Metro Exodus- E3 2017

Holy fuck it looks good:

Saw this earlier today. Looks fantastic.

There's talk of it being more open world, but it doesn't look like it to me. That outside level looks like pre-baked lighting (which is what allows it to be so pretty) and some scripted events. I'd say it's still going to be pretty much on rails, just with a few more outdoorsy levels. The best thing to me was the close quarters combat animation, but I've seen a lot of that sort of thing that doesn't survive beyond an E3 promo.

The Metro games are somewhat linear, but I wouldn't say they're on rails. Some of the levels are fairly large. They're not as linear as mainstream shooters like Call of Duty, etc.

Personally, I'd rather they stuck to their strengths which are atmosphere and tight combat. I hope they're not trying to go open-world just to follow the trend.

Yes, I don't mean on-rails as a pejorative necessarily, just a turn of phrase for a certain style of game. Done well, they can be fun.

Thing is, since I started digging into game development, I suffer a bit from knowing how the sausage is made, I find this sort of design tends to be quite obvious - a cleverly disguised path through some scripted events and mobs. Open worlds can be very bland when badly implemented for the sake of the trend, but I find them more interesting now than something where the "level" jumps out at me.

Looks like Far Cry Metro - only less open and less interesting. But very pretty - and I like the environment.

I have yet to play Last Light but the first Metro game was very much "on rails" from what I can remember. It's not a bad thing by default, however. The railsy part did not change the fact that it was a really good FPS .
I'm definitely looking forward to finally playing LL one of these days and this new installment looks good, too, though it seemed to be heavily scripted so I'm looking forward to more "realistic" gameplay footage.

Oh, and the new Wolfenstein looks really great, too. I loved TNO and Old Blood so more is always welcome.

Looks really good, indeed. That gameplay vid has a serious STALKER vibe.

looks good but video was so scripted

Originally Posted by Moriendor
I have yet to play Last Light but the first Metro game was very much "on rails" from what I can remember. It's not a bad thing by default, however. The railsy part did not change the fact that it was a really good FPS .

The term "on rails" used to refer to rail shooters like House of the Dead, etc, where you literally couldn't control your character except to aim and shoot. Then somewhere along the line people started using it to describe anything that was remotely linear. I just think it's a really dumb term and completely nonsensical when used in that context.

Originally Posted by Moriendor
Oh, and the new Wolfenstein looks really great, too. I loved TNO and Old Blood so more is always welcome.

Interesting. I think that's the longest game trailer I've ever seen.

You really thought TNO was good though? Other than the visuals, I found it pretty disappointing. It just didn't feel much like Wolfenstein to me.

Originally Posted by wiretripped
STALKER vibe.

Thanks. Skippin'.

There is a type of game that is literally on rails, where your motion is not under your control, except for choosing branching paths. To me, though, it's not unreasonable to use the description more broadly to describe a game where the game leads you inexorably down a very prescribed path, with no significant deviation possible.

Looking at the level in the trailer, you can quite easily see that path through the stage set, which links up to a scripted event that connects you with (ironically) a literal train ride.

It's not uncommon for trailer videos to be a little more on-rails for the purposes of demonstration.

However, I think the most telling part of it was the girl on the train. I mean, unless that was just for kicks - that's clearly a very scripted moment that would seem out of place in a freeform game.

So, more than likely - it's less open than Far Cry/Stalker - but probably a little more open than Metro.

All the same to me, as I didn't really care for Metro - and while this looks neat, it looks like a straight-up shooter with a few gadgets.

Zzzzz.

Originally Posted by joxer
Thanks. Skippin'.

Hehe, I get you didn't like the respawns in STALKER, but as far as setting and atmosphere go I thought it was pretty good.

Yea… Stalker simply bored me to death. Sorry. I can't understand why JDR says it's better than FC3, honestly it's not even close although allows gamesaving anywhere unlike FC3 checkpoints.
But it's equally boring as FC4.

Anyway, it this game is Stalker "spiritual successor", I'm not buying.

Originally Posted by joxer
Anyway, it this game is Stalker "spiritual successor", I'm not buying.

Oh, it's not a spiritual successor to STALKER AFAIK. The setting is vaguely similar (Russia, post-apoc), and they're both shooters, but that's it.
There've been 2 Metro games before (still sitting in my backlog, haven't tried them yet), I believe they're based on books.

Originally Posted by Ripper
To me, though, it's not unreasonable to use the description more broadly to describe a game where the game leads you inexorably down a very prescribed path, with no significant deviation possible.

I guess I just don't see the point in using a description that doesn't fit what you're describing.

Anyways, I didn't have a problem with the linearity in the first two games. I don't think every game needs to be open-world, and there was enough variety in the levels to make them interesting to me. Their forte so far has been cutting edge visuals and an oppressive atmosphere. I'd like to see them stick to that and maybe make more of the levels a little larger, like the Library level in 2033 or the swamps in Last Light.

I couldn't get into Metro at all. I just lost all interest in less than 15 minutes. The game didn't seem to have an inventory or much of anything else. It was like a totally scripted corridor shooter where the only choice was whether to fire your weapon. I might try that new Wolfenstein though.

Joxer prefers the Ubisoft style of hunting down collectibles and magically unlocking new weapons by completing various tasks. Some people like their games to be gamey.

Originally Posted by crpgnut
I couldn't get into Metro at all. I just lost all interest in less than 15 minutes. The game didn't seem to have an inventory or much of anything else. It was like a totally scripted corridor shooter where the only choice was whether to fire your weapon. I might try that new Wolfenstein though.

That was very much my experience with it as well. Didn't help that it ran like ass - even on top-end hardware.

Wolfenstein TNO was also a mindless shooter, but it had a very entertaining story. Reminds me that I still need to finish that one.