Metro Exodus will launch with a built-in photo mode

Tom described Metro Exodus last year as "a beautiful mood piece," with environments that are "beautiful and varied, and remarkably atmospheric." It sounds like a perfect sort of place for some virtual sightseeing, and maybe some virtual picture-taking with a virtual camera. And if that's your thing, developer 4A confirmed today that you'll be able to do that right out of the gate thanks to a built-in photo mode. 

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"Photo Mode has been one of the most requested features from the Metro community," executive producer Jon Bloch said. "They’re relatively rare in first person shooters, but the team have been determined to make it work and give Metro fans the opportunity to capture their own stories from the Russian wastelands."

Photo mode will be available on all platforms, but the PC version will have the added benefit of Nvidia's proprietary Ansel screen capture technology on video cards that support it. Ansel debuted in 2016 with a suite of features including post-process filters, "super resolutions," and 360-degree photo capability, and got a pretty major update last summer in the form of Ansel RTX.

4A said that more information about the game, and a new trailer, will be released throughout the week. Metro Exodus is set to come out on February 15.

Andy Chalk

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.