Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition is among the latest games to receive a significant upgrade for current generation consoles, and ray tracing is going to play a huge part. The ability to incorporate ray tracing is one of the main draws of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, and although it may not seem as dramatic as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360’s jump to high definition gameplay, there are certain games that make incredible use of it. For this reason, while virtually every new game for these consoles is going to include ray tracing in some form, many developers are retroactively adding the feature to older titles that are getting current-gen upgrades.
The ability to run games at 60 frames per second and/or in 4K resolution is another big draw for these consoles. Games like Metro Exodus already looked fantastic on the PS4 and Xbox One, but those consoles could only ever run it at 30 fps and in 1080p. The PS4 Pro and Xbox One X were able to bump the resolution up a bit more, but the PC experience was ultimately still the best option. This was especially true considering the game’s frequent and excessive load times, which is yet another reason the game will benefit wonderfully from current-gen consoles’ solid-state drives.
YouTube channel Digital Foundry (via Eurogamer) released a graphics comparison video today which demonstrates the precise differences between ray tracing and the more primitive lighting techniques used in the original Metro Exodus. In one striking example roughly one-third of the way through the video, the player shoots out every lamp in an area except for one. In the original game, the rest of the room is artificially darkened through cube mapping or ambient occlusion; in the Enhanced Edition, the lamp picks up the green hue of the table it’s shining on, casting that green tinge onto the wall behind it. This tinge can also be seen on the wrenches along the adjoining wall. When placed side by side, it’s clear that in the Enhanced Edition, the source of light is actually coming from the lamp itself rather than shadows simply being placed around it.
Update (6/18/2021 5:30 PM EDT): Digital Foundry has since shared its technical review of Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition for PlayStation 5. According to a new comparison video, the differences between each current-gen home console version are very slight, with the PS5 version's superior HDR slightly eking out a bit more range and detail over the Xbox Series X. The rest of the original story continues below.
Another great example comes around the 7-minute mark, which shows the player standing inside of a train while the video is sped up. Because the game has dynamic day and night cycles, one can actually see the effect of the sun moving across the sky, lighting the inside of the train in different ways. At high noon, the interior is flush with light that even reflects off of the dust particles in the air. Even more impressively, the lighting even changes depending on cloud coverage that occasionally dims the room. This, in conjunction with the ambient light coming from the sky, makes the game almost photorealistic.
The Metro series has long been lauded for its atmosphere and how its graphics add to the overall feel of the game’s world. When Metro Exodus released, it was once again heralded as among the best graphical experiences the last generation of video games had to offer. As such, it makes for a great example of how much the XSX and XSS can improve on what was top tier one generation ago. Although it’s unlikely that there will be another entry in the Metro series, graphical effects like the ones being added to Metro Exodus mean that developer 4A Games’ next project will probably be quite the spectacle.
Source: Digital Foundry (via Eurogamer)