Not really. Metro 2033 is a borderline horror game, going to the surface never felt safe and the dead winter aesthetic reinforced that. Last Light's surface segments in comparison lacked a lot of that dread in no small part due to the relatively bright setting.
Exodus was on of my top three favorite reveals of E3, and I've waited a long time for 4A to return to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. roots. They are the only folks that could properly pool a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. spiritual successor and the two IP's should meld together perfectly. Metro has a cooler universe anyway.
I'm glad they are being direct about this... exactly what I was hoping for!
What I want more than anything is a big focus on AI like the STALKER series. The sense of unpredictability is sorely lacking from almost every other open world game.
Hoooo, yeah. I remember this one side-quest where I had to go through a decrepit factory for some supplies. I don't even remember where the quest took place or what it was about; all I remember is that the first time I tried it, it was night-time, and all I had was my flashlight. This isn't a "soft" night that you see in modern Fallouts and Elder Scrolls games; night-time in STALKER means you are walking around blind if you aren't using your flashlight or equipping your night-vision goggles.
So there I am, crouch-walking down hallways, peeking around abandoned machinery, my gun primed for danger. I'm half-expecting to stumble into a sleeping monster or hear the shamble of a zombie behind me through a doorway I missed. I'm jumping at shadows because of my flashlight; around one corner, I see the shadow of something moving and long-limbed, and I nervously inch over to find it was just some dead plant-matter hanging outside a window. The whole time, my nerves are on edge, and I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop, because <i>that's just what happens in quests.</i> Standard fetch quest design calls for an unexpected trap or encounter to spice up expectations, right?
Except, no. I find the item, and I depart the factory without incident. There was nothing inside that building that was hostile to me, but the entire trip took 10-15 nerve-wracking minutes because I was too jittery to run about with confidence.
And that's exactly what I would have done had there been daylight when I chose to undertake the quest. Doing the quest at night gave me a totally different experience, and it's a memory I keep with me every time I recall the STALKER games. No immersive sim has affected me with its atmosphere more.
tl;dr: This news that Metro: Exodus is pulling inspiration from the STALKER games pleases me. The first two games were fun enough, but I never felt compelled to replay them or try higher difficulties. I'm willing to have my mind blown here, however.