Metro Exodus

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Magical_Isopod
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Metro Exodus

Post by Magical_Isopod »

Topic to discuss all the chiki briki iv damke.

I'm about 90 minutes into Metro and just... wow. It has some technical issues, but I don't think I moved a muscle. I was absolutely entranced.

However, the technical issues have me taking a break... (This is on the PS4 version). Some kind of odd bug happened where the Iron sights made me hold up the gun as if in cutscene mode, and pressing R2 would just blind fire. Additionally, with the Russian audio, something with the timing seems to be fucked up and character are talking over each other? It's really weird. I'm rebooting the game to see if it fixes it.

But holy Heckran, I am absolutely glued to the screen otherwise. All the systems and mechanics have been simplified in really smart ways, so there's less fiddling with the controls and more watching the screen. I'm so loving this game!
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Re: Metro Exodus

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Kinda surprised no one else is playing this (or at least discussing it), but I'm now quite deep into the campaign and... PHEW LADS. Lots of game left to go, but this is absolutely mesmerizing for me thus far. It's different enough from the first two games so as to not feel like "another one" a la Shadow of the Tomb Raider... Which makes sense, because the first two were based on Metro 2033 and this one is based on Metro 2035.

But it does so many things *right* that something like AC Odyssey doesn't. There are "open world" sections, but they're not bogged down with superfluous extras. There are collectables, but you aren't really penalized or nagged for missing them - with the exception of maybe a few armour upgrades which, unlike the weapon upgrades, seem to be unique, missable items.

The story had some pacing issues in the opening chapter, but now that I see where the story's gone, I think that was a case of "Okay, let's get the sequel baggage out of the way quickly so we can move on."

The objectives are both clear and vague - like, you're given a waypoint on the map and a general goal of what to accomplish, but you don't have a "go this way" arrow outside of a very discreet compass indicator (which is optional upgrade, and I've never used it). You don't have text flashing, "pull this lever, kill this enemy," etc. Those are not necessarily BAD things, but for the sake of the atmosphere in THIS game, I'm glad they've kept it simple.

Overall, loving it. It's not trying to be "Metro 3" insofar as callbacks and similar design. It's taking the narrative hook of leaving the dark, dusty subway system and rolling the gameplay in with it. It's not innovating for innovation's sake, it has a narrative justification for doing so, and I'm just downright impressed.
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Michiel K
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Re: Metro Exodus

Post by Michiel K »

Magical_Isopod wrote: February 17th, 2019, 8:56 am Kinda surprised no one else is playing this (or at least discussing it), but I'm now quite deep into the campaign and... PHEW LADS.
Maybe it's the Epic launcher exclusivity?

I've yet to play through the previous 2 Metro games, so it'll be a while until I sink my teeth in this one, but it's cool to read your impressions. I've been hearing good things.
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Re: Metro Exodus

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I've decided, since the previous two games didn't rock my world, to hold off on this.

Also, the reviews are throwing me for a bit of a loop. On the surface they look good, but 'reading between the lines' makes it sound mediocre - what are we to make of Eurogamer's assertion that 'Exploring [the game spaces] is a breathless yet resolutely workmanlike experience,' for example?

So it's a pass for me until things settle down.
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Re: Metro Exodus

Post by Magical_Isopod »

Michiel K wrote: February 17th, 2019, 9:25 am
Magical_Isopod wrote: February 17th, 2019, 8:56 am Kinda surprised no one else is playing this (or at least discussing it), but I'm now quite deep into the campaign and... PHEW LADS.
Maybe it's the Epic launcher exclusivity?

I've yet to play through the previous 2 Metro games, so it'll be a while until I sink my teeth in this one, but it's cool to read your impressions. I've been hearing good things.
I'm playing the PS4 version, and it seems to be selling quite well - on launch day, I happened to stop by two game stores (Iceman Games in Lindsay, ON and Microplay in Newmarket), and both were sold out. But for a "PC-centric series" that could be why.
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Re: Metro Exodus

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I didn’t enjoy one of the previous two games, so I’m not breaking my neck to play this - but I want to give it a shot, I’m ready for one of these type games.

The thing that’s holding me back is the messed up gamma on the Xbox versions. I have a Xbox X and PS4P but I’m going to go with the Xbox version - I just need MS to sort out the brightness their end first.
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Re: Metro Exodus

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Suits wrote: February 17th, 2019, 12:11 pm I didn’t enjoy one of the previous two games, so I’m not breaking my neck to play this - but I want to give it a shot, I’m ready for one of these type games.

The thing that’s holding me back is the messed up gamma on the Xbox versions. I have a Xbox X and PS4P but I’m going to go with the Xbox version - I just need MS to sort out the brightness their end first.
Metro 2033, especially on 360, has a lot of problems. I was greatly improved through patches and mods over the years, but the "Redux" overhaul is what you must play. I can totally understand getting burned on the series if your only experience was the first one (AND THAT far-fetched GREEN BUBBLE ESCORT MISSION).
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Re: Metro Exodus

Post by MajorGamer »

I'm in the same boat as the others that played them. Did the Redux ones on PC and, while decent, didn't do much else for me. This one going open world (a big turn off for me) made it an easy choice to pass on.
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Re: Metro Exodus

Post by Magical_Isopod »

It's literally not an open world game. Why do people keep saying this? XD It has three levels with somewhat large maps, but these are interspersed with linear levels as well. It's not your generic Ubisoft "here's a big map with a bunch of icons on it" game.
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Re: Metro Exodus

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Magical_Isopod wrote: February 17th, 2019, 1:52 pm
Suits wrote: February 17th, 2019, 12:11 pm I didn’t enjoy one of the previous two games, so I’m not breaking my neck to play this - but I want to give it a shot, I’m ready for one of these type games.

The thing that’s holding me back is the messed up gamma on the Xbox versions. I have a Xbox X and PS4P but I’m going to go with the Xbox version - I just need MS to sort out the brightness their end first.
Metro 2033, especially on 360, has a lot of problems. I was greatly improved through patches and mods over the years, but the "Redux" overhaul is what you must play. I can totally understand getting burned on the series if your only experience was the first one (AND THAT far-fetched GREEN BUBBLE ESCORT MISSION).
Yeah that was awful. Metro 2033 was one of those games for me where the location and atmosphere got me through to the end despite several issues. Last Light was not as good even though it was a better ''game''.
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Re: Metro Exodus

Post by Alex79 »

Magical_Isopod wrote: February 18th, 2019, 10:25 am It's literally not an open world game. Why do people keep saying this?
I think that was the impression the first trailer gave. I've not watched anything since.

I've assumed it's open world in the same sense Crysis was. As in, it's an open map upon which you are free to travel anywhere, but not open world in the sense you visit people and have a mission log etc?
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Re: Metro Exodus

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Alex79uk wrote: February 18th, 2019, 10:27 am
Magical_Isopod wrote: February 18th, 2019, 10:25 am It's literally not an open world game. Why do people keep saying this?
I think that was the impression the first trailer gave. I've not watched anything since.

I've assumed it's open world in the same sense Crysis was. As in, it's an open map upon which you are free to travel anywhere, but not open world in the sense you visit people and have a mission log etc?
No, it's all set up like a rail line. The story motivates the main cast from location to location, and once they've left, they've left. Perhaps you can backtrack? I haven't tried. But so far, we've gone from Moscow to a village on the River Volga, to the Ural Mountains, to what looks to be a Kazakh oblast. These are hundreds of kilometres away for one another.
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Re: Metro Exodus

Post by Alex79 »

Fair enough, I do think that initial trailer gave more of a sense of freedom than that, but I could be wrong. I think it probably works a lot better as a more linear game though, there are so many open world games about its nice to have something tighter and more scripted every now and then.

Having said that - I've always wished STALKER would come to console.
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Re: Metro Exodus

Post by Magical_Isopod »

One thing that's surprised me about the chapter I'm currently on is the attention to diversity... One of your main crewmen is Central Asian, but now that we're actually in Central Asia, there are actually people on indigenous Kazakh, Tajik, Kyrgyz, etc. descent. I'm not sure I'm even seen these people represented in a video game before.
Spoiler: show
And the thrust of the plot seems to be Caucasian oilmen occupying the territory the "tribals" had reclaimed after the war, which... PHEW, for a Ukrainian dev, that's a hell of a lot more progressive than I'd have expected.
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Re: Metro Exodus

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ThirdMan wrote: February 18th, 2019, 11:38 pm I'm quite interested in this. A few questions, if you don't mind.

You speak about some technical difficulties. Are you on a base PS4 or a Pro?

How much backstory from the previous two games would I need to know? Should I read the plots outlines or watch a catch-up video in advance?

I'd prefer to go with the Russian audio and English subtitles as well. Are the subs a good size on the screen (I often struggle with small text)?

Cheers.
- PS4 Pro, but the aside from some goofy ragdolling, all of the technical hiccups have been limited to that intro chapter. And it's had another patch since I beat that section, so maybe it's fixed now.

- For backstory, I'd say it depends on the experience you want to have. If you want to know who the characters are and why the Metro is both worth leaving and worth staying in, maybe catch a recap. But because the story is ostensibly all about new beginnings - nobody knows if there's even people alive outside Moscow, after all - you can totally go in blind. There will be some mention of events and locates from previous games, but nothing vital to the plot. That said, I haven't seen or heard anything about the Dark Ones yet, and given that they are the crux of the story in 2033 and Last Light... That has me very curious for where the plot's going.

100% go with Russian audio. Anyone who doesn't is going to miss a ton of subtle wordplay and intonation that English just can't convey properly.
So, a few things:
1. On console, you will have to download the Russian audio track from the menu - it's not on the disc. Takes a few minutes, but worth it.
2. The subtitles are large enough for me, but I'm also playing on a 55 inch screen. They are a nice Soviet red, which works very nicely with the wide colour palette in the game.

Enjoy the game.
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Re: Metro Exodus

Post by Magical_Isopod »

Heh, the background chatter doesn't bother me much, because I grew up hearing a lot of Macedonian, which is similar enough to Russian you can get the general gist of what's being said. Slavic languages really heavily on... I don't know how to say it, being theatrical? Lots of deliberate exaggerations of intonation to convey meaning irrelevant of words. It's extremely common to have figures of speech that mean the opposite of what is literally being said.

So for me, having that background with Slavic languages, I am privileged, in a sense, that I can pick up the general gist of the the background noise.
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Re: Metro Exodus

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Chopper wrote: February 17th, 2019, 10:06 am I've decided, since the previous two games didn't rock my world, to hold off on this.
Same, I've always found this series to be mostly alright and never quite understood how it had such a big cult following. Neither of the first two games blew me away, but, I respected their efforts.

However, some of the screenshots I've been seeing on Twitter have *really* impressed me, so, I'm definitely more into the idea of trying it sooner than later. I imagine it'll be on sale relatively soon, so, will wait for now.
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Re: Metro Exodus

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ThirdMan wrote: February 22nd, 2019, 9:48 am
Magical_Isopod wrote: February 19th, 2019, 11:08 pm Heh, the background chatter doesn't bother me much, because I grew up hearing a lot of Macedonian, which is similar enough to Russian you can get the general gist of what's being said. Slavic languages really heavily on... I don't know how to say it, being theatrical? Lots of deliberate exaggerations of intonation to convey meaning irrelevant of words. It's extremely common to have figures of speech that mean the opposite of what is literally being said.

So for me, having that background with Slavic languages, I am privileged, in a sense, that I can pick up the general gist of the the background noise.
Yes that's exactly it. I didn't need to understand every word of each instance of background dialogue, but I missed being able to have a general feel for what was being communicated.

Perhaps it's just me, but I'm quite poor at identifying tone within other languages unless it's very obvious that someone is in a state of distress or excitement. For example, one early encounter was with two guards who were talking amongst themselves. Their tone was quite flat so I was unsure of whether they were cautioning each other to be on alert or whether they were complacent. I'd no idea what they were saying. It pulled me right out of the game considering that I too was meant to be a Russian speaker.

Anyway, it's not the developer's fault. There's no perfect way of implementing subs. Something is always lost.
Russian is a funny language, because it sounds sarcastic or downtrodden almost all the time. And a lot of the figures of speech and wordplay are just that - lots sarcastic and nihilistic phrases. If you ever play any of the Witcher games in Polish, you would notice that - while many of the words are similar - the Polish language is much more "buzzy", with a ba-BA-ba-ba rhythm to it. Spoken with a much more western beat, so probably easier for Western players to pick up.

I really love the Slavic language group though. You can be from St. Petersburg or Skopje, and speak an *extremely* similar language - but they *sound* completely different. It's quite fascinating.
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