Exodus is great game, and in the first 2 areas of the game I was completely invested, no major issues were tearing me out of the experience, and the story was chugging along. However towards the tail end of the game, issues begin to appear more and more frequently to the point that the last area of the game (dead city) which is supposed to be one of the best levels, is actually infuriating to get though. The reasons for this are tied into the games issues as a whole:

1. Bad AI: The ai for human and mutant enemies in this game is pretty bad, it was at most forgivable in human enemy centered sections as it would only compromise stealth (which is still extremely annoying) but as mutant enemies are more prominent in dead city, having a mutant hit you once and then run in a circle across the map it makes getting through the sections overtly tedious

2. The hitboxes: IMO this is one of the worst issues the game has, it isnt as noticeable on human enemies, jsut missing a headshot here and there, but for mutants the situation is completely unacceptable. there are multiple enemies, Id even say its a majority of them, where if you do not hit center mass the bullets will not register. This can be most clearly seen on the flying enemy in Caspian sea, where the wings of the creature (which are more than 50% of his body) cannot be hit by bullets. This leads to fighting mutants, which are a staple of the metro series, being a dreaded affair as you are sure to have many unfair deaths due to missing a shot that should have landed, and thereby getting hit and killed (especially on higher difficulties)

3. Mutants kinda suck: There is simply no reason to kill mutants in this game, and this is due to Exodus' loot system. In previous games there was also not loot from killing mutants, and this was fine, as the alternative human enemies really only dropped a few bullets and some military grade ammo for currency. However the introduction of crafting and expanded parts for guns in exodus (and the fact these elements are found on human characters) makes fighting human enemies far more fun and rewarding than fighting mutants. It actually got to the point I got annoyed when fighting non human enemies, as all they would do is eat bullets and waste my resources, with the act of killing them not even being fun due to the aformentioned hitboxes. I thought this would be remedied later in the game by the introduction of mutant skin that could be used on armor upgrades or something of the sort, but nothing like this ever occurs.

4. The morale system: The way multiple endings are tied into this game is cool, and I get dishonored vibes from the idea, but it is so poorly executed that I ended up not caring about it. This is seen most readily in the taiga level (which has its own myriad of issues) where the game expects the player not to kill the forest people because they......they uh...the game never really tells you. It is mentioned that they think you are a bandit and thats why they aggro you instantly, but to this point in the game literally every other group you have met, in every area, has thought at first that the main cast were bandits. Why is it any different here? if anything its worse, these people nearly killed you and took your friend, why would any player on first playthrough think "geez, these are the NICE bandits this time, even though I was rewarded for killing the enemies in the caspian, ill spare them here!!". What makes the situation even worse is that the bad ai makes stealthing these areas skull-crushingly annoying, and after your 3rd or 4th try you will end up just mowing people down.

Exodus is extremely fun, and has expanded on the metro series in many ways, with the open world levels being (mostly) wonderfully designed and full of little things to go explore. However, the introduction of these mechanics has caused new issues for the series that only compound on failings from the previous games, and seeing as the title has been out for over two years without a fix, it looks like the issues are here to stay.

Buy it on sale

Exodus is great game, and in the first 2 areas of the game I was completely invested, no major issues were tearing me out of the experience, and the story was chugging along. However towards the tail end of the game, issues begin to appear more and more frequently to the point that the last area of the game (dead city) which is supposed to be one of the best levels, is actually infuriating to get though. The reasons for this are tied into the games issues as a whole: 1. Bad AI: The ai for human and mutant enemies in this game is pretty bad, it was at most forgivable in human enemy centered sections as it would only compromise stealth (which is still extremely annoying) but as mutant enemies are more prominent in dead city, having a mutant hit you once and then run in a circle across the map it makes getting through the sections overtly tedious 2. The hitboxes: IMO this is one of the worst issues the game has, it isnt as noticeable on human enemies, jsut missing a headshot here and there, but for mutants the situation is completely unacceptable. there are multiple enemies, Id even say its a majority of them, where if you do not hit center mass the bullets will not register. This can be most clearly seen on the flying enemy in Caspian sea, where the wings of the creature (which are more than 50% of his body) cannot be hit by bullets. This leads to fighting mutants, which are a staple of the metro series, being a dreaded affair as you are sure to have many unfair deaths due to missing a shot that should have landed, and thereby getting hit and killed (especially on higher difficulties) 3. Mutants kinda suck: There is simply no reason to kill mutants in this game, and this is due to Exodus' loot system. In previous games there was also not loot from killing mutants, and this was fine, as the alternative human enemies really only dropped a few bullets and some military grade ammo for currency. However the introduction of crafting and expanded parts for guns in exodus (and the fact these elements are found on human characters) makes fighting human enemies far more fun and rewarding than fighting mutants. It actually got to the point I got annoyed when fighting non human enemies, as all they would do is eat bullets and waste my resources, with the act of killing them not even being fun due to the aformentioned hitboxes. I thought this would be remedied later in the game by the introduction of mutant skin that could be used on armor upgrades or something of the sort, but nothing like this ever occurs. 4. The morale system: The way multiple endings are tied into this game is cool, and I get dishonored vibes from the idea, but it is so poorly executed that I ended up not caring about it. This is seen most readily in the taiga level (which has its own myriad of issues) where the game expects the player not to kill the forest people because they......they uh...the game never really tells you. It is mentioned that they think you are a bandit and thats why they aggro you instantly, but to this point in the game literally every other group you have met, in every area, has thought at first that the main cast were bandits. Why is it any different here? if anything its worse, these people nearly killed you and took your friend, why would any player on first playthrough think "geez, these are the NICE bandits this time, even though I was rewarded for killing the enemies in the caspian, ill spare them here!!". What makes the situation even worse is that the bad ai makes stealthing these areas skull-crushingly annoying, and after your 3rd or 4th try you will end up just mowing people down. Exodus is extremely fun, and has expanded on the metro series in many ways, with the open world levels being (mostly) wonderfully designed and full of little things to go explore. However, the introduction of these mechanics has caused new issues for the series that only compound on failings from the previous games, and seeing as the title has been out for over two years without a fix, it looks like the issues are here to stay. Buy it on sale