Ukrainian game studio “4A Games,” the creator of the “Metro” series, has literally endured hell after releasing “Metro Exodus” in 2019. Although the company weathered the hardships of the 2020 pandemic alongside the rest of the world, unlike most of us, it found itself at the heart of its country’s bloody, ongoing war with Russia. These devastating events have fundamentally changed the direction of “Metro 2039,” the fourth main game in the post-apocalyptic franchise.
The “Metro” universe is inspired by Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novels. The story takes place in Moscow, which was destroyed by nuclear war. Since the irradiated surface has been taken over by mutated creatures, the survivors have taken refuge in underground metro tunnels. The series has always stood out for its oppressive atmosphere, but simply calling the first footage shown from “Metro 2039” “dark” is not enough.
In the trailer shown during the developers’ presentation, we see a soldier wearing a gas mask walking through a dark forest. An authoritarian voice coming from a nearby loudspeaker orders him to “wake up,” promising clean air and a bright future. Children’s drawings are scattered across the ground. When the soldier picks up a piece of paper, a small red-haired girl appears before him. Suddenly, the soldier begins drowning in a sea of chains, while the little girl watches without reacting.
The scene changes: The soldier runs toward a train. Other soldiers load chained children into the carriages. Although the soldier runs after the train amid the children’s panicked screams, a chain tied to his leg makes him fall to the ground. He wakes up in a metro tunnel and sees a woman in front of him. The woman says that everything is connected to him, while the soldier denies it and asks where the children are. At that moment, the sky catches fire: Moscow burns in a nuclear inferno. In a devastated classroom, faceless, brainwashed children shout, “The enemy must be destroyed!” When the “Dark Ones,” whom we know from the series, appear, the soldier opens fire, but in the end it is revealed that he has shot one of the children he wanted to save.
“4A Games” says that “Metro 2039” will be a story-focused, single-player game. The protagonist is a soldier known as “The Stranger,” who suffers from nightmares. The studio has confirmed that our protagonist will be fully voiced this time (the protagonist was silent in previous games). He must travel to the place he once swore never to return to, the Metro tunnels inhabited by people. Why he made that vow and why he is forced to return remains a mystery for now.
The previous games were an anti-war manifesto, but the tone of “2039” stems directly from the horrors the studio experienced during the Ukraine-Russia war.
“Everything we planned in 2020 changed completely in 2022,” says executive producer John Bloch.
Creative director Andrey Shevchenko adds that the game’s central theme is built around “the price of silence, the horrors of tyranny, and the cost of freedom.” The studio will not shy away from showing humanity’s worst side.
The developers emphasize that they do not want to fictionalize the real war, turning experiences such as taking shelter from missile attacks and working with generators into a “theme park.” Nevertheless, this is still a “Metro” game.
- Details: Cleaning the gas mask visor when it becomes dirty, monitoring oxygen levels on the wristwatch, and the alarming sound of the radiation meter are all returning.
- Enemies: The brief footage shown also drew attention to close-quarters combat against giant mutants that resemble a mixture of a “wolf” and a “mole.”
- Combat: Ammunition is once again extremely scarce. We will count every round. In my opinion, “Metro 2039” is not merely a game, but a way for Ukrainian developers to convey their trauma to the world through art. With human factors, choices, and morality taking center stage, this game is a candidate to become the pinnacle of the post-apocalyptic genre.
