Here’s How Metro Exodus Developed Into a ‘Huge Step Forward’ for the Franchise

Metro Exodus is a project five years in the making. To celebrate the title’s imminent release, 4A Games will be releasing a three-part ‘Making of’ series. The first part, entitled “Spartans,” has launched on YouTube. During the first half of episode one, many of the studio’s leads are introduced. The video’s second half features discussion on how Metro Exodus‘ development marked a “huge step forward” for the franchise.

Despite explorable small areas and little hub spaces for players to return to, Metro has always been considered linear, particularly with regards to story progress. This is most notably due to large swaths of each previous entry taking place in subway tunnels. Metro Exodus will significantly alter the status quo, since it spans all of Russia and is set throughout the course of one year.

For the first time in the series, players will venture beyond the confines of Moscow. As Lead Environmental Artist Dmytro Zenin put it, Metro Exodus, compared to its predecessors, represents a “lungful of fresh air.” In many respects, this statement seems quite literal. During Exodus, protagonist Artyom will take his first lungful of fresh air, once he departs Moscow. With this in mind, the series isn’t solely changing in scope. It’s also visually undergoing several shifts.

Visual changes will be most notable because of Exodus‘ one year time span. With the advent of season changes in Metro, 4A Games wanted each to have its own “unique face.” Lead Game Designer Viacheslav Aristov provided a few examples. For autumn, the studio prioritized trees and nature’s beauty. The emphasis for summer was on heat and desert storms. Meanwhile, spring received a flooded look, with rusted metal meant to show the effects of rain damage.

Fans can explore Metro Exodus to its fullest extent when it arrives on the PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One on February 15, 2019.