Metro 2039 has firmed up its release target from “this winter” to “next year,” but in a way that keeps things square. A new trailer that dropped at the Xbox Games Showcase is set to arrive in February 2027.
That’s not an actual date, to be fair, but we’re getting there, and the truth is that I really just want to share my personal excitement for the new Metro game, and this trailer in particular. We already knew that Hunter, “the legendary Spartan” and old pal of Artyom, has positioned himself atop the Novoreich, the fascist faction of the tunnels under Moscow—not a great turn for a guy who seemed so solid back in 2033. And it’s something we’re going to have to deal with in this new game, although not as Artyom, the hero of the first three Metro games, but as someone else entirely—thus far known only as The Stranger, who also happens to be Metro’s first voiced protagonist.
More importantly, though, the trailer also gave us our first look, sort of, at Hunter in his new gig as the Fuhrer of the Novoreich, and my initial impression is that perhaps all is not as it seems. Could Hunter be working from the inside? Is The Stranger perhaps not seeing the full picture> Is there a possible twist in the tale?
I sure think so. The press blast for the trailer says Hunter “has washed the Metro in lies and propaganda to gain the ultimate power,” but then fudges it a bit later on: “What’s left of the Spartan Order as he knew it lies in ruins, and where the Spartans were once considered selfless protectors, the Stranger believes Hunter has become the very enemy the Spartans used to fight.”
He believes Hunter is the enemy? I think that’s an interesting and very specific choice of words. The Stranger himself is also “consumed with anger and hatred” for the Fuhrer, and that rarely points toward toward stability and clear-headedness. So yeah, I’m calling it now: There’s gonna be a twist!
The trailer also delivers a smash-up of gameplay, with appropriately tight environments and craptastic guns—I can’t wait to get my hands on a bastard gun again. There also looks to be more outdoor environments than I would’ve expected, although it’s clear from the labored breathing and oxygen timer that the skies above Moscow aren’t perfectly clear just yet.
I tell you what, I don’t get excited about videogames very often these days, but I am really excited about this one. Metro 2039 is set to launch in February 2027, which I already said but am repeating to ensure everyone’s on the know, and is up for pre-purchase now on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
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