Metro Exodus - Aurora Train Ride

Metro Exodus came out in 2019, the third 4A Games entry in the Metro series and the first to leave the Moscow tunnels for a cross-country journey aboard the Aurora steam locomotive. Alexey Omelchuk's score leans on solo acoustic guitar and electroacoustic ambient instead of the dense industrial of earlier Metro games, matching the new open-air setting. This playlist is the long-form Aurora train ride scene specifically: engine rumble, guitar pieces, and dust-lit interior atmospherics.

Train sounds plus acoustic guitar turn out to be a surprisingly effective focus combination. The rhythmic mechanical hum gives your brain something to lock onto without imposing a tempo on your work, and Omelchuk's guitar pieces are sparse enough to sit underneath thinking. One of my best discoveries from the post-apocalyptic genre.