Metro Exodus: Sam's Story review - a unique and exciting journey to Vladivostok

The second and final expansion for Metro Exodus builds on elements of the great base game. At the same time, Sam's Story manages to create a unique atmosphere for immersion.

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Metro Exodus is undoubtedly one of the best games of 2019, offering fans of the series a whole new direction with an open world game. The first expansion, The Two Colonels, took us back to the franchise's past by sending players into closed locations and narrow corridors. The latest expansion, Sam's Story, reimagined what many loved about the original game - a non-linear environment familiar in structure but unique in atmosphere.

This is an expansion with exciting locations, lots of secrets to find and a whole new story. It continued the tradition of the base game. And given its success, I have no complaints about this decision of 4A Games.

First about the good

The first thing that impressed me the most about the DLC was the unique design. In addition, we control the American Sam, who is trying to find a way to return to his native States, where he hopes to see his father. To do this, he goes to Vladivostok - the easternmost point of the mainland and part-time port city. And this city is located far from the scorching deserts and icy wastelands, where the events of the original took place. Instead, we find ourselves in a swampy area, the environment of which is more reminiscent of the locations of Fallout 4's Far Harbor than any other areas from Metro. Largely due to the unique setting, the DLC feels like something autonomous, completely independent of the experience of past games. The developers, 4A Games, once again demonstrated their best skills in building the game world, making the city rich in details.

Of course, the new setting would be nothing without the appropriate level of design gameplay. Another plus is that the add-on offers several new, unique in-game features. As in the original game, the narrative is non-linear, with a strong emphasis on research, finding upgrades for equipment and sources of information (notes), ?Expanding the understanding of lore. You will come across opponents who attack in completely different ways, which corresponds to the environment. For example, zombie-like ghouls hide underwater, camouflage themselves with moss, and set up ambushes, made possible by wetlands. There are also new opponents, including a giant bat called a fruit bat, and electric spiders that are not afraid of the light. She travels with a flock of small rodents. You will also need to defuse or bypass the mines that ended up here due to the fact that local bandits got to the stocks of Russian weapons. The mines can be disarmed with crafting resources, but one wrong move will result in Sam's death.

To achieve your goals, you are offered two new types of weapons: an automatic rifle, called the Sammy, and a semi-automatic pistol, called the Stallion. On top of that, Sam uses a new gadget, a detector on his left wrist that has audio and visual cues to indicate nearby traps, weapon mods, and gear upgrades. And all this inVladivostok a lot!

It all revolves around a fantastic story intertwined with great visuals and sound effects. The storytelling in this expansion is on par with the rest of the franchise. Both graphics and sound are top notch. The swampy, vegetal landscape looks amazing thanks to the phenomenal work done by 4A Games. And the true quality of each sound effect enhances the immersion ten times more.

What I didn't like

Despite the fact that the add-on is almost perfect, I have something to complain about. This DLC is noticeably less polished and streamlined compared to the base game and The Two Colonels. In terms of FPS, the game runs smoothly, however, in my nearly 8-hour playthrough, I encountered several texture pop-ups and animation freezes. They lasted less than a second, but happened often enough to turn a blind eye to it.

Buy - Definitely

Although you may be annoyed by small nuances in performance, these are minor issues. Otherwise, "Sam's Story" provides a lot of fun: a unique setting, new locations, hiding places, challenges, ?gadgets and game mechanics. In addition, all this is cleverly intertwined with an amazing story.

However, if you ask me if the ending of the add-on is comparable in terms of drama to the ending of the original game, I will answer no. In this regard, the end of the game lacks a bit of drama, so familiar to us throughout the video game franchise. This expansion is definitely worth buying for any fan of the series!