Metro Exodus expansions will tell the tales of a lost colonel and an American survivor

Three months after the release of Metro Exodus, publisher Deep Silver has revealed its plans for a two-part expansion pass that will tell brand-new stories, featuring brand-new characters, in the ruined landscapes far beyond Moscow. The descriptions of the expansions contain some mild spoilers, so for now I'll say only that they both sound pretty cool and then stop, in case you want to avoid any potentially ruined surprises.

Okay then. The first DLC, The Two Colonels, follows Colonel Khlebnikov as he tries to return to Novosibirsk, and his son, for New Year's Eve. But the tunnels are being consumed, mutant attacks are increasing, and the city is dying. The DLC sounds like a prequel of sorts, as Khlebnikov's journey is "retraced" a year later by Colonel Miller in Metro Exodus.

It also sounds like a return to the gameplay style of the first two games: "Players can expect the classic story-driven gameplay of the Metro series in this new linear chapter, complete with a brand new weapon, the deadly flame-thrower, claustrophobic environments, and the all-too-familiar hair-raising tension," Deep Silver said.

The second expansion is called Sam's Story, and will be told from the unusual perspective of an American: Sam is a US Marine who was stationed at the American embassy in Moscow before the war. Apparently finding common cause with the survivors, he's held on to the distant hope of one day returning home—and after the Spartans discover that there is life beyond Moscow, he leaves the Aurora to begin a perilous crossing of "the sandbox survival landscape of Vladivostok," in search of a way back to the US.

The Two Colonels is expected to come out this summer, while Sam's Story is slated to arrive sometime in early 2020. They'll be available for purchase individually or together in the $25 Expansion Pass on the Epic Games Store and, for those who own it there, Steam.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.