Let’s honestly: we all know who are 4A Games. We all know what the backbone of 4A Games was doing before becoming 4a Games, and we love them partly and for it. So when in one of the first interviews about just announced Metro: Exodus The creative manager of the project Andrei Prokhorov mentioned the cherished word with points after each letter, to come into puppy delight was a completely normal and even widespread reaction. And then, against the backdrop of the announcement with a stick, come on, delicious promises and confidence in the studio as a whole, the question somehow did not arise in my head: and the stalker and metro structures can generally make friends at all?
From the announcement every time when discussing the game, it was a question of open locations, the developers carefully emphasized that in the “outcome” there would be no Openvorld in the form in which we imagine it in 2017. Like, instead of huge territories, there will be relatively large linear levels with a couple of options optional for visiting places in which it will be possible to stumble upon useful objects or some additional quest. And yes, with this description, comparison with s.T.A.L.K.E.R.om seems completely appropriate, since the structure of locations there was quite similar. S.T.A.L.K.E.R., However, he was not a linear shooter*, unlike Metro, and an attempt in the “Pripyat call” to fasten the elements to it Call of Duty In the person of the characters, slowly leading the player by the handle in locations, playing out his animations, without shutting up and opening the doors, inflicted a very strong blow to reigla. In the “outcome” the same symbiosis came to some extent, but on the contrary, with it, alas, not everything is also smooth.
*Despite the fact that he was, such a paradox
I. The same metro
First of all, the "Metro" is not about "Wrong wherever you want". Despite the fact that at the initial stage of development, plans for the project were slightly less Napoleonic*than that.G.P.S. M.E.H.T.S., In the future, the wisdom 4A decided not to burn the second time and do what they will definitely pull. The result was Metro 2033, representing a plot-oriented linear shooter, where there were script scenes with the participation of a player in the spirit Quake IV and the Call of Duty series, light elements of survival and RPG and very corridor levels, and the only available nonlinearity was to choose the style of passing certain locations, namely: to break through them with a fight or quietly cooled to varying degrees of aggressiveness. And, despite the noticeable clumsy and uncontested in some places, the game of the general public has entered.
*You think, the non-linear passage of missions with elections in the style of “Where should I go, through the Red station with a battle or peaceful move through the Gansa station, or maybe in general on the surface?", With a change of day and night, imitation of life at stations, transport, dopzages and mini-players
In the three years later Metro: Last Light All of the above elements have been preserved and increased: there are more script scenes and campaigns with partners, the filling of the stations became more saturated, and the clumsy fighter and a half -power stealth were brought to mind. It seemed that corridor, cinematography, light RPG, and chamber non -linearity became key components of the game, the deposit of sharp changes in which could violate the working formula.
In addition, as it turned out further, Last Light became a kind of standard, because after it no fundamental improvements to the main mechanic was produced. A year later after the publication Metro Redux Included Metro: Last Light Redux, The only differences from the original release were in an improved schedule and switch to an updated engine, and Metro 2033 Redux, which was, no less, a full -fledged remake of the first part and was played exactly as a “ray of hope”. And with each new gameplay roller the “outcome” the feeling that key mechanics are migrated from LL unchanged, it became stronger. And, in general, yes, the skeleton Metro: Exodus is the same as it was originally. If you liked to play at Metro in 2010 and in 2013, then I will like it in 2019; if you hated it then, then you will hate it now. “Metro: Exodus” from the point of view of root elements is still the same game as six and nine years ago.
The acquaintance to pain Stlas pleases with thoughtful sections with a competent arrangement of opponents, lighting sources and passages and upset not at all!. Do not notice the main character standing in front of the enemy closely – is completely normal. As well as not to notice the body of a cut down comrade lying in sight. During the day. In the sun. But if you carefully put out the light bulb next to the sleeping enemy, he instantly jumps with a cry: “Boys, then the bastard!", After which everyone nearby will know yours, player, location. And, well, according to tradition, the icons that signal the fact that now you can cut down the enemy, sometimes do not want to appear until the moment he does not rise and calls out: “You forgot it here?!»Classics, in general.
Of course, in the stealth mechanic there is a couple of innovations, but in the form in which they are represented, they make no sense. Firstly, some surfaces on which Artem creep on on the squat, and if you are on them for too long, the floor under the feet of the protagonist collapses, and he falls straight to the enemy. And the player has two choices: either to choose another, perhaps a more risky way of bypassing the enemy, or to jump over a dangerous place, wearing and potentially paying attention. What is wrong here? Everything is simple: for the entire game of such surfaces there are only three or four pieces. In two of the four cases, when you were forcibly lowered, you have a chance of safe waste, because a sudden roar makes you slowly rise from your chair, pull out the weapon at the speed of an experienced stalker and only after that, when the Artem-game has time to retire for a long time, go into the search mode (not an attack, it is important) and quickly get out of it, because he did not notice the hero himself. There is no sense in these rotten boards, and there are so many of them in the game that it was possible and not added at all at all.
With the second innovation, the situation is even more deplorable: now Artem can raise all sorts of banks from the floor and throw them in all directions, attracting the attention of the enemy. Classical mechanics present in most games focused on stealth, which does not work in the “outcome”. At all. Brought by a jar in the aisle opposite the non -sign, in response, only hear it: “E? Che?! Well?! What it was?! E?!»With a high probability, he will simply stand and aim at the passage from which the sound came. With the probability of smaller ones, he will still decide to go and check what is still the matter, but, without reaching the destination, he will turn around and move back with the words: “No nichrome there”. Useless thing.
The combat system also does not amaze the imagination with something new, because it safely passed from Last Light without any changes. In itself, shooting at the Metro always left a good impression: the weapon does not seem plastic, sounds and feels as it should, and leisurely reloading additionally works for tension. Tablespoons of tar, as in the case of stealth, add those who have to fight against. The artificial intelligence of opponents is not able to compose adequate competition to Artem and because people, that mutants are trying not to take by the mind, but in quantity, and arrange a natural assault on the player’s position. As a result, shootings themselves are interesting only with a competent arrangement of enemies, and this happens extremely rarely, even episodes oriented on action often pass in close corridors, turning into a shooting range. In other cases, as before, a weapon located in the hands of a protagonist is responsible for the enjoyed pleasure, and, as before, they approached him with particular love.
The entire RPG’S -WITHER COMPETION is represented by two elements: the collection of Luta and trade. The first consists in striking the corners and corpses for not touched utility in the form of filters for gas mask and cartridges, and with the second, everything is clear. The first one remained unchanged with a slight expansion in the “outcome” – now you can still look for upgrades for armor, gas mask and, suddenly, compass, and got rid of the second, taking its interface and remade a little under a wonderful feature called “craft”. Under this terrible and even hated word, a very simple system is hidden, in which Artem can collect everything that is placed in pockets from the cartridges and explosives from the found garbage and spare parts and ending with filters, repair the trunks and gas masks and the most tasty is to make the weapon literally for yourself.
Considering what are the requirements for the Arsenal*game in the studios*, probably, the developers decided not to bother with the inventing of new weapons ** and please the players differently, providing the opportunity to make any self -fan from any weapons, which you only want, adjusting its characteristics to your passage style. If desired from a simple revolver, you can literally build a trial of a day of court day, there would be the necessary spare parts.
*namely: the weapon presented in the game can theoretically be collected and completely combat -ready; The team has a special person who checks this. To Samopal from the “Exodus”, by the way, this also applies ** the only new weapon in the game is a crossbow that is good, but which is given late
So, I repeat, in terms of root mechanic, the game has not changed much and it is felt in the same way as before. However, the “metro” is not only a fascinating action of action with stealth, weapons porn and looting, but also maximum linear levels with a movie story, in which they will not shoot a step to the left and a step to the right, but you will have to return to the main road anyway. And the “outcome” preserves this structure, and at this moment we return to the very beginning.
II. The same stalker
Developing Metro 2033, ultimately 4A Games decided not to jump above their heads and make a tight linear game. Creating Metro: Last Light, the studio decided not to break what worked and did the same better. However, even then the team understood and admitted that they are morally ready to take up Openvorld and that they had already sat in tunnels in general. Having added to this the fact that in one of the DLC to the “Ray Hope” there was a semblance of a large open location with a non -linear passage, the presence of a series of spacious territories in a new game lost the sign of the question, it only remained to guess in what form they would be represented. It was logical to assume that a project very familiar to the team would be a guideline, and, in general, it happened.
IN "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl", I remind you, the locations were relatively large levels, which no one forced the player, but the study of which was encouraged by caches with utility, valuable artifacts, enemy camps, characters with additional tasks and amazing surprises that the Mad Compassionate Phasalized presented. IN "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat"The structure of the locations was already more standard and close to typical games of the genre: all places in which there could definitely be something interesting were marked on the map, the player could only go around them and observe what was happening there at all.
The device of the post -apocalyptic territories Metro: Exodus resembles a mixture of two of the above -mentioned schemes. The most important thing is that no one really forces you to explore open locations, you can calmly move only by the plot and limit yourself to the deserted landscapes from the boat or from the transport window without going deep into them. Fortunately, artists and designers were especially tried this time, and there is something to look at, and during dawn and sunset the picture generally returns to the glorious 2004, which will soon come on May 19, and it will come out. The points of interest on the common card are not initially noted. At some point, one of the plot characters will definitely let Artem know what places it is desirable to look in, but the rest of the main character will either be found himself, climbing on the highest tower and looking at the surroundings from binoculars, or even score the spirit of adventure at all, staggering along the ruins and ravines blindly. In words, everything sounds quite normal, but it is worth starting directly to the study, and some nuances begin to be opened.
You can drive out developers s.T.A.L.K.E.R.’A, but S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Of the developers – never
Ilya Tolmachev, the art director of the “pure sky” and “Zov Pripyat”, who was responsible for filling the locations of the latter, told*that in order to maintain the interest of the player in the open world, the distance between the places in which there is something in which something is happening should not exceed a certain interval (in my opinion, about 350 intra-game meters). And we must pay tribute to Ilya and to everyone who worked on the levels of the ZP: despite the extremely low reigree of the project, at the first passage the game is felt by eventful events and does not let go to the final. Here you come across a hobby of zombies, there someone is looking for artifacts, here you find an object, which leads to an intra-game scene and a conflict situation, and there you get into the labyrinth with mutants, etc.D. The world that you walk is really felt alive, despite the fact that in reality it is dead than in the same PM. Metro: Exodus, however, cannot boast of such a world.
*I remember that it was Ilya Tolmachev, but I could be mistaken, and in fact, Alexei Sytyanov or Ruslan Didenko could tell about it, so I apologize in advance
The fact that the Openvorld of the “Exodus” would be optional, they spoke even before the release, so no one expected some epic revelations from him. And formally “optional” content at the levels was designed to expand the ENT Games, giving more information in a particular format about the current location, its inhabitants and how they reached such a life. This information can be presented in the form of standard notes and audio recordings, in the form of an additional position on the release of the civilian population from the paws of the bandits or simply in the form of any decoration, such as a crashed aircraft with passengers inside, on which you can go through and inspect from all sides. Again, in words it sounds normal.
In fact, from about 20-25 points marked on the map of interest 8-10 of them are places of rest in which the player can repair the weapon and sleep until the right time of the day. Another 7-9 pieces are the habitat of the enemy, one half of which are the camps of bandits, and the other is the nests of mutants. And only everything else is the place imprisoned to expand the lore with notes, audio journals, scenes-decorations, etc.p. As a result, the situation is not the best.
In places of rest, the player will find some kind of audio recording at best, in the worst there will be only the necessary minimum, namely a workbench with a sleeping bag and a little Luta. There is nothing at all in the nests of mutants, except for the mutants themselves, at best there is a couple of skeletons of cars, in the worst there is simply the earth on which the beast is bent. The opponents’ camps, although they are not a copy -paste of each other, the gameplay is the same type of missions on the aggressive/quiet stripping of the territory and the liberation of civilians, who, after salvation, will tell a wonderful story (or will not tell and immediately run away). And at first, the process of studying the territories is more or less normal, but at some point you understand that the “metro: outcome” reminds you not s.T.A.L.K.E.R., Ah, forgive me, Far Cry 2. And Far Cry 2 is a good game, whoever says what, but in this case it is not a flattering and not desired comparison.
Open World Metro: Exodus https://sugarbingocasino.uk/mobile-app/ absolutely do not want to explore, because there is simply nothing to do in it. The process is completely routine and, in general, aimless. Rumining the corners in search of spare parts and supplies on difficulties below the high does not make any sense, t.To. on plot missions they are already lying like dirt. You could deal with this business as a break between plot missions, especially since most of the points of interest are just on the way to them, but here is the matter: many plot missions, in fact, unfold in enemy camps similar to the fact that you are cleaning in your free time, and gameplay there is identical. For example, on the second open location after the plot showdowns on one gang base, you are going to plot showdowns at another gang base, and along the way you can arrange unhurried showdowns at two more gangsters! So -so respite, honestly.
Somehow enemies who are found on the locations could be brightened up, but they do not brighten up. Their mind has already been mentioned, but the problem is that there is no special variety of creatures and their behavior. Of the mutants on land, you have only guards who run into you, run away and run again; Kikimors who are the same guards, but with a different appearance; human-like monsters of beasts who simply run up, and … in general, all. There are also explosive snakes, which are not serious about even talking about, you were bitten, you cursed and went on. A demon monitors you in the sky, but if you take into account that most of the time you spend in the vehicle, then all your interaction with it is limited to observing it from the window and quoting Russian memes in 2012. And in the water you can only leech, not getting through you mucus from your vulgar mouth, and occasionally climbing to your boat, from where they can easily be expelled by kicks. There are still shrimp with durable claws that have already been found in Last Light, but they always bite near the ponds in those places where you definitely will not go, and the player with them does not intersect at all. Well, people are people, they always behave equally regardless of what clothes they flaunt.
Sucker!
The only more or less interesting enemy appears only at night-ball lightning, anomaly, in behavior resembling a poltergeist from the PM-and that is only on the first location. And if the first open level is relatively balanced in terms of the variety of enemies – mutants and human beings are mowing with each other, and there is even some kind of boss, then people literally flooded, both ordinary and star. Once, as an exception in the plot task, they give with spiders to fight, and only. Needless to say, with the general routine of gameplay, this does not help much?
And finishes what is happening the static of the surrounding world. All living creatures are strictly in its sectors, remotely from each other and without intersecting. Sometimes scenes still arise when some can be painted with others, but this happens extremely rarely and by pure chance; intentionally bring the same demon to the bandit camp is still the task. And there is nothing between the sectors, no patrol will pass, no belly will run – only the road, with or without mud.
The open world of Metro: Exodus does not encourage you to spend time in it and even repels you, and this is actually a shame, because the developers clearly wanted to make it interesting, despite the optionality, and even hoped that the player would roam not only by points of interest. The game has a full of Easter and amusements placed in different angles of locations, detailed static scenes are present not only in the places marked on the map, sometimes you can find peaceful characters, and the very filling of the locations, depending on the time of day, changes slightly, for example, some situations can only be found at night and vice versa at night and vice versa. But, unfortunately, in order to see all this, you will have to get through aimless running and routine gameplay and hope that you will come across something soon. Perhaps the developers themselves understood that they were not glued with Openvorld, because despite the fact that the game has four large locations, only the first two of them include sandbox.
And a delicious red cherry on the cake is the fact that the open world to a certain extent causes damage to the perception of the game even if it is completely ignored.
III. The same Glukhovsky
I don’t know, once again I’m already talking about this, but the “metro” is imperfect cinematic rails. Rails, however, made by people with a good sense of rhythm; People who perfectly understand when you need to insert an episode with a fatal action, when you can plunge a stealth section, where you need to make a respite with peaceful fermentation at the station and examining the script scenes, and at what point the player can potentially tire all this and it is time to send him to the surface in proud loneliness to play a hure with a dangerous mutant. In many ways, these games worked precisely because of their balance and excellent pace; They simply did not have time to tire and passed in one breath. “Metro: Exodus” is trying to stay the same structure of the missions, but the presence in the game of locations-sandwiches for obvious reasons already violates this balance, which is why some jambs are striking more than earlier than before.
Another important point is that the plot of the “metro” unfolded in a certain period of time, the story begins at point A and ends at point B, and you go all the way from beginning to end, fully observing it with your own eyes. And therefore, history was presented in the spirit of "continuous" jokes ala Half-Life 2, in which the characters often accompanied you during the missions and said something, showed and played out. And to Metro: Exodus, despite its scale, tried to apply the same approach as in the first two times. It turned out strange.
Everything begins standard for the series: Artem with a companion rummages on the surface, trying to catch a signal from other cities in the belief that they still survived. During the mission with scenes and all the accompanying, the main character finds out that he was right and other cities are alive, after which the steam locomotive steals with his associates and sets off to drive along the vast. Further, the game gives out a “peaceful” episode in which Artem-Gagrok has to get to know his team more closely, and he, like other similar scenes, acts as a respite similar to respite at residential stations from past games of the series. And despite the obscure nuances that later, with the role of respite, he copes.
And then the player is allowed to the first open level of the game, and despite the presence of sandboxes in it, they try to treat him in the same way as any other location of the previous parts, and build a story accordingly. There is an almost complete set of metroly missions on the Volga: there are standard episodes focused on stealth explosions of choice, and the bypasses of dark labyrinths with mutants crawling out at the most unexpected moments, and quiet pokatushki-examinations, and even small breaks: after almost every task, Artem is forced to stomp to the steam locomotive with his comrade. did not stand, and therefore, when returning, he finds some new scenes and dialogs. In general, the plot of the Volga is felt as the same “metro”, and there are no special complaints about it.
But in addition to the plot, the scriptwriters needed to prescribe optional content, and they also approached him surprisingly normally. Moreover, there remains the impression that at first the creators wanted to make Openvorld more alive and somehow encourage the player to climb to where history does not lead him. At least two of the three additional quests of the game, which are issued by someone and are surrendered to someone, are on this location. The third is at the following level and it is performed when passing the plot task, which is already a little wrong.
And even the ENT of the area in which Artem was supplied adequately. The general idea of what is happening here can be understood from the plot scenes, and the exposition on the topic “Why is this” is set forth in the format of notes and audio journals, and key information can be found on plot missions. The history of the area is in sufficient detail, but at the same time they don’t shove it to the player in the face, if you want to know, if you do not, and this is the right approach to issuing optional information.
In general, the Volga is perceived as several levels from the "metro" united into one, and this, in general, is good and suitable. This is followed by another respite on the steam locomotive, after which there is a strictly plot mission on a separate map, designed to finally shake the possible citizens tired of the sandbox, and then Artem is in the second open area of the game, the Caspian, where for some reason everything starts to go wrong.
Completely suddenly, a different approach inherent in many games is elected, according to which a separate subsidiary is unfolding on a separate location. Quite suddenly, the previously existing balance collapses: not counting one thing, all tasks at the level are a showdown with bandits, and for the most part the same type; script scenes to a minimum; Interaction with comrades came down to zero*; And as a bonus, part of the sandbox decided to tie up to history. No, no one still forces you to engage in you, and no, there are no interesting prescribed missions, this is all the same liberation of the captives from the enemy camps. Just without their passage, you won’t get the perfect ending. And the pulp itself lies in the approach to the exposure: from now on it is served in the best way of all – right in the forehead through monologues.
*such Artem comes to Aurora, and they say to him there: “He came? Well done! Now go back."
Dmitry Glukhovsky, scriptwriter Last Light and Exodus, manages to write dialogs. In particular, he is well given household dialogs, as it were, including an easy exposition and working on a common atmosphere. In this regard, he is well done, my respect. Dmitry Glukhovsky, author of the main book trilogy, but monologues are more attracted. Reading the “Metro 2033”, one could stumble upon a monologue inside a dialogue with a half-sized pages, and this was not something out of the ordinary. Dmitry Glukhovsky’s monologues, as a rule, are filled with a bunch of descriptions, there are more water in them than in this review, they carry some kind of message or opinion of the author on some kind of socio-political-philosophical theme and lasts the devil’s eternity. Working on Metro: Last Light, Dmitry Glukhovsky was definitely engaged in dialogues of secondary strangers to the protagonist of heroes at residential stations and in enemy camps. Perhaps he was engaged in writing the plot component of the game, but this. Even if so, then in the “Ray of Hope” he was aware of what he was working on, and therefore there was no such frank game of such a plan, not counting the khan with his speeches in the style of “You, Artem, an asshole, because you don’t feel the metro, but I feel, I feel, yes”. Working on Metro: Exodus, Dmitry Glukhovsky went into a variety.
Surprisingly, the appropriate attack in a surprisingly appropriate place for this place
In general, in the scenario plan that “Metro 2033”, that “Metro: Ray of Hope” are similar to the categories “B” films, and therefore to the plot as a whole and to what the characters, opening their mouths, are customary to close their eyes, because what’s the meaning? “Metro: Exodus” is already a film “B” with claims, and the requirements for it are relevant. The plot itself is normal here, in a frank thrash, like Last Light, does not roll*, and thank you. As if the main storyline in reality serves as a background for more personal stories. Exodus focuses on characters and relationships between them, even the endings this time depend on your associates. And since during the missions Artem, as a rule, there is one, then you have to disclose and develop heroes precisely during the breaks on Aurora.
*Apart from one child of the Katezh and Fully in the Government Bunker
And the disclosure, as it is started, occurs in two ways. The first is the scenes of joint pastime and communication of heroes, both small groups and a full crew, and there are no complaints about it. Yes, sometimes the dialogs between them are written quite in a bigger (especially when they discuss the beloved by Glukhovsky, acute-social topics), sometimes the scenes look quite clumsy, and the heroes themselves speak templates, despite all this, you believe in awkward chemistry, and, although it is not possible to love with all your heart, but it is possible to get to them with all your hearts. The second method consists in personal communication of individual characters with Artem. Communication with, I remind you, a dumb protagonist.
Yes, in "Exodus" Artem still does not utter a word for the whole game. And in the very simple protagonist there is nothing wrong, even in the very dumb artem there is nothing bad, but there is only one nuance. In Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, the silent protagonist did not raise any questions, because the script was written so that our character always acted as an active participant in dialogs or some scenes, but how many as a listener, and even if they turned to him, then with rhetorical issues or general replicas. The Metro script: Exodus is written so that the no -cutting eyes of the Shutra line that never cuts into one of the most stupid decisions that could only be made.
As mentioned above, the characters constantly pour out the soul of Artem, communicating with him monologues. And this is what business: often these monologues do not look like a hero could calmly talk to himself, but since the protagonist appeared, then why not, but as a normal human conversation, from which for some reason the replicas of the second interlocutor were cut out. By golly, there are frequent situations when specific questions are asked by specific questions that require specific answers, and even pause after that, implying that now he will say. And it can be assumed that this is such an idea, they say, the player himself should answer, and this theory would have the right to life, if the character had not immediately made the answer, which Artem allegedly gave, apparently, at that moment it is sharply laid in your ears, so you do not hear anything.
And it’s not only about monologues; The silence of the protagonist at times leads to completely idiotic situations in the context of the game itself. With Artem, the connection is manifested literally on every location, and each time his wife with exclamations tries to reach him: “Artem, answer! Artem, answer!»And Artem, such a bastard is worth it near the receiver and does not want to answer, because it cannot. But the most probably clinical case is associated with the plot, so if anyone else has passed, it is better not to look.
When visiting a hopper in the Caspian, the protagonist can listen to the audio journal (and will probably listen to, t.To. This is one of those records that cannot be passed by), which mentioned that Novosibirsk suffered even more in the nuclear war than Moscow. I listened and listened, okay. A little later, Melnik, Artem and Ermak discuss that they may have to go to Novosibirsk. Our hero, I recall, knows that things are going on, to put it mildly, not very, and he is just standing and silent, deciding to leave this with a surprise for them. Amazing, thanks.
Returning to monologues: the idiotic form of writing in some cases is far from the only problem. Sometimes the characters speak out on the same topic, while speaking in different words literally the same thing, as if everyone has one point of view and one position on all. Things were especially sad during the second respite, when the crew shared his impressions with the hero about the first location. Context: the main antagonist on the Volga is a sectarian who washed his brains to local residents, forcing them to worship gigantic catfish and make him human sacrifices, abandon all technology, even the most harmless and primitive, and go fight with ball lightning prayers and signs. Three monologues are read in his honor on Aurora (and two, the most funny, sound from one character), and they all convey one thought: with the help of religion, to effectively manage the herd. Fine. The next location is the Caspian. The main villain of this territory, do not believe, loves to speak out on the radio for a long time and tedious. And this person makes two villainous speeches on the topic – and again, do not believe it – "with the help of religion to effectively manage the herd". Dim Alekseich, you are well done, you cut the truth-uterus, I perfectly understand you, please, enough.
Monologues do not help the case for the sake of monologues (and there are such, yes). One of the crew members is a technician named Tokarev, whose image is described by the phrase "Master for all hands". Almost all of his communication with the main character convey this characteristic, and all his speeches can be reduced to “Artem, returned? I made you a cool thing on a workbench, be sure to try it. And everything was junk that you will find on the wastelands, drag me to me, come in handy. ". This small skeleton is covered with tons of meat from the descriptions of what place it is not bad here, but you need to improve something else, you would still put some kind of locker, and you, the gouging, break the weapons, and to whom to repair, and I won’t disappear with me, I served in the army, I have experience, by the way, my quiet is more murder Distracted, you don’t drop your main automatic machine in the mud, but now the prince dropped it, and now to repair it, and to whom to fix it, I should repair it, well, it’s time for you, well, I also have to sew costumes, to nail the shelf, put it off, and the situation is not sugar, but nothing, it is comfortable, in principle, I will make it more comfortable. And this is good for the first time. Normally in the second. Strange in the third. The rest of the time you are simply perplexed, because the general content of what flies from his mouth rarely changes.
And monologues, by the way, are long, two minutes at least, and there are a lot of them, and when I say that there are many of them, it means that there are many of them, Glukhovsky fell off for both games. And they fly into you almost without stopping, the characters fall on you a bunch of information of varying degrees of usefulness and interestingness. It’s just that the whole point is one scene: Anna pours out the soul of Artem, ending with this process with the phrase: “Well, I speak out … Now let’s just be silent”. Come on. Five seconds later, she bursts out with a new tirade. I do not exaggerate, exactly five seconds have passed.
Well, the finishment is the fact that the farther you go through the game, the longer the pauses of the pieces of the monologue become. On the third location, the taiga, there is one character who rescues Artem in the plot, and if you stay near him, he with the words: “What, he decided to relax before the battle? That’s right ”will give you a mountain of exposition, telling almost the entire history of this area from the war to the current moment. And everything would be fine, but having told a solid piece of text, it falls silent. And you understand that everything seems to be mentally clarifying: “finished?", Turn around and go to the exit, when suddenly she continues her story, and you listen further. And specifically in this monologue, this happens more than once, not two, or even, damn it, not three, and this begins to resemble some thick trolling.
And here there is one important point. The game does not force you to go through all this, most of the monologues and speeches are optional, you can safely not pay attention and go about your business. And thereby the script puts you before a rather interesting choice: either you are trying to delve into the world of the game, explore his ENT, learn the characters, get used to them, and suffer from the attacks of graphomania of one writer and screenwriter, or you are not tormented, score to interact with the crew, thereby ignoring the essence of the game and making your adventures even more aimlessly than they were before. Great, really?
And this is the trouble: not all monologues are so disgusting as I described them. There are many of them, very, but not all. There are very sincere speeches that really look like appropriate outpourings of the soul at this time in this place, and not "something was impatient for me to talk about politics". The interaction between crew members is always nice to observe, even if it is clicked and stretched. Aurora really tried to make the team and the general situation, and this is noticeable. There is a radio on which you can catch negotiations between other settlements, partly learn about the consequences of your actions during the game and listen to the songs of Viktor Tsoi*, which someone puts it for some reason. Here you can stand between the wagons, smoke and observe the landscapes of post -core Russia (though not for long, because the train rides in a circle, but nevertheless). Although the Aurora crew is simple and largely built on recognizable images and characteristics, occasionally (fortunately) replacing the personality ** of their owners, I repeat, you believe in chemistry between them and you are attached to them. And thank you.
*The dream of the guys came true: in their game, protest music sounded **- Eh, Babu would fuck! – Alyosha, you only think about how to fuck a woman! – Well, yes, I would fuck a woman! And what, a woman would not fuck? -Well, what am I? – Hahaha! Well, yes! But I would have fucked a woman! – Nothing, you will come and fuck a woman. -Yes, I am fucking a woman! Eh, Baby would fuck.
Returning to the levels: the second large location Metro: Exodus is some kind of narrative and gameplay mess. The whole balance shesitated at the hell, the gameplay on her is predominantly the same, and the villainous exposition is shoved into the face of Artem. Perhaps, realizing that everything was very sad with Openvurld, the developers decided to change their approach to large locations, since the third level suddenly turned out to be very large, but very linear. And in a sense, the taiga is an ideal example of combining open spaces and the metro structure.
The entire level is one large territory through which the player should get to the destination. The location itself is divided into separate gameplay sectors, four enemy camps, two forest passages between them, a swamp, in which Nicerta is not visible, and the boss-file with she will devour you as a pleasant bonus. And it would seem, again the camps, after the Caspian, should be sick of them. But! I repeat, the entire level is lines from beginning to end and very competently, as it were, to say, directed? Opponents’ bases are very large and very spacious, for once, not one passage to the exit from them. The enemies themselves are arranged in such a way that it will not work out so easily, and we must manage and dodge. The NPS actively twist their heads in all directions, including up and down, and even react to the cessation of the activities of their individual comrades (as an example: a person stands upstairs, knocks on drums, you crawl to him, cut down, and after a while it comes from below: “Eh, and you have calmed down something? Sanya, well, go check!»Stlas in the taiga brings special pleasure precisely because of such a study of the environment. It’s also not only that you don’t have to crawl between the camps: in one of these crossings, a flock of wolves randomly worn, from which you constantly have to hide, because if they are overtaken, you will have to look at the terrible animations of attacks in the jump (it is still better than in Fear The Wolves, Of course, but still).
And outwardly and in the sensations, the location, in fact, leaves the impression The same stalker, Even the embosses similar plays, which is additionally going to her plus. I don’t know how the game would be perceived if all its levels were made in this style, but one such “outcome” was definitely needed.
The last large location of Metro: Exodus (and its last location in principle) … is quite ironic. Because in the game about finding a house somewhere, but not in the subway, you feel at home at a level that can be described as “Metro brief”. I will not spoil what exactly and why is there, but the cold comes again, I have to go down the ground again, and this is unexpectedly beautiful.
Despite the fact that at the beginning I said in detail that the heart of the Metro always remained unchanged, there was still one element in the first game, which was lost in the sequel and did not even find in Redux. In the Metro 2033 of the 2010 model, Artem-Gagrok almost always accompanied a strong sense of anxiety, a little dulling at residential stations, but returning in full force, barely worth leaving them. “Metro 2033” is a game in which winter is cold, dark darkness, and you take every step with caution even knowing where someone is about and what it can do. The last location of the “Metro: Exodus” returns those already forgotten sensations from 2010, in 1 hour reminding of both the collapsing cold and about the PRIS Captain Fighting, and about the annoying fight of the “U” button, and about the craftsman knows where the hem of the beast in the tunnels, and about the soothing feeling of safety in the world, And about constant anxiety in the same room with a terrible monster, even despite the clear realization that he is more here for the species. The last location "Metro: Exodus" is The same metro, from which it once started, with all its pros and cons; And, perhaps, it is obvious that Exodus is the last game in the series, because the topic has already exhausted itself*, and finish it as it finished was probably the best solution that could only come to. Thank you.
*The authors of the Metro universe 2033 will not agree with me, but please do not need
IV. The rest that did not enter the first three points, but you need to mention
– sound. With sound in this game, the situation is very strange. Everything related to the environment is simply great: howling winds, squirrels of dirt, all sorts of rustles, etc.p. sounds very natural and greatly helps immersion. In the real world, you are returned from the first -person cats, in which the sound source is as if not here at all, as if it were recorded separately and simply imposed a background.
– Optimization. With optimization of the case even more strange than with sound. She, apparently, is not very. Because there are reviews on forums with all kinds of problems, somewhere here, among others, a mined blog lies, in which a person describes all his adventures and impressions. But at the same time, I can’t say that it is not very, because I played without problems on my configuration below the minimum recommended! And I did not encounter any special bugs, no one ran in the air, the helmets did not live their lives, the scripts did not break, and the preservations did not deteriorate. The only bug I encountered for the whole game – Artem fell out of the train at full speed. And it was fine. But there are problems, a lot of bugar ports with notarized screenshots confirms this, and at the time of June 20, 2019, some of them have not yet been corrected and is unlikely to be.
– Localization. The Russian version of the past parts of the metro was engaged in 4a Games themselves. This time the Russian version was given "Buke", who was engaged in the voice acting on the instructions from above. And the result turned out to be controversial, and there is a chance that the Russian version would have turned out better if there were no instructions at all. I sincerely doubt that playing the antagonists as Jamesobond villains was the idea of “Buki”, if we recall what the game we heard in Last Light.
The localization itself is uneven, the advantage is more good than bad, but there are errors. Opponents communicating among themselves still do not always sound as natural as they sounded in the past parts. The famous voices of famous actors unexpectedly well suited the Aurora crew, and, listening to them, there were no associations with some other, brighter characters voiced by the same people. The actress who voiced Anna is amazingly coping with emotional moments, but does not reach the calm. Melnik, the voice of Vladimir Antonika, gives both brilliant performances and completely hilarious. The miller is generally quite complicated, for the entire “outcome” he experiences literally the whole range of emotions, and in one stage his mood and reaction can change. The problem is that in the text this is not always obvious, and often between the animation of the hero and his wager there is a discord. I suspect that the reason is all in the same fuzzy instructions. On the other hand, Buka’s buildings had a Buki, they themselves talked about it, they probably should have noticed that there were problems?
It’s hard with you
In addition, it is not known for certain exactly who was responsible for the Russian texts of the game: “Buk” or 4a Games. In any case, on whom they were lying, but the person who was engaged in the editing, obviously in the process, went beyond the cigarettes and did not return, because the number of typos and errors of all stripes is simply colossal, the last time it was just as badly in Russian localization Call of Duty: Black Ops III.
– The liquid decreases. In 2013, playing Metro: Last Light, at one of the stations I came across a man who could not get her porridge in any way. He scored a spoon out of the plate, put it in his mouth, took out his mouth already an empty spoon and lowered it into a plate, after which the process was repeated. And he ate and ate, ate and ate, and his face was so gloomy, so gloomy, he was tired of eating, but he could not get. And I really wanted this man to get his porridge in the new game of this man. Well, the “outcome” came out, no one eats in this game, but everyone drinks, including Artem, at the same time it is clear that they drink (unlike the “beam of hope”, where supposedly the full circles were obviously empty), and the contents of the glasses splashing, decreasing and even can end. 8/10, minus two points for the fact that Artem is not added, and he sits like a fool, with an empty glass.
-QTE elements. 2019, we feverishly hollow the "y" button. Seriously, 4a?
– Myayayaso. Well, why are they parking, and?
– The soundtrack. Alexey Omelchuk, although a craftsman, but knows his job. Outside of the game, you will not listen to any of what he wrote, but in the game itself will go.
Result
Metro: Exodus – a rather ambiguous game, with problems both in gameplay and narrative. The concepts of large locations, it seems, were worked out right during the development, so the approach to them varies. The open world for the most part is openly bored, Glukhovsky’s graphomania is simply murderous in places, and the AI still remains in the same state as nine years ago, and, answering the question posed in the introduction, the stalker and metro structure, although combined, are combined with a very large creak, at least in the form in which they are connected here in which they are connected here. But all this disgrace is adjacent to spiritual characters, hefty atmospheric locations and still fascinating gameplay, despite all its flaws and jambs, the penultimate level is wonderful, and the final location, without jokes, is worth it to reach it and pass.
In general, the “outcome” is one of those games regarding which no one needs to listen to anyone, and which you need to go through, so opinions were divided by it. She is scolded and adore for the same things, but at the same time, subjective adoration/hatred can cause some so small detail that others will not pay much attention. For me, Metro: Exodus is a strong game from which I got my pleasure, and I would very much like it to be better, but it turned out just a strong rough project above average.
