I’m claustrophobic. I don’t mean a “shortness of breath, fast heartbeat, sweating, shaking or trembling, nausea, dizziness and more” level of serious claustrophobia; but, discomfort enough to keep me from getting a ticket to see Ryan Reynolds in “Buried in 2010” and generally avoiding situations with large groups of physically close-knit people. I like space and I like a lot of it.
I think my personal dysfunction can be credited to why Metro Exodus has sat in the pile of shame longer than I’d care to admit. Sure, it has moments where you’re topside exploring the war-torn mostly(?) uninhabitable landscape where space is aplenty. Sure, it has enemies in these locations. Mutated bears and wolves? Please. Not scary. If you’ve seen one mutated bear you’ve seen them all, right? Flying demons hell-bent on me meeting death’s cold embrace? Fine. Probably terrifying but doable. Anyone with a Quake and Painkiller pedigree knows copious room and firearms aplenty equal success at any difficulty level.
Endless dark and dingy underground tunnels with a cacophony of horrors awaiting around any corner? Even a horror game masochist like me subconsciously hesitates. Don’t get me started on Alien Isolation…
Here we are in 2023 looking at Metro Exodus, which released in 2019 to positive reviews. Four years is too long for this beauty to sit in the pile of shame. I admit it. It’s objectively still one of the best looking games today and still used in benchmark tests and GPU reviews. I think it’s time to conquer my fears and see this one from start to finish.
If Metro Exodus (buy it here) is also in your pile of shame or you just want to play along, join our Discord and share your thoughts.