Metro Exodus vs Hunt: Showdown 1896

• The Aurora Crew: Your squadmates (like Idiot, Damir, and Duke). While you explore mostly alone, they provide crucial sniper overwatch, radio support, and narrative depth during the journeys between biomes.
  Spartan Rangers
• Tokarev: The resident engineer on the Aurora. He upgrades your pneumatic weapons, provides the workbench for cleaning guns, and crafts new ammunition types for you between major missions.
  Weaponsmith

• Co-Op Teammates: The game allows for Duo and Trio matchmaking. Reviving downed teammates and coordinating flanking maneuvers is the absolute core of the PvP experience.
  Other Players
• Stalker Beetle: A consumable item that the player can throw and physically pilot in first-person to safely scout heavily defended boss lairs and ping enemy positions.
  Controllable Insect

• Hidden Diary Pages: Scattered across the map in abandoned outposts and skeletons. They provide massive amounts of dark, tragic lore about the immediate aftermath of the nuclear war.
• Postcards: Scenic pictures of the old world that Artyom collects. They are physically pinned up inside his personal cabin on the Aurora, serving as a reminder of what was lost.
• Suit Upgrades: The most valuable functional collectibles, hidden in dangerous bandit camps or mutant nests, which permanently enhance Artyom's armor, night-vision, or carrying capacity.

• Clues / Rifts: Glowing, noisy supernatural rifts found in compounds. Players must interact with three of them to completely narrow down the map and reveal the boss lair.
• Bounty Tokens: Dropped by the boss after the loud banishing phase. Picking it up grants 'Enhanced Dark Sight' to spot enemies, but also marks the carrier with a lightning bolt on the map for all other players to see.
• Hunt Dollars: Found in cash registers or looted from dead hunters. The primary economy currency used to re-equip your hunter with weapons and tools after a match.

• Post-Apocalyptic
• Nuclear Winter
• Survival Horror
• Train Journey
• Russian Wasteland
• Mutants
• Spartan Rangers

• Weird West
• Dark Fantasy
• Supernatural Horror
• Bounty Hunting
• 19th Century
• PvPvE
• Extraction

• Tikhar: Pneumatic Rifle
  An iconic, silent weapon powered by compressed air. Players must manually pump the rifle to maintain high damage output, but its steel ball ammo can be crafted anywhere.
• Kalash: Assault Rifle
  The highly reliable workhorse of the Russian wasteland. Highly modular, it can be stripped down into a compact SMG or fitted with a heavy barrel and drum mag to act as an LMG.
• Shambler: Rotary Shotgun
  A devastating, makeshift repeating shotgun. Its wide spread and massive stopping power are absolutely essential for surviving being rushed by packs of feral Nosalises.

• Mosin-Nagant M1891: Long Ammo Rifle
  A highly coveted, expensive bolt-action rifle. It fires long ammo, maintaining high damage over immense distances and easily penetrating thick wooden walls.
• Sparks LRR: Single-Shot Rifle
  A devastating, single-shot breach-loading rifle. It deals exactly 149 damage to the upper chest, leaving the enemy with a sliver of health and forcing immediate panic and retreats.
• Bomb Lance: Melee / Explosive Projectile
  A terrifying, custom-built whaling lance equipped with a massive blade. It can fire an explosive harpoon that lodges into targets before detonating, making quick work of bosses.

• Gas Mask: Artyom's most crucial piece of survival gear. It requires constant filter changes (every few minutes) in irradiated zones and can be cracked during combat, requiring emergency field repairs using tape.
• Spartan Ranger Armor: Artyom's heavy military-grade tactical gear. It provides baseline ballistic and melee defense, but its true value lies in the modular upgrades scavenged from the open world, like extended ammo pouches.
• Bracer / Compass: Worn on Artyom's left wrist, it is a masterclass in diegetic UI. It features a physical compass needle pointing to the next objective, a geiger counter, and a light-visibility indicator for stealth.

• Health Bars: Hunters do not wear traditional armor. Survivability is dictated by Health Bars. Taking fire damage permanently burns these bars away, permanently lowering your maximum HP until you banish a boss to restore it.
• Hornskin (Trait): A purchasable passive trait that reduces damage taken from blunt melee attacks by 25%, useful against Grunts and specific boss attacks.
• Bloodless (Trait): A crucial survival trait that prevents bleeding from escalating to severe levels, saving the player from rapidly bleeding out after being hit by flechette ammo or Hellhounds.

• Spartan Tactical Gear: Artyom's heavily worn, patched military fatigues. Visually, the suit accumulates snow, mud, and radioactive dust dynamically based on the biome the player is exploring.
• Hazmat Suit: Worn heavily during the final 'Dead City' chapter, representing the absolute necessity of heavy radiation shielding to survive the catastrophic fallout of Novosibirsk.

• Tier 1 Hunter Shirts: Brightly colored, clean shirts worn by novice hunters. They offer very poor camouflage, making new players easy targets in the dark bayou.
• Tier 3 Hunter Dusters: Dark, ragged leather coats, ghillie-style ponchos, and mud-covered hats worn by veteran hunters, offering incredible camouflage in the dense bushes.
• Legendary Skins: Premium, highly detailed outfits (like the Bone Doctor's skull mask or The Ironclad's heavy metal plating) purchased with Blood Bonds to showcase prestige and style.

The game does not feature traditional RPG leveling. Artyom's progression is defined purely by the gear he scavenges. The most critical upgrade system is the modular weapon customization. Players find parts on enemy weapons (like sniper scopes, laser sights, or extended magazines) and can swap them onto their own guns anywhere in the world using their backpack. Artyom also upgrades his 'Spartan Suit' by exploring the maps to find hidden gear, such as an upgraded compass, night-vision goggles, a motion tracker, a reinforced helmet, and an extended battery life module for his flashlight.

Progression is tied to the 'Bloodline' rank and the permadeath mechanic of individual Hunters. When a Hunter survives and extracts, they earn Upgrade Points to purchase 'Traits' (passive skills). These include iconic perks like 'Fanning' (rapid-firing single-action revolvers), 'Necromancer' (reviving teammates from a distance at the cost of your own health), and 'Lightfoot' (silent vaulting). However, if your Hunter dies in a match, they—and all their expensive gear and traits—are lost forever, raising the stakes of every single firefight.

Exodus departs from the strictly linear, claustrophobic tunnels of previous games, introducing massive 'sandbox survival' hubs. The primary regions include the 'Volga' (a sprawling, flooded winter wetland filled with electrical anomalies and mutant shrimp), the 'Caspian' (a scorching, Mad Max-style desert set in a dried-up seabed complete with drivable vehicles), the 'Taiga' (a lush, dense forest where stealth is paramount), and the 'Dead City' (a return to the classic, highly irradiated, claustrophobic metro tunnel horror). These sandbox levels are massive, seamlessly integrating main story missions with optional side objectives and hidden bandit camps.

Hunt: Showdown 1896 features vast, meticulously crafted 1km x 1km sandbox maps. The iconic Louisiana maps—Stillwater Bayou, Lawson Delta, and DeSalle—feature flooded swamps, rotting plantations, and eerie mining towns. The 1896 update introduced 'Mammon's Gulch', a towering, vertical map set in the rocky mountains of Colorado. This new biome features massive elevation changes, dense pine forests, oil rigs, and an interconnected, pitch-black underground mine system, fundamentally changing how players approach long-range sightlines and close-quarters ambushes.

• The Aurora: Steam Locomotive
  The massive, heavily armored train that acts as the player's mobile hub, home, and ultimate companion throughout the year-long journey across Russia.
• UAZ / Bukhanka Van: Civilian Transport
  A drivable, rusted-out Soviet vehicle acquired in the Caspian Sea level. It is crucial for traversing the massive desert and escaping ambushes from packs of Humanimals.
• Rowboats: Aquatic Transport
  Slow, vulnerable wooden boats used to navigate the flooded ruins of the Volga and the Taiga, leaving the player heavily exposed to aquatic mutant attacks.

• Extraction Stagecoach: Extraction Point
  Stationary horse-drawn carriages located at the edge of the map. Players must stand near them for 30 seconds to successfully extract with their bounty.
• Extraction Steamboat: Extraction Point
  Stationary paddleboats found on the rivers. If an enemy player approaches while you are extracting, the boat's horn will blow loudly, warning you of the ambush.

• Watchmen: Mutated Canine
  Highly aggressive pack hunters that roam the ruins. They utilize scouts that howl to summon massive packs, forcing players to either stealthily bypass them or prepare for a fierce firefight.
• Demons: Mutated Bat/Avian
  The apex predators of the sky, known to the locals as 'Bitches'. They can swoop down, pick Artyom up, and drop him from lethal heights if he wanders the surface carelessly.
• Humanimals: Mutated Primates/Humans
  Grotesque, highly aggressive mutants that often camouflage themselves by sleeping in piles of corpses or mud, leaping up to ambush the player in dark areas or sandy dunes.

• Hellhounds: Mutated Canine
  Packs of vicious, decaying dogs that roam the wilderness. They are highly aggressive, deal severe bleeding damage, and are the bane of solo hunters navigating the woods.
• Water Devils: Swarming Parasite
  Violent, writhing masses of aquatic parasites that infest the deep swamps. They deal massive damage to anyone attempting to quickly wade through deep water.
• Immolators: Burning Undead
  A highly volatile, burning zombie that sprints aggressively at players. If shot with a bullet or pierced, it violently explodes into flames, requiring players to use blunt melee weapons to kill it.

• Artyom: Protagonist
  The silent but fiercely determined Spartan Ranger whose obsession with finding life outside the Metro initiates the epic, continent-spanning journey.
• Anna: Deuteragonist
  Artyom's wife and the best sniper in the order. Her unwavering support and tragic narrative arc form the deep emotional core of the game.
• Colonel Miller: Commander
  The gruff, stubborn commander of the Spartan Order. He initially views the outside world with extreme military paranoia, but slowly undergoes a profound character evolution.

• The Hunters: Player Avatars
  Ruthless, desperate mercenaries willing to inject themselves with dark serums to gain 'Dark Sight', allowing them to track monsters and survive the corruption.
• The Hellborn: Wild Target Boss
  A terrifying, massive, burning entity introduced in the 1896 update. It roams the open world of Mammon's Gulch, hurling fireballs and engaging hunters outside of traditional compounds.
• The Spider: Bounty Boss
  A horrific, massive arachnid assembled from human corpses. It moves incredibly fast across walls and ceilings, spitting debilitating poison at hunters.

• The Volga (Winter): Open World Sandbox
  Explore a massive, flooded wetland to secure a passenger car for the Aurora, dealing with a hostile, electricity-worshipping cult and a giant mutated Tsar Fish.
• The Caspian (Summer): Vehicular Sandbox
  Secure fuel and water in a scorching, dried-up seabed. Drive a salvaged van across the desert and dismantle a ruthless, slave-driving baron's oil rig fortress.
• The Dead City (Winter): Linear Horror
  The terrifying climax. Delve into the highly irradiated, mutant-infested metro tunnels of Novosibirsk to secure experimental medicine to save a dying crew member.

• The Investigation: Exploration / Tracking
  Move stealthily through the map using Dark Sight to locate three clues, avoiding sound traps (like crows or dogs) that will alert other players to your presence.
• The Banishment: PvE Boss / Siege Defense
  Locate and kill the boss (e.g., the Butcher or Assassin). Initiate the banishing ritual, which loudly alerts every player on the map, and prepare to defend the compound from incoming teams.
• The Extraction: PvP Gauntlet
  Grab the Bounty Tokens and run to one of the designated extraction zones at the edge of the map, fighting off any remaining hunters attempting to ambush you before the timer expires.

Metro Exodus is entirely focused on delivering a deep, immersive single-player narrative journey. There are no multiplayer components, allowing the developers to focus completely on atmospheric storytelling, dense world-building, and terrifying AI encounters.

The game features two main modes. 'Bounty Hunt' is the flagship PvPvE mode where teams of 1, 2, or 3 players load into the map, hunt the boss, and fight other teams for the bounty tokens. 'Soul Survivor' (formerly Quickplay) is a pure solo, battle-royale-lite mode where players spawn with nothing, scavenge for weapons, and race to absorb the 'Wellspring' energy. The winner gets to keep their fully geared Hunter for use in Bounty Hunt, while everyone else permanently dies.

Metro Exodus launched in 2019 and is available in a Standard Edition and a Gold Edition (which includes the Expansion Pass). In 2021, 4A Games released the 'Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition', given for free to all existing owners. This version features a completely overhauled engine built exclusively for Ray Tracing hardware, offering vastly superior lighting and performance optimizations. The game has also been fully ported to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Following the 1896 engine upgrade in August 2024, the game effectively relaunched. The base game is frequently updated, while monetization comes through an extensive catalogue of cosmetic DLCs (such as 'Bound by Blood', 'The Madness of Montresor', and 'It Takes a Rogue'). These packs provide uniquely modeled 'Legendary Hunters' and weapon skins. The game also utilizes a seasonal Battle Pass system to introduce new weapon variants, weather conditions, and thematic lore elements.

The game received two massive, highly praised story DLCs. 'The Two Colonels' is a prequel to the Dead City chapter, returning to the classic, linear, tunnel-crawling horror of previous games, introducing the flamethrower weapon and detailing the tragic final days of Colonel Khlebnikov. 'Sam's Story' follows the American Spartan Ranger, Sam, as he leaves the Aurora and traverses the tsunami-ravaged, mutant-infested ruins of Vladivostok in an attempt to find a submarine to take him back to the United States. Both DLCs are included in the Expansion Pass and Gold Edition.

Crytek treats the game as a long-term live service, continually adding new weapons, variants (like silencers or sniper scopes), custom ammo types (poison, incendiary, dumdum), and massive map updates. The '1896' update marked the transition to CryEngine 5.11, dropping PS4 and Xbox One support entirely to modernize the game. Seasonal events (like the 'Tide' series or 'Scorched Earth') temporarily introduce wildcards like heavy rain, ash bloom, or roaring wildfires that dramatically alter the visual and auditory landscape.

• Q: Is Metro Exodus an open-world game?
  A: It is a hybrid. It features massive, non-linear 'sandbox' regions (like the Volga and Caspian) where you can explore freely, but transitions to classic, highly linear, terrifying tunnel sections for story climax moments.
• Q: Do I need to play Metro 2033 and Last Light first?
  A: While the game does a good job explaining the setting, playing the first two games is highly recommended to understand Artyom's motivations, his relationship with Anna, and the significance of the Dark Ones.
• Q: What is the PC Enhanced Edition?
  A: A separate version of the game given free to PC owners. It features a completely rebuilt engine that STRICTLY REQUIRES a Ray Tracing capable GPU, offering vastly superior lighting and performance.
• Q: Can I stealth the whole game?
  A: Many human encounters can be completely stealthed, and the game actively tracks your 'morality' (sparing surrendering enemies leads to a better ending). However, mutant encounters almost always result in forced, brutal combat.

• Q: What is the 1896 update?
  A: Released in August 2024, the 1896 update was a massive relaunch of the game. It upgraded the engine to CryEngine 5.11, dropped PS4/Xbox One support, added DirectX 12, overhauled the UI, and introduced the new Colorado map, Mammon's Gulch.
• Q: Do I lose my gear when I die?
  A: Yes. Hunt features a permadeath system. If your Hunter dies and is not revived by a teammate before the match ends, you permanently lose that character, their weapons, and their traits.
• Q: Is there bullet drop?
  A: Yes. The 1896 update introduced bullet drop to all weapons, fundamentally changing long-range combat and requiring players to account for distance and bullet velocity when sniping.
• Q: Can I play solo?
  A: Yes. You can play 'Soul Survivor' (a solo-only mode), or you can queue 'Solo vs Duos/Trios' in Bounty Hunt, which grants you a massive bonus payout if you successfully extract against larger teams.

Powered by the 4A Engine, Metro Exodus is one of the most visually stunning games of its generation. The PC Enhanced Edition's implementation of Ray Traced Global Illumination means light realistically bounces into dark corners, making shadows pure and terrifying. The materials are incredibly lifelike; ice melts on frozen rivers, mud cakes onto weapons during rainstorms (causing them to visibly jam), and the mutated flesh of the demons is rendered with sickening detail. The Aurora train itself serves as a stunning, highly detailed hub area that visually changes as the seasons progress.

Powered by CryEngine 5.11, the 1896 update brought a stunning visual overhaul. The implementation of DirectX 12, global illumination, and improved shaders makes the mud, water reflections, and dense fog look incredibly photorealistic. The character models for Legendary Hunters are deeply detailed, covered in grime, blood, and esoteric occult trinkets. Lighting is entirely dynamic, and night maps feature pitch-black darkness pierced only by the terrifying glow of flare guns or burning oil slicks.

The audio design is incredibly oppressive and detailed. The geiger counter's frantic clicking is a constant, terrifying reminder of radiation zones. Artyom's heavy, labored breathing through a damaged gas mask is highly anxiety-inducing. Weapons sound crude and punchy, and the distinct, guttural roars of mutants echoing across the open plains instill deep dread. The soundtrack, composed by Alexey Omelchuk, features haunting, melancholic guitar riffs that perfectly capture the tragic beauty of the ruined world, contrasted by intense, pounding industrial tracks during combat.

Hunt features arguably the best, most tactical audio design in the FPS genre. The proprietary binaural 3D audio system means players can pinpoint exactly where a twig snapped or a flock of crows was startled, even through walls. Every action, from switching weapons to aiming down sights, makes a distinct, locatable sound. The music, headlined by the iconic 'Humming Theme' (Rise Up Dead Man) by the Port Sulphur Band, perfectly encapsulates the dark, swampy, Southern Gothic dread.

Exodus is a masterclass in diegetic UI. There are almost no traditional HUD elements. Your ammunition count is physically visible on the weapon's magazine. To check the map or your objectives, Artyom physically pulls out a clipboard and a compass. The gas mask features a physical countdown timer on Artyom's wrist watch, and you can see the glass cracking and accumulating dirt, requiring you to press a dedicated button to wipe it clean. The backpack interface allows you to craft medkits and ammo without pausing the game in real-time, maintaining unbearable tension.

The UI underwent a massive, somewhat controversial overhaul during the 1896 update to modernize the menu navigation for both PC and console players. In-game, the HUD is heavily minimalist. There is no mini-map; players must physically open a paper map to check their location or boss banishment zones. Health is segmented into distinct 'bars' (which can be permanently burned away by fire), and stamina dictates melee swings and sprinting. The most crucial UI element is the compass, used for calling out enemy bearings to teammates.

The game features several difficulty settings, ranging from 'Reader' (designed for players who just want to experience the story with plentiful resources) to 'Ranger Hardcore'. Ranger Hardcore completely removes the HUD, drastically increases enemy damage, and makes resources incredibly scarce, providing the ultimate immersive survival experience. The game also includes customizable subtitles, aim assist options for controllers, and toggleable settings for quick-time events (QTEs).

The game offers standard accessibility tools, including adjustable Field of View (FOV) sliders, customizable crosshair positioning (centered or the classic 'lowered' crosshair), and comprehensive control remapping. It also features colorblind modes and customizable subtitle scaling. However, the game's extreme reliance on directional audio cues makes it incredibly difficult for deaf or hard-of-hearing players to compete at high skill brackets.

• System requirements are verified against official Deep Silver storefront data. Note that Metro Exodus features two versions: the Standard Edition and the 'Enhanced Edition'. The Enhanced Edition features a completely rebuilt lighting pipeline that STRICTLY REQUIRES a Ray Tracing capable GPU to even launch the game.
• Laptop Performance Note: The 4A Engine is notoriously heavy, utilizing extreme tessellation, volumetric fog, and advanced physics. Laptops running the Enhanced Edition will be fully utilizing hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing, requiring massive cooling overhead to prevent severe thermal throttling.
• Laptop Consideration: G P U T G P: A minimal TGP of 85W (e.g., RTX 3060 Mobile) is required to run the Enhanced Edition at 1080p 60 FPS with Ray Tracing on 'Normal'. Higher TGPs (115W+) are strongly recommended for maintaining 60 FPS at 1440p.
• Laptop Consideration: Cooling Thermals: The dynamic global illumination calculates bounce lighting in real-time based on the sun and player flashlight. This heavily taxes the GPU. Use a high-quality cooling pad to sustain boost clocks during intense firefights.
• Laptop Consideration: C P U Power Limits: Set Windows power profiles to 'Performance'. The game relies on the CPU for advanced enemy AI pathfinding and physics simulations (like cloth tearing and water displacement).
• Laptop Consideration: M U X Switch Optimus: A MUX switch is highly recommended to minimize display latency, ensuring smooth tracking when sniping fast-moving mutants or reacting to jump scares.
• Optimization Detail: Upscaling Tech: Supports NVIDIA DLSS natively (DLSS 2.0 in the Enhanced Edition). Utilizing DLSS is practically mandatory to achieve 60+ FPS when running the game with Ultra Ray Tracing.
• Optimization Detail: Key Settings Impact: Ray Traced Global Illumination, HairWorks, and Advanced PhysX have the most massive impacts on framerates. Disabling HairWorks immediately reclaims significant GPU overhead.
• Game Name: Metro Exodus

• System requirements are verified against the official Steam storefront data following the massive '1896' CryEngine 5.11 graphical overhaul, which significantly raised the baseline hardware demands.
• Laptop Performance Note: The jump to DirectX 12 and CryEngine 5.11 means the game relies heavily on fast CPU performance and increased VRAM buffers. Laptops must maintain high clock speeds to avoid micro-stutters during intense, high-stakes PvP firefights.
• Laptop Consideration: G P U T G P: A minimal TGP of 75W is required for 1080p rendering (e.g., RTX 3050 Mobile or 3060 Mobile). For high settings at 1440p, an 85W-115W+ TGP (RTX 4060/4070 Mobile) is heavily recommended.
• Laptop Consideration: Cooling Thermals: The dense environmental rendering (foliage, dynamic shadows) and binaural audio processing require stable CPU and GPU thermals. A cooling pad is strongly recommended to prevent throttling, which can cause fatal input lag during shootouts.
• Laptop Consideration: C P U Power Limits: Set Windows power delivery to 'Performance'. The game utilizes advanced global illumination and particle systems that will stutter if the CPU attempts to downclock to save power.
• Laptop Consideration: M U X Switch Optimus: Absolutely mandatory. A MUX switch reduces render latency, which is critical in a hardcore, low-time-to-kill (TTK) shooter where landing single-shot rifle headshots is the primary combat loop.
• Optimization Detail: Upscaling Tech: Supports NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR. Using upscaling is highly recommended to maintain 60+ FPS on mid-range hardware during chaotic explosive encounters.
• Optimization Detail: Key Settings Impact: Global Illumination, Shadow Quality, and Object Detail severely impact GPU overhead. Lowering these can yield substantial framerate improvements.
• Game Name: Hunt: Showdown 1896

• Upscaling Tech: Supports NVIDIA DLSS natively (DLSS 2.0 in the Enhanced Edition). Utilizing DLSS is practically mandatory to achieve 60+ FPS when running the game with Ultra Ray Tracing.
• Key Settings Impact: Ray Traced Global Illumination, HairWorks, and Advanced PhysX have the most massive impacts on framerates. Disabling HairWorks immediately reclaims significant GPU overhead.

• Upscaling Tech: Supports NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR. Using upscaling is highly recommended to maintain 60+ FPS on mid-range hardware during chaotic explosive encounters.
• Key Settings Impact: Global Illumination, Shadow Quality, and Object Detail severely impact GPU overhead. Lowering these can yield substantial framerate improvements.

• G P U T G P: A minimal TGP of 85W (e.g., RTX 3060 Mobile) is required to run the Enhanced Edition at 1080p 60 FPS with Ray Tracing on 'Normal'. Higher TGPs (115W+) are strongly recommended for maintaining 60 FPS at 1440p.
• Cooling Thermals: The dynamic global illumination calculates bounce lighting in real-time based on the sun and player flashlight. This heavily taxes the GPU. Use a high-quality cooling pad to sustain boost clocks during intense firefights.
• C P U Power Limits: Set Windows power profiles to 'Performance'. The game relies on the CPU for advanced enemy AI pathfinding and physics simulations (like cloth tearing and water displacement).
• M U X Switch Optimus: A MUX switch is highly recommended to minimize display latency, ensuring smooth tracking when sniping fast-moving mutants or reacting to jump scares.

• G P U T G P: A minimal TGP of 75W is required for 1080p rendering (e.g., RTX 3050 Mobile or 3060 Mobile). For high settings at 1440p, an 85W-115W+ TGP (RTX 4060/4070 Mobile) is heavily recommended.
• Cooling Thermals: The dense environmental rendering (foliage, dynamic shadows) and binaural audio processing require stable CPU and GPU thermals. A cooling pad is strongly recommended to prevent throttling, which can cause fatal input lag during shootouts.
• C P U Power Limits: Set Windows power delivery to 'Performance'. The game utilizes advanced global illumination and particle systems that will stutter if the CPU attempts to downclock to save power.
• M U X Switch Optimus: Absolutely mandatory. A MUX switch reduces render latency, which is critical in a hardcore, low-time-to-kill (TTK) shooter where landing single-shot rifle headshots is the primary combat loop.