Metro Exodus [Gameplay #4] - Scorched Earth
0Its stunning visuals notwithstanding, I found the Caspian desert to be less interesting than the game's previous environments. While the drainage basin of the Volga river is an exciting new place to explore in a video game, a sandbox teeming with scrap-hoarding thugs under the command of a profit-maximizing warlord is not quite as original. For all its flaws, Avalanche's Mad Max game pulled off the same kind of post-apocalypse with great results just a few years ago.
Making my way through the Caspian area was also associated with a not insignificant amount of gameplay-related frustration, as my stubborn (and mostly failed) attempts at stealth resulted in a lot of protracted trial-and-error. A few times it was legitimately the game's fault, when the situation suddenly went from bad to worse as a result of some minor glitches combined with the lack of hard saves (only quick saves and autosaves). Also, the enemy compensates for their unstable AI by being unrealistically excellent marksmen, even at absurd distances (at least on Hardcore difficulty).
On balance, though, the second large environment in Metro Exodus still provided a more memorable experience than the majority of first person shooters and open world games out there. The more linear sections related to the story missions were all quite enjoyable (while never overstaying their welcome), and thorough exploration of the region's many ruins was consistently rewarded with genuinely useful gear and weapon attachments.