Time to leave the metro. The Metro series returns for a third installment and brings the 4A Engine along for the ride again in Metro Exodus. This time we're exploring a very different world than before. In the first two entries into the series we found ourselves slinking through underground passageways and cities believing the world above to be completely left to waste. Either way, if you're curious how we rated the game make sure you catch our full review. But from here, let's get into the performance review.

Testing Methodology

Testing Metro Exodus was a bit of a challenge, not just because I got locked out a couple times but because it is a game whose performance varies wildly depending on the scene. You can see frame rates go from 150 to 60 in the matter of coming around a corner and seeing a flaming barrel. Those flaming barrels are killer for performance. The game does feature a built in benchmarking tool, but it's pretty far off from actual in game performance. I have a feeling that because it's a DX12 title you'll see a lot of people use it since it makes gathering result data easy, but I found that actual in game performance to be more indicative of what to expect.

That said, we captured in game performance using OCAT and extracting AVG FPS, 1% Lows, and .1% Lows using our in house tool. We got our results from a scene just after the incident at the church and set our route starting on one bank with the broken bridge, walking up the side to the railroad tracks, turning towards the Aurora, walking through the camp out the other side, then back down the opposite bank and walk for about 20 seconds down the riverside away from the train. I want to point out that for the most part the game played very smooth and the 1% and .1% lows are more indicative of the reduced performance through the area where the train is as that's where it was at it's lowest for some time. Outside of the train area the average frame was typical of what you would see. We also did all our testing without Hairworks and Advanced PhysX disabled.

Graphics Settings Used In Metro Exodus

Test System