Metro Exodus is the perfect survival experience for the next gen. The game has all the ingredients to be the best game in the trilogy.

Exodus's combat has room for improvement, particularly when it comes to enemy A.I. behavior. The gunplay is tight and well-built, with an emphasis on customization, allowing you to play how you want to play. While I'm hoping polish patches come in thick and fast after launch, even when you acknowledge the game's rough edges Metro Exodus is among the best first-person shooters you can get right now.

Metro Exodus stays true to the series' roots while adding a very welcome open world component an greater variety both in environments and gameplay, with a more intimate story than before. Having awesome graphics doesn't hurt, either.

Fluctuating like a Geiger Counter between nihilism and utopianism, this game’s muddy morality is a thing of beauty in the current climate and could be one of 2019’s most important games as a result.

A brilliant expansion of the Metro saga, Exodus connects sections of familiar claustrophobic, immersive horror with a beautiful semi-open world and a new twist on the fantastic and oppressive retro future vibe.

As you might be sensing, Metro Exodus makes me feel severely conflicted. On one hand, I appreciate the characters and atmosphere, but on the other, I think it needed some more time. Features like individual volume sliders for voices and music are missing, the general button layout is awkward, and button presses don’t always respond as I’d expect. Mix that in with the bugs, and we have a package that has the structure for excellence but was set loose on the world too soon. In my heart, I have strong feelings for Exodus, but I’ll forever be haunted by how outstanding a few more layers of polish could’ve made it.

Following off the stellar Metro 2033 and Last Light, Exodus feels like a misstep for this series. This series has built a reputation on its quality, but Exodus falls flat in some ways that truly matter.