On February 15, the official launch of Metro Exodus took place. The novelty is already the third shooter in the universe of the writer Dmitry Glukhovsky from the Ukrainian 4A Games. We talk about how the project was met by the press, players, and also evaluate its possible sales.
Metro ExodusAbout the game
Metro Exodus is a first—person shooter designed for single-player passage. As in the previous projects of the series, the plot plays an important role in the novelty. Only this time the scene is not the tunnels of the Moscow metro, but the wastelands of Russia and Kazakhstan that survived the nuclear war.
In the third part, which is a direct continuation of Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light, the developers have added advanced customization of weapons and related mechanics of collecting items / resources. Also, for the first time in the series, large-scale open locations appeared. The horror component remained, but there were fewer scary episodes.
Metro Exodus
The publisher of the Ukrainian development was the German firm Deep Silver, which is part of the Koch Media group of companies.
The latter, we recall, has been owned since February last year by THQ Nordic AB, a Swedish holding company that owns the Austrian game publisher THQ Nordic.
The game was released on consoles of the current generation and PC. The starting price tag for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in Russia is 4099 rubles. On PC — 1999 rubles.
The appearance of Metro Exodus on personal computers was associated with a large-scale scandal. A few weeks before the release, it was announced that the game would not appear on Steam (this is after almost six months of pre-sales). For the first year on PC, the game will be available exclusively in the Epic Games Store. The gaming community took the news with hostility.
Media ratings
Depending on the platform, the average Metro Exodus score on Metacritic ranges from 79 to 84 points. In general, the project was warmly welcomed. PCGames calls Metro Exodus one of the best post-apocalyptic games ever created.
For many, one of the project’s greatest strengths is the plot.
“The game is an exciting and personal story about the relationship between trust and survival.” — The Guardian
— Destructoid
It’s funny that at the same time, some of the Russian-language reviews just insist on the weakness of the story.
“The weakest part of Exodus is the main plot. The script was written by Dmitry Glukhovsky himself, and the staff of 4A Games helped him. It turned out to be a typical Russian fiction about brave combat soldiers.”— Meduza
Some reviewers highlight the unhurried pace and elaboration of the game as a plus.
“In an era when most first-person shooters tend to pick up the pace, Metro Exodus is refreshing. The game wants you to take your time. This is not a run-and-shoot experience, this is a keep-down-the-grass-and-take-your-time hike through one of the most atmospheric and detail-rich worlds I’ve ever seen in story shooters.”— IGN
— Variety
However, the open world that appeared in the game does not please everyone.
“The battles and shootouts in the Metro series of games are messy. The open—world episodes in Metro Exodus are no better. Optional tasks in the Black Lands or on the Volga, as a rule, are reduced to killing one or more opponents.”— USGamer
But there is a good explanation for that.
“Huge and open levels have lost in tension, which was characteristic of more similar in mood to the survival horror films Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light. Instead, they are more like Fallout games from Bethesda, which provide huge spaces for exploration at a pace that suits you. It’s not bad, but fans who have been waiting for Exodus to have an experience similar to that of the previous games in the series may be disappointed.”— PSU
There are a lot of negative user reviews on the PC version on Metacritic (average rating 5.8). Most scold the game for bugs, poor voice acting, often criticize for transferring the game from Steam to Epic Games Store. There are enough of those who mention high system requirements as a claim.
There are also enough bad reviews on consoles. They complain about the low frame rate, lags, problems with sound. The average rating of the PlayStation version is 6, and for Xbox One — 5.7.
Metro ExodusSales forecast
Sales of the original edition of Metro 2033 in the first two years exceeded the mark of 1.5 million copies sold. It was not reported how many copies of the second part were sold. However, it is known that in the first week Last Light in the USA sold a larger circulation than Metro 2033 for the entire period. According to SteamSpy, the total audience of the first two parts Metro can be about 5 million.
Now the main question is whether the novelty will be able to achieve high performance of the second part despite the scandal associated with the departure of the game from Steam and the subsequent wave of haight. Taking into account the large advertising campaign, good press and promotion of the game from the platforms, the game could previously count on 2-3 million sales in the debut month.