The Two Colonels

"We both served the Great Lie, because we both made ourselves believe it was necessary."

- Colonel Miller to Colonel Khlebnikov

The Two Colonels is a story DLC for Metro Exodus that is part of the Expansion Pass. It takes place in the Novosibirsk Metro before the arrival of the Aurora Crew and follows the story of Colonel Khlebnikov. The story provides more details about the fall of Novosibirsk. The Two Colonels was released on the 20th August 2019, as announced at Gamescom a day previously.

Official Description
Just below the surface, under the dead city of Novosibirsk, Colonel Khlebnikov makes his way home to his son, Kirill, for New Years Eve.

''But all is not well with the people here: the slime is further consuming the tunnels, mutant attacks appear to be on the rise and the precious ‘green stuff’ that protects the people from radiation poisoning is running low. In order to secure the survival of any of the people, those in charge may need to take drastic measures…''

Following the journey and experiences of Khlebnikov during the last days of life in Novosibirsk, retraced by Colonel Miller a year later, players can expect the classic story-driven gameplay of the Metro series in this new linear chapter, complete with a brand new weapon, the deadly flame-thrower, claustrophobic environments, and the all-too-familiar hair-raising tension.

Plot and Setting
The Two Colonels takes place in Novosibirsk, mainly in its metro system. During its finale, the player also visits an abandoned satellite command center on the surface. The player witnesses the story the way Kirill tells it to Miller after Artyom leaves Kirill's hideout in order to find the cure for Anna (this was included in the base game's level The Dead City). The story is divided into several sections which take place 12, 6, 3 and 1 month before the Aurora arrives to Novosibirsk. In all parts, the player plays as Colonel Khlebnikov, Kirill's father and a high-ranking OSKOM member.

The first part takes place in December 2034. Khlebnikov is tasked with clearing out a section of Novosibirsk Metro infested with slime and worms in order to restore a function of an important water pump. Khlebnikov is well equipped for this task, as he carries a flamethrower and also a special enclosed suit. After burning his way through slime and worms, he and his men manage to get the pump back online. Khlebnikov then returns to his home station to meet General Vinogradov and later he celebrates New Year's Eve with his son, Kirill.

The second part takes place six months later. Tension starts to rise in the Metro, as the supplies of Radioprotector are thinning and OSKOM starts to decrease rations of the drug and also starts to confiscate any excess supplies they find, even those that were obtained legally. Khlebnikov is ordered to secure one such supply, which he finds out is in possession of his old friend Petrovich, who has been saving the drug for his sick granddaughter. Khlebnikov is presented with a moral dilemma - either confiscate the drug, betraying his friend and leaving him shocked and furious, or secretly allow him to keep it. The choice does not impact the story, just the dialogue between Khlebnikov and Petrovich. During this time, Kirill also starts questioning whether OSKOM are really the heroes he envisioned them to be, as he sees the cruelties committed by them on regular Metro citizens. Khlebnikov explains to his son that sometimes, difficult situations require difficult choices and that his and OSKOM's actions will eventually prove to be necessary.

General Vinogradov also reveals to Khlebnikov that there are plans for an evacuation of the Metro, but there might not be enough Radioprotector to evacuate all people, at least not all at once.

The situation becomes unmanageable three months later. Massive riots arise in the metro and Khlebnikov is tasked with preventing the rioters from reaching Sibirskaya station (OSKOM headquarters) by any means necessary. He and his men try to blow up the tunnels leading to Sibirskaya in order to block the access route for the rioters, but one charge fails to detonate, so OSKOM members are forced to fall back. Eventually, they barely stop the rioters at the escalators and for a brief moment, the situation seems to have turned in their favor. However, a chlorine gas is released, killing most of the remaining OSKOM members, save for Khlebnikov and an unnamed OSKOM soldier. The soldier, who is less injured than Khlebnikov, rushes up the escalator where he finds General Vinogradov, who shoots him, then radios that all of the pawns have been dealt with. Khlebnikov is furious to find out that Vinogradov initiated the gas attack, seeing him as a traitor, however, Vinogradov receives a message that the highest OSKOM officials are leaving Novosibirsk at the moment, leaving Khlebnikov and Vinogradov behind, betraying them both. The two realize that they themselves have always been just insignificant pawns in the entire evacuation process and were not supposed to be evacuated with the rest of the officials, so Vinogradov orders his remaining men to destroy the evacuation train with an RPG and commits suicide. This leaves Khlebnikov and his son one of the few surviving people in Novosibirsk Metro, if not the only ones.

One month before the arrival of the Aurora, Khlebnikov visits an abandoned satellite control center in the ruins of Novosibirsk. From his conversations with Vinogradov, he knows that there should be maps showing radiation levels in Russia and that the area around Lake Baikal might be radiation-free. If that proves to be true, Khlebnikov and his son could leave the irradiated city and find a new home. The facility is very dangerous as despite being underground, its nuclear reactor is damaged, filling the control center with very high levels of radiation even for Novosibirsk. This also causes power shortages, so Khlebnikov is slowed down several times by malfunctioning doors and other systems. The facility is also inhabited by mutants, mainly the nosalis. When Khlebnikov gets close to the map depository, a blind one appears and attacks him. Khlebnikov escapes the blind one through an elevator shaft, letting his flamethrower's tank explode beforehand to stun or possibly kill it. Khlebnikov arrives at the depository, finds the map he was looking for and proceeds further, but the radiation is so high that he starts to feel sick and has to slow down. Furthermore, the blind one appears again. Khlebnikov is able to outrun it and prepares to inject his last Radioprotector to counteract the radiation sickness, but the blind one grabs his leg through a reinforced door and makes him drop the injector. Khlebnikov disengages the door's manual control, severing the blind one's arm and breaking free, but then he finds out that the vial with Radioprotector was broken by the impact so there is no way for him to survive the radiation exposure for much longer. He starts to lose consciousness and sits on a chair where he faints and eventually passes away.

A month later, Khlebnikov's body is found by Miller, as Kirill tells the ranger about the facility and Miller goes there to find the map Khlebnikov was looking for. As Khlebnikov brought the map close to the entrance, Miller is able to retrieve it and bring it back to Kirill and Artyom without spending too much time in the irradiated complex, though, he also receives a lethal dose of radiation, which could only be counteracted by a Radioprotector, but Miller sacrifices himself by using his dose to save Artyom instead.

Gameplay
The Two Colonels is a linear chapter without the open-world aspects of the base game and with only limited crafting options. Khlebnikov can not use a gas mask, flashlight and other pieces of equipment known from the base game. Only three weapons are available, a flamethrower and later a Kalash and an Ashot. The flamethrower is a new weapon which comes with its own set of upgrades, allowing Khlebnikov to modify its pneumatic mechanism and increase magazine size. Other than that, no new gameplay mechanics are included. The entire chapter takes approximately 2 to 2-1/2 hours to complete on normal difficulty. The main focus of The Two Colonels is its storytelling aspect, which allows the player to learn more about the situation at Novosibirsk which was only briefly explained in the base game.

Reception
On Steam, The Two Colonels has received very positive reviews with many players praising its story as the strongest aspect. The criticism was mostly related to the length of the chapter and some technical difficulties, such as repeated crashes being reported on the Steam version and problems purchasing the the DLC on the Epic Games Store during its first days.

Achievements and Trophies
The Two Colonels includes 8 new achievements/trophies which are worth 200 Gamerscore, or 1 gold trophy and 7 bronze trophies, in total.

Collectibles
In The Two Colonels, there are a total of 9 diary pages that can be collected. It is very linear, so the notes have to be collected in the order presented.
 * Foreman's Diary 1 - Right after you clear the first hallway of slime, the diary will be lying on a desk right in front of you after you go through the door at the end of the hallway.
 * Foreman's Diary 2 - Making your way through a large, flooded room, you will be forced to shut a valve and then burn slime off a ladder. Climbing the ladder will take you into a room with the level's first workbench. Upon entering the room, go into a hallway to your left. The diary will be inside the locker at the end of the hallway. A tape can also be found here.
 * Worker's Note - After passing the second workbench, you will have to pass through a narrow hallway. Immediately after kicking open the door, look for an opening to your immediate left (a worm will likely crawl out of it). The note will be sitting on a console, along with some flamer fuel.
 * Trader's Note - After talking to General Vinogradov, you will have to go though an elevated train car. The note is inside, on a shelf right next to the bar. Must be collected before attending Vinogradov's New Year's Eve address.
 * Letter - After searching Petrovich's home, you will be able to collect the letter from the market stand sitting right across from his place.
 * Investigation Report - Right after starting the level where you defend Sibirskaya, you will go through a civilian shelter, at the end of which a soldier will open a door for you. Before going through, grab the report from the desk on your left.
 * Stalker's Diary 1 - Right after you enter the Sat-Com center and go down the stairs, you will see the diary lying on the floor.
 * Stalker's Diary 2 - Shortly after restoring power to the building, you will go do down a hallway and into a room to your right. At the other end of the room you will go up a platform with a console, on which you can find the diary.
 * Stalker's Diary 3 - After fighting the blind one and falling down an elevator shaft, walk up the scaffolding to your immediate right. The note will be on the ground, right in front of the tunnel.

Gallery
Два полковника