Does Metro Exodus support NVIDIA RTX ray tracing?
What exactly is ray tracing?
Ray tracing is a special lighting technique that only NVIDIA's best graphics cards currently support. It overhauls the way games light an environment by calculating how light sources would realistically illuminate it. Then, it uses that data to create the image the player looks at. The game does this dynamically and in real-time, which significantly adds to a game's realism and immersion factor.
Ray tracing is a very advanced rendering technique that's just now getting support from developers, so almost no games have them. Thankfully, Metro Exodus is one of the two games that does support it — the other being Battlefield V.
Why get Metro Exodus?
Metro Exodus is the third game in 4A Games' epic post-apocalyptic shooter series based on the Metro series of novels by Dmitry Glukhovsky. It released last month on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, and was met with critical acclaim from most reviewers, including my colleague Jez Corden.
From our review:
Metro Exodus is a visual achievement with some of the most impressive world design to date. Meticulously detailed locations make this the best Metro game yet, putting Exodus firmly in the must-play category for shooter fans. While the voice acting is patchy, the overall story is an engrossing tale of post-apocalyptic survival, wrapped in a sense of discovery and adventure aboard the Aurora train convoy. Bonding with your characters as you travel across the wastes makes Exodus feel far less lonely than the previous games, without hurting the sense of survival and isolation.
Suffice to say, Metro Exodus is a fantastic game. I recently completed it myself, and I echo everything that Jez says entirely. If you love first-person shooters, then this game is a must for you.
A phenomenal experience
Metro Exodus is one of the best shooter games ever made, and arguably the best-looking game ever, too. You can't miss out on this one.
What are some great RTX GPUs to consider?
If you plan on using ray tracing in Metro Exodus, then you're going to need an NVIDIA RTX graphics card. Currently, there are several different options to choose from, but two stand out: the RTX 2080 Ti, and the RTX 2070.
The RTX 2080 Ti is the best GPU available on the market right now, offering incredible power and speed that is capable of smoothly handling Metro Exodus' Ultra and Extreme settings on resolutions above the 1080p standard. However, all that power comes with a very steep price — specifically, nearly $1,300. That may sound ridiculous, but the investment may actually be worth it to you if money isn't a concern or you want to ensure that you won't need to worry about upgrading again for a long time. Overall, if you want the absolute best possible Metro Exodus experience, then the RTX 2080 Ti is for you.
The RTX 2070 is a middleman GPU that fits between the higher end cards like the RTX 2080 Ti and the weakest one, the RTX 2060. It won't be pushing Metro Exodus' visuals to their highest settings like the 2080 Ti can, but it can run the game at a silky smooth 60 frames per second (FPS) as long as you're playing at standard 1080p resolution and are using High settings. This, coupled with the fact that it costs only half of what the 2080 Ti does, makes it a fantastic option if you want to experience ray tracing in Metro Exodus and don't mind not having the absolute best possible graphics to go along with it.
Unrivaled power
The RTX 2080 Ti is an absolute monster of a GPU, offering incredible power that no other card can currently match.
Powerful, yet affordable
The RTX 2070 is a powerful alternative to the 2080 Ti that only costs half as much. You won't be pushing Metro Exodus to its highest settings with it, but it can handle the game at a stable 60 FPS with ray tracing enabled.
