- 4A Games has revealed the next game of the Metro series, Metro 2039
- Influenced by real-world events, developers promise a “much darker tone this time”
- The game will arrive on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S and PC “this winter”
As part of an Xbox First Look presentation, we’ve now seen the next game in the post-apocalyptic shooter series. Metro, in action. In short, it looks very bleak, something I’m personally very here for.
In the presentation stream, we heard some feedback from the game’s developers and now we know more what to expect when Metro 2039 launches “this winter” on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.
As Jon Bloch, executive producer, says, “Metro 2039 takes you to the dark heart of the Moscow Metro, where the last survivors of the nuclear apocalypse fight to survive in the city’s ruined subway and tunnels. Hope is lost, the future looks bleak, if there is one.”
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In short, the part of the game shown in the presentation looks wonderful, gloomy and distinctive. Metro – monsters chasing you through small, claustrophobic tunnels, exceptionally moody lighting to create a tense atmosphere, heavy doors closing to keep them out, and grizzled, miserable survivors carrying the character to safety. Even that small section of the game makes me excited to return to the dark, dangerous and mysterious tunnels once again.
The developers promise that in Metro 2039, “We will go where the worst of humanity can be seen.” Bleak; I love it.
Going deeper underground
It’s clear that this dark tone and bleak outlook have been inspired by real-world events at Ukrainian studio 4A Games, which have not only affected the actual logistics of developing a game in an invaded country, but have also gone a long way to informing the content of Metro 2039as well as its themes, focus and history.
As creative director Andriy “mLs” Shevchenko says in the show: “War is now our reality, and our message has changed to focus on the circumstances, the cost of silence, the horrors of tyranny and the price of freedom.”
One quote that stuck out to me in the broadcast was when Bloch said, “Everything we had planned for the next chapter of Metro changed in 2020. And more significantly in 2022.” As a result, the team “changed the story to be even more about choices, actions, consequences, and what you have to pay to have a future.”
With a story inspired by the author of the original book series, Dmitry Glukhovsky, and the universe he created, the player will step into the shoes of The Stranger, “a recluse plagued by violent nightmares, forced to undertake a harrowing journey back to the subway, a place he swore never to return.”
Expect a brutal mix of survival, combat, stealth, action and exploration in one of MetroThey are beautiful but dark and dangerous worlds.
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The Stranger will also be fully voiced, demonstrating the team’s emphasis on immersion with Metro 2039while we will also be able to experience what happens when a dictatorship unifies all communities of subway stations and survivors under a single flag, the Novoreich.
Grim and miserable video games are my particular problem; There is often something very compelling and captivating about the atmospheres they have, the stories they tell and the tone they adopt. With Metro 2039 offering “a much darker tone this time.”
A hand-crafted, story-driven single-player campaign where you will feel the weight of the rotten world pressing down on you, forcing you deeper into your claustrophobic nightmares,” according to Bloch.
As a result, I can’t wait to add Metro 2039 to my list of favorite dark and gloomy games when it releases.
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