indicator.

I also made better stocks for my guns and more ammunition, simply by using things I found lying around.

Enemies come in a variety of forms, from mutants and wasteland creatures, bandits and other

human enemies.

In a nice touch, after you’ve defeated enough enemies, human guards and other organised enemies may surrender, laying down their arms and appealing to your humanity to spare them in return.

Even more impressively, if you spare them, they don’t come after you as soon as your back is turned.

You can make stocks for guns and ammunition using things you find lying around.

The Metro games are traditionally rather story-heavy (which I prefer) and while I was only able to glean snippets from the sections I played, it all seemed to fit well into the world and the writing.

The characters in this game were also true to the Metro world as well, which was a relief.

The graphics were very good, in particular the lighting effects — candles flickered and

illuminated believably, the sun reflected through shattered windscreens, electric lights cast eerie

shadows.

There Metro series has established itself as a key part of the post-apocalyptic gaming genre and

from what I’ve played, Metro Exodus impressed me as a promising next instalment which I’m

looking forward to playing when it arrives next month.

Metro Exodus is being released on February 15 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Royce Wilson is a gaming writer for news.com.au. Continue the conversation @RoyceWilsonAU

Originally published as Metro: Exodus survives WWIII, explores the fallout