Metro Exoduswas one of the most outstanding games of 2019 both visually and from agameplay perspective. The developers, however, 4A Games, prefer things nearly perfect, which is whyMetro Exodus Enhanced Editionexists. It’s not only the best version of aMetrogame right now, but it’s also currently the best example of what can be done with Nvidia’s Ray Tracing technology.
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For the uninitiated, Ray Tracing is a more realistically behaving rendition of digital light in computer-generated imagery. It might not sound much when described like that but players have to see it to believe it. That reason alone justifies the Enhanced Edition forMetro Exodus; the list of changes and improvements is also quite elaborate and likely needs further explanation in case players are hoping to see what the fuss is all about in this re-release.
Metro Exodus Enhanced Editionwas released on June 12, 2025, on PC, and June 15, 2025, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
10Toggle for cinematic visual effects
WhenMetro Exoduswas first released, it was quite notorious for being inconsiderate of many players' preferences. Because by default and in its original base release version, the gameforced Motion Blurand anarrow Field of Viewin its settings.
There was no toggle to turn it off which is quite a literal headache as those effects can cause vertigo and eye soreness. Thankfully,Metro Exodus Enhanced Editionhasadded toggles and adjustment meters for both graphical optionsso players no longer have to fend for it in the game files.
9Drastic and more accurate Ray Tracing changes
Now, here’s the most important change in the Enhanced Edition.Ray Tracingwas already present in the original version but it was a rushed and simple implementation of the tech. Now, thewhole game’s lighting system was scrapped and reworked to utilize only Ray Traced lighting.
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What this means is thatlight behaves as realistically and as physically possibleand the implications are jaw-dropping.The way the light adopts the colors of the surfaces it bounces around and then scatters it, changing the mood and atmosphere of each room and area is noticeably lifelike. Originally, lighting couldn’t behave like this without Ray Tracing and it felt more like a foreign object in the game world.
8Lack of non-Ray Traced lighting
Too bad one can’t have the best of bothworlds inMetro ExodusEnhanced Edition. Since the game’s whole lighting system was rebuilt, it no longer has access to its pre-programmed and static light sources from the previous games.
Hence, the game’s lighting and overall visuals arestrictly Ray Traced. That means itonly officially works on Nvidia graphics cards with Ray Tracing technologyor the “RTX” series graphics cards. Thankfully, both the latest-gen consoles (PS5 and Xbox Series X) can handle this tech.
7Ray Traced reflections
It’s not just the lighting that’s dramatically improvedinMetro ExodusEnhanced Editionbut also the reflections. The Ray Traced reflections which were one of the earliest showcased features of Ray Tracing were also added into the game.
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Before, the original game’s reflections were pre-programmed and didn’t react as dynamically to the lighting and environmental changes. Now,even shadows get reflectedand thegeneral surface reflection is also more accurateto the object being reflected.
6New DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) implementation
Reflections and Ray Traced lighting tend to hog the spotlight when it comes to Nvidia graphics features but DLSS tends to be the unsung hero of said improvements.The new DLSS tech which is either 2.0 or 2.1 inMetro Exodus, is agodsend when it comes to performance.
DLSS is practically a dynamic downscaling of resolution so the game cansqueeze extra framerateout of one’s hardware, trading in pixel count and image crispness for smoother performance. The kicker here is that thenew DLSS drawback is hardly noticeableso it’s practicallya free performance upgrade.
5VRS (Variable Rate Shading) graphical setting
Want to save even more framerates forMetro Exodus Enhanced Editionon the PC? Then VRS is the way to go. It’s also a newly implemented tech for many games and it basicallyreduces the graphical fidelity or quality of objects that are not in or near the center of the field of view or screen.
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Thus, itsaves up performance.The idea is that players usually don’t focus on objects that aren’t near or at the crosshairs so they likely won’t notice that they’re being downgraded graphically. So if they truly don’t, then VRS shouldn’t do much harm.
4Lack of DirectX 11
Another caveat withMetro Exodus Enhanced Editionis that it’s not that compatible with older tech anymore. There are graphics cards out there or console systems that only run on DirectX 11, which is a suite of apps and programs that handle video games among other multimedia.
The latest in DirectX right now isDX12thoughmost games that utilize that suite have the option to revert back to DX11, the originalMetro Exodusincluded (via editing the game files). TheEnhanced Edition sadly doesn’t allow this since Ray Tracing is only available for DX12.
3Higher system requirements
Metro Exodusgot more expensive when it introduced theEnhanced Edition. For console owners, they’ll needaPS5orXbox Series Xfor the game. For PC owners, they’ll need better hardware, namelyRTX graphics cards (GPU)which are only available in two generations at the moment.
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The latest generation of RTX cards is also a bit hard to find due to a shortage. Aside from that, tests have also indicatedhigher CPU usage, meaning those with outdated CPUs might have toupgrade if they want less stutteringin the Enhanced Edition.
2Bigger file size
In conjunction with the higher system requirements, players might also have to free up a bit of storage space. TheoriginalMetro Exodusback in 2019 only asked for around 60 GBof disk space and the DLCs didn’t really add much to this.
Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, meanwhile, needs around 80 GBof disk space. It’s like the better visuals and perhaps improved textures that bloated up the size. DLCs are also included. That’s just something to keep in mind before players hit the download button.
1Better performance
Despite the higher system requirements, the consensus forMetro Exodus Enhanced Edition’s performance is that it’s better. True, it does demand more CPU power and the latest GPU tech but theperformance difference isn’t that bigwhen people did some benchmarks using the same hardware and without DLSS or VRS.
What does make it run better is thecombination of a newer DLSS and VRS, both of which canboost up frameratesignificantly to offset the demanding Ray Tracing lighting and reflections. It’s well-optimized enough that it still runs smooth as butter on the weakest RTX GPU, which is the RTX 2060.
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