[STEAM] After playing Metro 2039 for 4 hours, here's 5 reasons why it's now my most anticipated FPS of 2027

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It only took four hours for

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to become my most anticipated first-person shooter of 2027. Developer 4A Games has always had this talent for creating singular experiences – solemn descents into hellish landscapes. That's especially true this time around, as the studio draws us back to the depths of the irradiated Moscow Metro system.

If Metro Exodus was a story of looking for hope beyond the outskirts of Russia's ruined capital city, Metro 2039 is a return to hell itself. The mutants which stalk the surface have been twisted beyond recognition, as have the uneasy alliances which once connected underground networks of surviving factions. Metro 2039 is a darker, more claustrophobic experience – and all the better because of it.

A lot of questions have been asked of the FPS genre in the PS5 and Xbox Series X generation, and Metro 2039 feels like the answer. Weighty stealth-action gameplay and a truly stunning attention-to-detail come together to create an experience that feels quite unlike anything else. If you've been desperate to play a single-player, story-driven shooter set in meticulously-crafted environments then you needn't look any further.

There's still so much of the game to be seen before its February 2027 release, but here's five things I think you need to know about the game while we countdown our return to the wasteland.

5. Exploration is better than ever before

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(Image credit: 4A Games) Metro 2039 blurs the lines between the claustrophobia of

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and the more expansive elements of

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. This fourth entry in the series has a tighter structure, mixing linear storytelling through densely-detailed subway tunnels and wider surface exploration of an irradiated wasteland.

In my playtest I'm able to transition from the underground Sevastopolskaya Station to an overworld that's packed with distraction – it's possible to head straight to the main objective, but creeping through decaying structures is well worth my time (and gas mask filters). Resources for item crafting are strewn around the landscape, hidden blueprints can be uncovered which allow crafting of upgrades for your equipment and weapons, and stories frozen in time help reveal more about the world you inhabit.

4. Movement and weapon handling has been improved

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(Image credit: 4A Games) If there's one aspect of Exodus that disappointed, it was how 4A pulled back on the more supernatural elements that defined 2033. Metro 2039 features a new protagonist – a fully-voiced soldier equipped with Spartan armor known only as 'the Stranger' – and they seem to have more demons to exorcise than poor Artyom.

In my time with 2039, the returning presence of the Dark Ones has a clear impact on the new horrors that have befallen the Metro system, while unlabeled anomalous zones found in the overworld completely warp exploration. A faint echo of *********** laughter on the wind, dancing shadows in a decaying playground, a kindergarten that the surviving stalkers of the Sevastopolskaya Station warned against approaching… Metro 2039 isn't afraid of getting dark and truly weird.

Final Thoughts: Metro 2039 makes a great first impression

I was only able to play around four hours of Metro 2039, but if this early hands-on playtest is fully representative of what 4A Games is able to deliver then I do truly believe that we'll have an early Game of the Year contender on our hands come February.

The attention-to-detail in environments is astounding, so too is the quality of weapon handling and animation. The weighty movement grounds you in a world where all hope is already lost, and the tactile approach to every small interaction builds this overwhelming sense of claustrophobia.

The seven year wait for a new Metro game has been brutal, but its return is impossible to ignore. Metro 2039 is expected to land on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X February 2027.

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