We've already taken a deep look at Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition on PC and were genuinely impressed with its phenomenal ray tracing - perhaps not surprising when the new 4A Engine is built from the ground up with hardware-accelerated RT hardware in mind. However, the question we could not answer at the time was simple enough: how does that experience translate to the new wave of consoles? Is there enough horsepower on tap to deliver a state-of-the-art 60fps ray tracing showcase? We've now had the chance to test the game on both Xbox Series X and Series S hardware - and the results are excellent.
Comparisons up against the last-gen versions are entirely valid and looking at Xbox One X as the best of the lot, the new game is transformed. Yes, you're getting twice the frame-rate (last-gen topped out at 30fps) but it's the transition to an RT-based aesthetic that makes all of the difference. The rasterised real-time global illumination system of the old version looked fine, but ray tracing takes fidelity to the next level. All of the old artist-placed lights are gone, replaced with a fully ray traced alternative that 'just works'.
Light from the sun, the moon - or objects that emit light - taps into RT, illuminating any given scene with accurately calculated light bounce. The original Metro Exodus's PC RT solution shipped with just one light bounce, while the Enhanced Edition - even on consoles - works with infinite bounces, calculated over time. As a consequence of this, usual screen-space ambient occlusion (SSAO) isn't required. It's all part of the global GI solution delivered by ray tracing. It's also far easier to show rather than tell, so please check out the video embedded below to appreciate how this technology works.