- Metro 2039 will feature the return of the claustrophobic metro tunnels
- Executive producer Jon Bloch says the game "goes back to the roots" of the series
- However, the team didn't want to "ditch everything that we did in Metro Exodus," and the game will still offer open-world zones
Metro 2039 executive producer Jon Bloch has explained how 4A Games has balanced the return of claustrophic metro tunnels and open-world zones.
In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, Bloch explained that it was a priority to bring back the tunnels, which were mostly absent from the previous game, Metro Exodus, since most of the experience takes place above ground.
"Metro 2039 goes back to the roots," he said, "and brings back a lot of that deep, dark, claustrophobic, thick atmosphere tunnels, like the spookiness, all that stuff that we love from those first two games."
Bloch continued, saying, "We didn't want to ditch everything that we did in Metro Exodus that was great and all the things that we learned. So there are different elements throughout the game.
"This game is a story-driven game. It's like we've said before, it's a very personal story. He's [The Stranger] on a singular mission, and in order to tell that kind of story, we're able to actually utilize a lot of the design methodologies from the earlier games. And in order to really make sure that the story is compelling, it's immersive."
Creative director Andriy Shevchenko added that the games are all in the same universe and the team took "the best parts" from each for Metro 2039, explaining that players will feel "freedom" and the danger from the open-world zones.
"Every step forward, the farther away you are from your station or from your safe place, the more dangerous it's supposed to be," Shevchenko said. "But as John mentioned, we are a story-driven game, and to drive story without bottlenecks or our pure metro corridors is almost impossible."
The developer reiterated that it's impossible to translate that sense of danger in just an open world, saying, "That's one of the reasons we're getting back to our dark underground roots."
Metro 2039 arrives in February 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC. The developers have also confirmed that the team has prioritized optimization across all platforms, not just PC.
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