A grand step out of the underground metro awaits players in Deep Silver’s upcoming Metro Exodus, and fans have been eager to see what the post-apocalyptic Russia has to offer. With such a harsh, largely-uninhabited wasteland to explore, one would think the game would follow in the irradiated footsteps of the Fallout series and go an open world route. As past details have revealed, the survival experience has instead gone in a more linear direction, but that doesn’t mean the adventure is in any way lacking content.

Speaking with GamingBolt, Deep Silver’s head of Global Brand Management Huw Beynon went into the why a traditional open world scenario wasn’t implemented and what Metro Exodus has to gain from striking this balance between exploration and narrative-driven focus.

I think first and foremost we are creating a Metro game, and we spent a long time trying to get the formula right. It still feels like a Metro game. Metro fans expect that really strong story. And I think sometimes open world games can struggle to keep that sense of player urgency, and player narrative, if they’re constantly distracted with side quests and missions. So we tried to find this hybrid that worked for Metro, that works for us. There’s still a golden threat, critical path, and story threat to keep driving you forward.

All of the things that people love about more open environment, the freedom to explore, go off the beaten track; we have organically put that into the environment. You don’t have these fetch quests, and side missions, and all this busy work. It’s more exploration for its own sake. You make your way towards the objective, it’s totally up to you if you want to explore. You might find what stories you might discover, what gear might be hid in there. So it’s about finding that balance between a more open game and a natural game. We think we’ve given this a really unique hybrid feel.”

Metro Exodus may be a hybrid of openworld elements, but the game is pushing its apocalyptic concept in other ways as well, implementing an overworld train hub, season-based environments, and plenty of other bold changes to the series established norms. These innovations have been a treat to see played out in the released gameplay we’ve seen, but we’ll be able to traverse the unforgiving wilderness for ourselves when Metro Exodus releases for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on February 22, 2019.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to a more linear approach to the Metro franchise, or do you enjoy the infinite fetch quests found in other open world titles? Let us know in the comments section below and be sure to follow Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter and Facebook to be informed of the latest gaming and entertainment 24 hours a day! For some games actually from the realm of open-world, check out these next few news stories:

• Cyberpunk 2077 “Frame By Frame” Series Dives Into Night City’s Technology, Nightlife, And More
• Ubisoft VP Says Nature of Sequels Is Changing
• Skyrim Re-Releases: Bethesda Says “Stop Buying It” If You Don’t Like It