- 4A Games has revealed the next game in the Subway series, Subway 2039
- Influenced by real-world events, the developers promise a “much darker tone this time around”
- The game is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S and PC “this winter”
As part of an Xbox First Look presentation, we’ve now seen the next game in the post-apocalyptic shooter series, Subway, in action. In short, it looks bleak as hell – which I’m personally very much here for.
In the showcase stream, we heard some commentary provided by the developers of the game, and we now know more about what to expect when Subway 2039 releasing “this winter” on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S and PC.
As Jon Bloch, Executive Producer, says, “Subway 2039 takes you to the dark heart of the Moscow metro, where the last survivors of the nuclear apocalypse struggle to exist in the city’s tunnels and ruined subways. Hope is lost, the future looks bleak if there is such a thing.”
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In short, the gameplay shown in the presentation looks wonderful, gloomy and clear Subway — monsters chasing you in small, claustrophobic tunnels, unusually moody lighting to create a tense atmosphere, heavy doors that close to keep them out, and grizzled, miserable survivors who drag the character to safety. Even that small part of the game has me excited to go back into the dark, dangerous and mysterious tunnels again.
The developers promise that Subway 2039, “we will go where the worst of humanity can be fully displayed”. Gloomy; I love it.
Going deeper underground
It’s clear that this dark tone and bleak outlook has been inspired by real-world events at Ukrainian studio 4A Games, which have not only affected the very real logistics of developing a game in an invaded country, but have also gone a long way to inform the content of Subway 2039as well as its themes, focus and story.
Creative director Andriy “mLs” Shevchenko says in the showcase: “Now war is our reality, and our message has shifted to be about circumstance, the cost of silence, the horrors of tyranny, and the price of freedom.”
A quote that stayed with me from the stream was when Bloch said, “Everything we had planned for the next chapter of Subway changed in 2020. And more significantly in 2022.” As a result, the team changed the story to be even more about choices, actions, consequences and what you have to pay to have a future.
With a story inspired by the author of the original book series, Dmitry Glukhovsky, and the universe he created, the player will step into the shoes of The Stranger, “a recluse tormented by his violent nightmares, forced to make a harrowing journey back to the subway, a place he vowed never to return.”
Expect a brutal mix of survival, combat, stealth, action and exploration across one of Subway‘s beautiful but dark and dangerous worlds.
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The Stranger will also be fully voiced, showing the team’s emphasis on immersion as well Subway 2039while we also get to experience what happens when a dictatorship gathers all station communities and subway survivors under one banner, Novoreich.
Gloomy and miserable video games are my particular jam; there is often something so compelling and captivating about the atmosphere they have, the stories they tell and the tone they take. With Subway 2039 offering “a much darker tone this time around.
A hand-crafted, story-driven single-player campaign where you’ll feel the weight of the decaying world pressing down on you, forcing you deeper into your claustrophobic nightmares,” according to Bloch.
As a result, I can’t wait to add Subway 2039 to my list of such favorite dark, gloomy games when it comes out.
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