Republished on Wednesday, August 10, 2022: Following the announcement of the PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup in August, I’m reviving this review from the archives. The original is below.
4A Games has one of the most talented teams in the industry, but the PS4 version of Metro: Exodus was, as we said in our initial review, vastly outperforming the technology of the time, even on the more powerful PS4 Pro. This next-generation version – available as Free upgrade from PS4 to PS5 – Feels like an experience intended for 2019. Exodus runs in silky-smooth 4K at 60 frames per second and also offers 3D audio and ray tracing. These are all welcome improvements. The performance leap is very impressive and in many ways similar to Remedy’s Control – another massively improved PS5 upgrade.
Every minute of gameplay is obviously the same, but the increased responsiveness offered by DualSense is welcome.In a devastated post-apocalyptic world, fluctuating trigger tension makes a lot of sense, and the nuances provided by the controller feel pure whiteAll the while, the gameplay and mechanics have remained original: Amazing.
That said, the title’s most impressive achievement remains the writing. Exodus takes Artyom and Anna’s satirically developing “relationship” from Last Light and transforms it into not just a meaningful one, but the most compelling aspect of the game as a whole. Their relationship is the driving force behind most of the title, and it feels authentic in ways very few games can pull off. offers a motley assortment of soldiers, mechanics, and refugees to co-exist and grow with one another during its year-long journey.
The end result is a vastly improved version of Dmitry Glukhovsky’s best title set in post-apocalyptic Russia.
