Metro: Exodus - Feb. 15

[#Drennn.]

f you missed Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, you've got until 2019 to catch up. Make sure that you do. The first two games based on Dmitry Glukhovsky's brutal post-apocalyptic novels might've been plagued by glitches and poor AI, but their strengths — the compelling combination of first-person shooting and stealth-based challenges, the well-realized survival elements, and the environments that simply ooze atmosphere — more than make up for a few weaknesses. Besides, Metro's story is great. You'll want to know what's happening before you see what Exodus has in store.

And you'll definitely want to pick up Metro: Exodus, at least if the game's pre-release materials are telling the truth. For one, you're no longer confined to the subway tunnels. With Exodus, the Metro series is going semi-open world with levels 10 times bigger than those found in Last Light. Every stage will offers hours worth of things to do — if you can manage to survive, of course. In Metro: Exodus, you'll need to carefully manage your supplies, craft your own weapons, and be very, very careful if you want to survive a full year in the Russian nuclear winter.

As per series tradition, radioactive mutants will return, but really, it's Metro's world that has us jazzed. A dynamic weather system and real-time day-to-night cycle look like they'll help make Metro: Exodus one of the most convincing post-apocalyptic settings of all time. It's everything you loved about Metro before. You'll just have more freedom to do what you want. A whole lot more.

Metro: Exodus arrives on Feb. 15, 2019.