When Metro Exodus was unveiled at E3, it looked very much like a mix of the previous Metro games and Stalker, particularly when we got a look at Artyom’s large map. It suggested an open-world affair. That’s not quite what it is, however.

“First and foremost we’re not moving away from the classic linear Metro gameplay,” executive producer Jon Bloch told PCGamesN. “We still have that, but what what we’re doing with this new gameplay is more like sandbox survival.”

So, like Stalker, there are still these large areas to explore, but it’s less aimless.

“There’s large levels that offer a lot more freedom, they’re non-linear, but we will have a story wrapped into them,” Bloch explained. “So the story will carry through across the non-linear and linear levels.”

I’m glad they’re not doing away with what was one of Metro’s greatest strengths. The linearity allowed the developers to create a lot more tension and terrifying encounters, and the chaos of a completely open world where you can go anywhere and do anything whenever you want doesn’t really fit with that comfortably.

Metro Exodus is due out in 2018.