An upgraded version of the game titled Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S in May 2021.

The player controls player-character Artyom, who must leave the tunnels of Moscow and travel across the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the former Russian Federation and Republic of Kazakhstan while fighting against mutated creatures and hostile humans.

[8] Players can use firearms such as pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles, and submachine guns, as well as air-powered weapons such as the Tikhar and the Helsing crossbow, to defeat enemies.

The game has a dynamic weather system, allowing players to take advantages of storms and rain, which mask the sounds of Artyom's footsteps.

Many parts of the world are uninhabitable due to radiation, forcing humans to create communities to survive, and split into factions both peaceful and hostile, who often fight against one another and against aggressive mutant creatures that roam the surface and underground.

As in the two preceding games, the player assumes the role of Artyom, who flees the Moscow Metro and sets off on a locomotive called the Aurora with his allies on a journey to the Far East.

Artyom survived the shooting; he follows the soldiers to rescue Anna and inadvertently destroys a signal jammer that was blocking all radio communications between Moscow and the outside world.

To prevent NATO from attacking Moscow, the Russian leadership decided to secretly jam all communications to make the outside world believe nobody had survived.

After crossing the Volga River controlled by a technophobic cult, the Spartans reach the Yamantau base, and discover its service-and-construction crew have devolved into cannibals who lure survivors with the false promise of safety.

When Slava confronted him, Tolya revealed OSKOM leadership had already taken the remaining serum and fled, and had decided to flood the Metro with poison gas to kill the rest of the population.

Tom says he was an arms dealer who was stranded in Russia after the nuclear attacks, and asks Sam to find Ed, who is the only person who knows how to refuel the Mayflower.

Sam and Ed travel to a nearby abandoned naval base to recover the fuel rods needed to power Mayflower.

Sam remains in Vladivostok but is happy knowing nobody can use the nuclear weapons Mayflower was carrying and resolves to find another way to return home.

[23] The development team was excited by the change in the game's direction, which allowed them to create more-diverse maps and locations than those of its predecessors, which are set nearly entirely in subway tunnels.

Instead of relying on quest markers and waypoints, the developers hoped to pique player's curiosity and incentivize them to explore by creating visually interesting landmarks that can be seen from afar.

[27] To make the gaming experience immersive, information typically told through a head up display (HUD) was physicalized through Artyom's gears and equipment.

[25] For instance, instead of placing a minimap on-screen, Artyom pulls from his backpack a physical map of the location attached to a leather binder for players to view.

[30] Glukhovsky gave 4A freedom to create the game's narrative but he occasionally clashed with them when they rejected his suggestions due to resources or technical limitations.

The developers wanted to write dialogue for the game's non-playable characters, including enemy conversations, that players can overhear from afar.

While these dialogues are inconsequential to the game's overarching story, the developers believed they made the characters more alive, enhancing player immersion.

[28] According to Glukhovsky, Exodus's story is more personal than those of earlier games in the series, focusing on Artyom and his relationship with his wife Anna and his father-in-law Colonel Miller.

[34] The game was released for PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox One on 15 February 2019,[35] which was followed by a Google Stadia version on 19 November 2019 as part of that system's launch.

[38] On 28 January 2019, it was announced the Windows release would be exclusive to the Epic Games Store for one year; the publisher cited the platform's more-favorable revenue split.

[46] An upgraded version of the game titled Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, which supports ray tracing and global illumination, was released for Microsoft Windows on 6 May 2021, and for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 18 June 2021.

[57] Austin Wood from GamesRadar called the locations in the game "gorgeous" and said he liked the way the linear-story setpieces and open levels complement each other.

[56] Michael Higham from GameSpot, however, was disappointed players were not rewarded for exploring the game's world, and that engaging in combat with mutants is a waste of time because they do not drop resources like their human counterparts.

[57][58] Tristian Oglivie from IGN called the gameplay "refreshing" for encouraging and rewarding players to take their time and plan before attack.

[59] Brendan Lowry from Windows Central praised 4A's decision to turn gameplay systems into physical interactions within the game's world, which contributes to an "incredibly immersive" experience.

[67] In Japan, the PS4 version sold approximately 17,513 physical units during its launch week, making it the seventh best-selling retail game of any format.

[69] Exodus was the ninth best-selling video game in the United States in February 2019; its sales in its launch month set a new record for the series.