4A Games recently revealed Metro 2039, the next major release in the legendary post-apocalyptic franchise. The trailer was nothing short of remarkable, showcasing a cutting-edge title with one of the most disturbing settings we’ve ever seen. Metro has always been known for darker, more morbid themes, but 2039 pushes that boundary further than ever.
In the run-up to the reveal, 4A Games didn’t beat around the bush. They explained that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had heavily influenced the game’s direction, and that was made extremely clear in the six-minute trailer posted on April 16. Not only does the game promise an intense, psychological deep-dive, but it also bears unveiled and critical references to the ongoing war aplenty.
4A Games is All-In on Politics in Metro 2039
Once the trailer had been delivered on April 16, 4A Games’ developers took centre-stage to discuss what it took to bring Metro 2039 to life. They didn’t hesitate, and some of the first words out of their mouths were reflective of the war in Ukraine, instigated mostly in 2020 and worsened in 2022.
That was roughly when another vision for the game, which was leaked mere days ago, was cancelled. Instead, 4A Games opted to push for an immediate pivot, focusing on this new story that better reflected their real-world situation, forced into a desperate and brutal war that went so far as to claim the lives of former Metro developers.
Unwilling to sit in the shadows, like those who inhabit the dank, haunted tunnels of the Metro, 4A Games decided to use their popular, post-apocalyptic platform to tell a story that hits so close to home, it’s drastically uncomfortable.
That’s why the first Metro 2039 trailer was laced with tale-telling imagery. We saw children murdered, trains full of kidnapped civilians being whisked away by iron-fisted ‘Novoreich’ soldiers, and nuclear explosions devastating the Kremlin in the heart of Moscow.
In a classroom built to indoctrinate the children of the Metro, we hear the crowd utter, ‘Our enemy has no pity for us,’ while images of dead and dying families are haphazardly sketched by faceless youngsters.
Our hero, a former Spartan Ranger turned insane by his past, attempts to break free from chains, both psychological and physical, to rescue these children, but ultimately fails. He’s confronted by Metro’s ‘Dark Ones’, once again using their otherworldly powers of corruption and mind control to alter the story from the background.
When the trailer cut, we were presented with stony-faced developers from 4A Games, talking about the nature of Metro 2039. The delivery was half focused on the title itself, while the other explained how it felt bringing to market art that quite clearly imitated life in many ways.
But now, war is our reality, and our message has shifted to be about the consequences.
The cost of silence, the horrors of tyranny, and the price of freedom.
In another segment:
Metro has always been a more tragic view on our actions as humanity. Then, tragedy came to us.
Everything we had planned for the next chapter of Metro changed in 2020 and more significantly, in 2022.
When Russia’s full-scale invasion began, it changed the lives of everyone in the studio, but more so of our team and families in Ukraine.
The war has shaped us. We have changed the story to be even more about choices, actions, consequences, and what you have ot pay to have a future.
Reality forced us to take a different approach.
The message in Metro 2039 isn’t hidden or subconscious. From the opening trailer, we know that the portrayal of the real-world circumstances still unfolding in Ukraine is at the surface, boiling, and shaping the way everything will unravel.
For those familiar with the Metro franchise, the political charge comes as no surprise. From the earliest novels penned by Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro has always been rooted in these concepts of power, society, survival, and humanity. But Metro 2039 is preparing to be more of a soapbox title than anything 4A Games has ever made.
Metro 2039 will be released on Xbox, PlayStation 5, and PC this coming winter.
Are you interested in Metro 2039? Let us know your thoughts about the opening trailer on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that the Call of Duty movie has a release date
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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