"Darkest ever" Metro 2039 looks absolutely insane, but also painfully sobering — Xbox First Look showcase offers our first glimpse at 4A Games' next epic

Metro 2039 promises to be 4A Games' darkest game yet, in our first glimpse in partnership with Xbox.

Xbox's new "First Look" show format, revealed last week, offered us a 15-minute dive into Metro 2039, the first mainline entry in the series since 2019's Metro Exodus.

Metro is a series of horror-first shooters based on the popular Metro series of books, which examine a post-nuclear apocalypse. In the games, World War 3 breaks out and quickly spreads across the globe, destroying much of civilization. Pockets of survivors remained, including thousands who survived in Moscow's large underground subway train system. However, those who live now deal with starvation, warring factions, paranormal anomalies, and irradiated-mutated monsters.

Metro 2039 was revealed earlier today over on Xbox's YouTube, and you should definitely check out the trailer below.

Xbox First Look: METRO 2039 | 4A Games + Deep Silver - YouTube

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Developed by Ukrainian 4A Games based in Kyiv and Malta, the developers acknowledge how the Russian invasion of the country rapidly weighed on the studio and its aims for the follow-up to Metro Exodus. The studio isn't shy in the documentary about how they want to tell a story about the horrors of war, the depths of depravity humans are capable of, and the price of freedom.

Metro 2039 has been developed in partnership with the book series' author Dmitry Glukhovsky, and examines a revived and empowered Fourth Reich faction of neo-Nazis who have taken control of the Metro. A new character, known only here as "The Stranger", returns to the dark corridors and infested ruins of Moscow's subways for reasons unknown — although the video suggests it may be in an attempt to rescue younger relatives.

The trailer pulls absolutely no punches with its imagery. The Stranger is plagued by visions and nightmares, as Neo-Nazi elements propagandize and process the survivors of the WW3 apocalypse for their own ends. Not a ton of gameplay is shown, but 4A Games spoke at length about how the game is meticulously hand-detailed. Every corner of the environment tells a story of those who resided there, as the studio makes efforts to continue its traditions for immersion.

"You can expect a much darker tone this time around. A hand-crafted, story-driven, single-player campaign," 4A Games explains. "You'll feel the weight of the rotting world pushing down on you, forcing you deeper into your claustrophobic nightmares."

"We will go where the worst of humanity will be on full display. We are not romanticizing the post-apocalypse, or making a theme park out of it. 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 Metro changed in 2020, and more significantly in 2022. When Russia's 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, and we have changed the story to be more about choices and consequences, and what you have to pay to have a future. Reality forced us to take a different approach."

4A Games described scenarios where power outages forced them to use generators to continue development, or moments where drone attacks or rocket strikes interrupted development. 4A says they want to make games that you can truly feel, and Metro remains a Metro experience in the Metro universe, but will take on a darker, more brutal tone as a result of the team's real experiences.

Metro 2039 drops this Winter 2026, for Xbox PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud, Steam, and PS5

Metro represents some of my favorite games of all time, and to see it return with such vigor is exciting, but also sobering, knowing what 4A Games has gone through to get us here.

I suspect Metro 2039 will be a controversial game in some corners of the world as a result of the themes it will explore — but they are themes that are all too real and sadly all too common in our often sad and chaotic world.

What brief gameplay was shown by Metro 2039 looks absolutely off the scale. 4A's engine looks like it'll once again set standards, as it did in decades past, if what we were shown was representative. I expect Metro 2039 will enjoy a deeper look at Xbox's Showcase in June, ahead of the game's full winter launch window.

Even from the seconds we were shown, Metro 2039 now easily sits high up on my most anticipated games. Metro 2033, Metro Last Light, and Metro Exodus are all also excellent, and are currently available in very very cheap bundles on Steam, Xbox, and other stores.

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