1 00:00:03,199 --> 00:00:09,290 When people talk about Metro Exodus, they often use the term “immersive”. 2 00:00:09,290 --> 00:00:12,630 But what do we actually mean when we use that word? 3 00:00:12,630 --> 00:00:16,170 Because, this is a term that is not very well defined. 4 00:00:16,170 --> 00:00:21,760 I’ve seen it used to describe games with hyper realistic graphics. Survival horror games. 5 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,660 VR titles. Immersive sims. 6 00:00:24,660 --> 00:00:28,980 And I’ve seen people call a game immersive if it’s so captivating, you end up ignoring 7 00:00:28,980 --> 00:00:30,200 the world around you. 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:36,460 It’s just a super vague term, and it's more often used as a marketing buzzword than serious game 9 00:00:36,460 --> 00:00:37,570 design lingo. 10 00:00:37,570 --> 00:00:43,750 And yet, I totally get what people mean when they say that Metro Exodus is immersive. 11 00:00:43,750 --> 00:00:48,050 Because this game achieves something I don’t see very often in games - which is where I 12 00:00:48,050 --> 00:00:52,250 genuinely feel a sense of existing in the game’s world. 13 00:00:52,250 --> 00:00:58,079 In fact, i’ve only felt it a few times before, in games like Subnautica, STALKER: Shadow 14 00:00:58,079 --> 00:01:01,260 of Chernobyl, Event[0], and Far Cry 2. 15 00:01:01,260 --> 00:01:06,299 And it’s not to the extent where I forget that I’m sitting in front of a TV, and genuinely 16 00:01:06,299 --> 00:01:09,710 think I’m wandering around Africa or post apocalyptic Russia. 17 00:01:09,710 --> 00:01:12,320 I’m not a complete idiot. 18 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:17,639 But it just sells me on the feeling of being in a place - with much more effectiveness 19 00:01:17,639 --> 00:01:19,880 than most other games. 20 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:25,659 And in a year that is already jam-packed with post-apocalyptic, open world shooters with 21 00:01:25,659 --> 00:01:31,899 crafting systems and drivable vehicles - Metro Exodus is the only one that really captures 22 00:01:31,899 --> 00:01:35,549 that feeling of being in a nuclear wasteland. 23 00:01:35,549 --> 00:01:40,819 And so, in this video, I want to bust apart the buzzwords and look at some super specific, 24 00:01:40,819 --> 00:01:46,490 totally tangible design decisions that are employed by developer 4A Games, to draw us 25 00:01:46,490 --> 00:01:50,840 into the world of Metro Exodus. 26 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:59,579 Now, for some background, the first two Metro games - Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light, take 27 00:01:59,579 --> 00:02:04,359 place in the ruins of a Moscow that has been ravaged by nuclear war. 28 00:02:04,359 --> 00:02:09,560 The surface is a deadly, irradiated hell-scape that’s crawling with mutated creatures - but 29 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:14,069 the underground Metro tunnels are safe, warm, and full of life. 30 00:02:14,069 --> 00:02:16,940 These games are primarily linear shooters. 31 00:02:16,940 --> 00:02:19,370 But Exodus is something quite different. 32 00:02:19,370 --> 00:02:24,890 In this one, hero Artyom and his pals decide to leave the Metro behind, and travel across 33 00:02:24,890 --> 00:02:29,530 post-war Russia to look for a safe place to live, overground. 34 00:02:29,530 --> 00:02:33,630 They travel first on foot, and then later by train. 35 00:02:33,630 --> 00:02:36,780 Along your journey, you’ll stop off at various locations. 36 00:02:36,780 --> 00:02:41,269 Sometimes that’s for linear levels that harken back to the original games. 37 00:02:41,269 --> 00:02:46,000 But at other-times you get dropped off in miniature open world maps, like the icy banks 38 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:51,579 of the Volga river, or a sparse sandy desert: which is actually the dried out Caspian sea. 39 00:02:51,579 --> 00:02:58,630 And it’s in these tiny open worlds that Metro Exodus is at its most immersive. 40 00:02:58,630 --> 00:03:04,090 So the first, and most obvious way that Metro Exodus achieves immersion is the way the game 41 00:03:04,090 --> 00:03:07,000 rarely takes you out of the in-game world. 42 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:12,080 So your map is sellotaped to a leather binder, and your quest marker is on a compass that’s 43 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:13,489 strapped to your wrist. 44 00:03:13,489 --> 00:03:17,390 And when you’re crafting something, you’ve got to sling your backpack on the ground to 45 00:03:17,390 --> 00:03:19,349 get your materials out. 46 00:03:19,349 --> 00:03:24,299 Where other games would definitely make this stuff into menu screens or HUD elements, Metro 47 00:03:24,299 --> 00:03:29,629 makes them physical and tangible parts of the world, meaning the only time you disconnect 48 00:03:29,629 --> 00:03:34,670 from the world around you is when you pause the game, or hit a rare loading screen. 49 00:03:34,670 --> 00:03:38,180 And there’s an interesting byproduct of this decision - and thats how you are left 50 00:03:38,180 --> 00:03:40,569 vulnerable when performing these actions. 51 00:03:40,569 --> 00:03:45,069 You don’t pause the game to craft things in the safety of a menu screen, but you do 52 00:03:45,069 --> 00:03:47,750 it in real time, in the world. 53 00:03:47,750 --> 00:03:51,879 So if you quickly need to craft a medkit in the middle of battle, you need to find a safe 54 00:03:51,879 --> 00:03:56,890 place and hastily get your bag out and patch together a box of Superdrug plasters. 55 00:03:56,890 --> 00:04:01,349 Of course, it’s possible to take this stuff too far. 56 00:04:01,349 --> 00:04:07,799 A game like Red Dead Redemption 2 really focused on tangible and physical interactions with 57 00:04:07,799 --> 00:04:12,709 the world, with hyper detailed animations and menus that made you look through an authentic 58 00:04:12,709 --> 00:04:14,650 catalogue of cowboy hats. 59 00:04:14,650 --> 00:04:20,790 But, at times, it tipped the balance into tedium, and it also very rarely led to actually 60 00:04:20,790 --> 00:04:22,870 interesting gameplay consequences. 61 00:04:22,870 --> 00:04:26,350 But there’s more to Exodus’s grounded design. 62 00:04:26,350 --> 00:04:29,770 Something we see in a lot of open world games is upgrades. 63 00:04:29,770 --> 00:04:34,390 You grab currency as you play through the game, and then open a menu to unlock new skills 64 00:04:34,390 --> 00:04:37,690 - from basic actions to superhero powers. 65 00:04:37,690 --> 00:04:42,640 Again, Exodus keeps things in the game world: So the only upgrades you can make to your 66 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:47,610 character are from things you can actually find - whether that’s scopes and silencers 67 00:04:47,610 --> 00:04:52,550 that you rip off discarded weapons, or handy objects that you find on your travels. 68 00:04:52,550 --> 00:04:55,956 Metro Exodus actually feels like scavenging, 69 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,900 while these other games are more akin to, well, shopping. 70 00:05:02,140 --> 00:05:07,800 Another key way that Metro Exodus achieves immersion is by forcing you to be more aware 71 00:05:07,810 --> 00:05:10,200 of your surroundings and your status. 72 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:15,070 It does this, in part, by asking you to constantly fix stuff. 73 00:05:15,070 --> 00:05:18,930 So your gas mask needs its filter replaced every few minutes. 74 00:05:18,930 --> 00:05:22,010 And any cracks and holes in the glass have to be patched up. 75 00:05:22,010 --> 00:05:26,720 You’ve got a gas-powered rifle, and you need to physically pump it by hand to keep 76 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:27,740 using it. 77 00:05:27,740 --> 00:05:31,810 Your guns have to be regularly cleaned, or else they’ll jam in the heat of battle. 78 00:05:31,810 --> 00:05:36,270 Your electrical gear, like your headlamp and night vision goggles, has to be charged by 79 00:05:36,270 --> 00:05:38,520 hand crank when the power runs low. 80 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:42,310 And your health doesn’t regenerate, so you need to patch yourself up with medkits. 81 00:05:42,310 --> 00:05:47,340 It’s this sort of regular personal maintenance that means you must always be thinking about 82 00:05:47,340 --> 00:05:49,710 your character and your needs. 83 00:05:49,710 --> 00:05:53,880 We generally see this sort of gameplay in survival games, where you are constantly losing 84 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:58,160 energy and becoming more hungry - and by having to always think where your next meal will 85 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,270 come from, you become more immersed in the situation. 86 00:06:01,270 --> 00:06:05,920 I’d argue, however, that a lot of these games do go too far. 87 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:10,110 These meters bottom out so quickly that you end up just fretting about running out of 88 00:06:10,110 --> 00:06:11,510 energy all the time. 89 00:06:11,510 --> 00:06:15,500 And now you’re no longer thinking about the world as a real place, but a collection 90 00:06:15,500 --> 00:06:19,930 of The Sims-style meters that always need to be topped up. 91 00:06:19,930 --> 00:06:25,970 Exodus takes a much lighter touch: Artyom never needs to eat a sandwich or go to the toilet, and 92 00:06:25,970 --> 00:06:29,050 the only punishment for letting something break is a momentary setback. 93 00:06:29,050 --> 00:06:34,840 But it’s enough of a concern to occupy some space in your mind, and make you more aware 94 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:36,540 of yourself. 95 00:06:36,540 --> 00:06:39,190 Same goes for the harsh resource scarcity. 96 00:06:39,190 --> 00:06:42,970 You are regularly running out of ammo in this game, to the point where you count your bullets 97 00:06:42,970 --> 00:06:46,951 before every engagement because you need to be sure you have enough ammo to make it out 98 00:06:46,951 --> 00:06:47,951 alive. 99 00:06:47,951 --> 00:06:51,040 Maybe it’s better to just let the enemies walk past. 100 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:55,630 You can craft stuff, as I said, but there are limitations here as well. 101 00:06:55,630 --> 00:06:59,760 This is not a game where you can sellotape together a helicopter, after all. 102 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:06,290 So, for one, Metro Exodus only has two crafting resources: metal and chemical. 103 00:07:06,290 --> 00:07:09,930 And because everything comes from the same source, you’re constantly having to make 104 00:07:09,930 --> 00:07:12,480 decisions about where to spend your scrap. 105 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:18,190 Do you make health packs? Or ammo? Or filters? Or grenades? You can’t have everything. 106 00:07:18,190 --> 00:07:23,320 And, also, Metro limits the things you can craft based on your location. 107 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:27,321 Because while you can piece together bullets when you’re at a crafting workbench, the 108 00:07:27,321 --> 00:07:32,060 only ammo you can make when out and about is ball bearings for your pneumatic gun. 109 00:07:32,060 --> 00:07:36,100 So you have to think ahead about what you’ll need to carry with you. 110 00:07:36,100 --> 00:07:40,890 The main way that Exodus makes you more aware of your surroundings, is by not doing what 111 00:07:40,890 --> 00:07:46,730 most open world games do - which is filling your map with icons and question marks and 112 00:07:46,730 --> 00:07:48,560 tiny points of interest. 113 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:54,190 No. In Exodus, your map is empty (outside of your mission marker) and it’s up to you to fill 114 00:07:54,190 --> 00:07:55,260 it up. 115 00:07:55,260 --> 00:07:59,380 You can do this by getting somewhere high, pulling out your binoculars, and focusing 116 00:07:59,380 --> 00:08:02,590 the lens on curious locations. 117 00:08:02,590 --> 00:08:08,410 When you actually reach that location, though, Exodus is - again - very different to your usual 118 00:08:08,410 --> 00:08:10,090 open world game. 119 00:08:10,090 --> 00:08:16,340 So, the third way that Exodus lures you into its world, is by never giving you full information 120 00:08:16,340 --> 00:08:17,780 about what’s going on. 121 00:08:17,780 --> 00:08:23,100 You see, when you play something like Rage 2, it will tell you exactly what each area 122 00:08:23,100 --> 00:08:26,900 on the map is as soon as you get within 100 metres. 123 00:08:26,900 --> 00:08:29,010 In this case, it’s a bandit camp. 124 00:08:29,010 --> 00:08:34,169 And so, just like the 20-or-so other bandit camps in the world, you know that this location 125 00:08:34,169 --> 00:08:37,110 has a number of bad guys that you need to kill. 126 00:08:37,110 --> 00:08:42,690 It even tells you what resources you can find there, because who doesn’t like checklists? 127 00:08:42,690 --> 00:08:49,150 But Metro Exodus gains a great deal by not telling you this information about its world. 128 00:08:49,150 --> 00:08:53,600 So, here, I came across a wrecked airplane hangar. 129 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:59,600 Outside, I found and killed a flying gargoyle mutant. 130 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:04,970 Then I went inside, and found a bunch of monsters - only to suddenly hear a bunch of bandits 131 00:09:04,970 --> 00:09:07,030 pull up outside and start shouting at me. 132 00:09:07,030 --> 00:09:11,460 I then fought them off, until one gave up and surrended. 133 00:09:11,460 --> 00:09:16,040 I didn’t know exactly what was happening and I didn’t know what to expect. 134 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:18,510 And I didn’t know if I would be rewarded for my efforts. 135 00:09:18,510 --> 00:09:23,830 I just had to become fully immersed in the experience at hand. 136 00:09:23,830 --> 00:09:28,890 Because when developers have systems in their game, it’s really up to them how much they 137 00:09:28,890 --> 00:09:30,770 reveal to the player. 138 00:09:30,770 --> 00:09:36,480 Games like Rage 2 and Far Cry New Dawn are extremely open - but more immersive games 139 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:41,020 can withhold that information, and keep you from ever being able to predict what will 140 00:09:41,020 --> 00:09:42,200 happen next. 141 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:47,360 Like, when enemies surrender, you’re left asking… what happens if you leave them? 142 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:50,300 Will they sneak up behind your back? Or run away? 143 00:09:50,300 --> 00:09:53,730 What happens if you kill them? You just don’t know. 144 00:09:53,730 --> 00:09:55,370 Here’s another story. 145 00:09:55,370 --> 00:10:00,790 There was a time in the Caspian area where I got ambushed by roving bandits in a truck, 146 00:10:00,790 --> 00:10:04,170 and was plunged into a frantic, dusty firefight. 147 00:10:04,170 --> 00:10:08,990 And then a short while later I slept in a safe house, only to be woken up by enemies 148 00:10:08,990 --> 00:10:10,740 surrounding me outside. 149 00:10:10,740 --> 00:10:16,580 I genuinely still have no idea whether these were scripted events, or systemic moments 150 00:10:16,580 --> 00:10:17,680 driven by the AI. 151 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:23,670 But it doesn’t matter because the effect was the same: they were surprising, unpredictable, 152 00:10:23,670 --> 00:10:26,610 and anxiety-inducing moments. 153 00:10:26,610 --> 00:10:30,130 Compare that to something like a scavenger in Far Cry New Dawn. 154 00:10:30,130 --> 00:10:34,800 They’ve got an icon over their head, and a tool tip in the corner of the screen, and 155 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:39,450 it’s immediately obvious that this is a distinct, authored chunk of content that will 156 00:10:39,450 --> 00:10:42,090 be repeated over and over again. 157 00:10:42,090 --> 00:10:44,020 It feels gamey and inauthentic. 158 00:10:44,020 --> 00:10:47,690 As always, there’s a balance to strike. 159 00:10:47,690 --> 00:10:53,440 some games end up being so withholding about their systems that they are completely impenetrable. 160 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:58,400 And players need a certain amount of information and predicability to make effective plans 161 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:00,670 and play with intentionality. 162 00:11:00,670 --> 00:11:04,910 So it’s not just about being completely random - it’s about stopping players from 163 00:11:04,910 --> 00:11:10,360 ever finding the edges of the simulation. 164 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,860 The final element, is player reactivity. 165 00:11:12,860 --> 00:11:18,430 I think the most believable and immersive game worlds, are the ones that most effectively 166 00:11:18,430 --> 00:11:21,450 react to your presence and decisions. 167 00:11:21,450 --> 00:11:24,260 Metro Exodus certainly has a bunch of this. 168 00:11:24,260 --> 00:11:28,800 You can holster your gun as you approach people, and they’ll realise that - and some will 169 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:30,070 appreciate it. 170 00:11:30,070 --> 00:11:34,490 And choosing to save characters, like slaves and captured prisoners, can have consequences 171 00:11:34,490 --> 00:11:35,610 later on. 172 00:11:35,610 --> 00:11:40,050 In one section in the Volga I saved some people, and got given a key. 173 00:11:40,050 --> 00:11:44,980 And then, later, I used that key to unlock a door in some flooded train station to find 174 00:11:44,980 --> 00:11:47,140 a pair of night vision goggles. 175 00:11:47,140 --> 00:11:53,480 That felt amazing, and the goggles became a powerful reminder of one of my wasteland stories. 176 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:58,130 Exodus also has characters who ask you to find stuff for them, like a guitar or a lost 177 00:11:58,130 --> 00:11:59,220 teddy bear. 178 00:11:59,220 --> 00:12:03,339 This doesn’t turn into a checklist in your quest log, and there’s rarely a tangible 179 00:12:03,339 --> 00:12:05,080 reward for your actions. 180 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:09,910 But the way the game reacts to your kindness with heartfelt character moments makes it 181 00:12:09,910 --> 00:12:12,779 totally worth going out of your way. 182 00:12:12,779 --> 00:12:17,950 This all plays into the morality system, which is one of the weaker elements of Metro Exodus. 183 00:12:17,950 --> 00:12:23,560 It’s one of those systems where it weighs up your quote unquote good and bad actions, 184 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:27,320 and then plays a good or bad ending cutscene depending. 185 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:32,540 And the bad ending will probably get canonically binned by the next game in the series. 186 00:12:32,540 --> 00:12:37,550 And so there are games that do player reactivity better than Metro, and I’ll come to them 187 00:12:37,550 --> 00:12:38,640 in the future. 188 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:43,910 But it’s an important part of immersion, and definitely worth talking about. 189 00:12:43,910 --> 00:12:48,400 So Metro Exodus shows four key ways to make a game feel immersive. 190 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:54,110 It keeps things grounded by having all of your interactions be physical, tactile, and 191 00:12:54,110 --> 00:12:55,460 in-world. 192 00:12:55,460 --> 00:13:00,370 It asks you to be hyper aware of your existence in the world, by asking you to maintain your 193 00:13:00,370 --> 00:13:04,160 equipment, and scout ahead with your binoculars. 194 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:08,290 It withholds information about the game’s underlying systems, so feel like you never 195 00:13:08,290 --> 00:13:11,120 quite know what will be around the next corner. 196 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:16,660 And it reacts to you, by commenting on, rewarding, and remembering your actions. 197 00:13:16,660 --> 00:13:21,460 The immersive thrills of Metro are about more than just the realistic graphics, the cracking 198 00:13:21,460 --> 00:13:25,940 sound design, or the fact that you can play with Russian voice acting turned on. 199 00:13:25,940 --> 00:13:29,920 ANNA: *Speaking Russian* 200 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,760 And there’s more to it than the simple fact that the game is first person, and the main 201 00:13:33,770 --> 00:13:35,890 character doesn’t speak. 202 00:13:35,890 --> 00:13:40,470 Those are all important, but it’s these design decisions that - together - mean Metro 203 00:13:40,470 --> 00:13:43,810 Exodus feels like more than a game. 204 00:13:43,810 --> 00:13:49,700 It’s a harrowing, unknowable, uncharted place that you travel to. 205 00:13:52,260 --> 00:13:54,220 Hey, thanks for watching! 206 00:13:54,220 --> 00:14:01,220 Remember that the GMTK Game Jam begins in August - and full details will be coming next month. 207 00:14:01,220 --> 00:14:08,060 GMTK is paid for by fans who support the show on Patreon.com, and I massively appreciate 208 00:14:08,060 --> 00:14:13,380 everyone who supports the show - no matter how much, or how long they give for!