Metro 2039’s First Gameplay Teaser Is The Best Kind Of Deja Vu

By Published Apr 25, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT Kyle Gratton is an editor and writer based out of Kansas City. He received a bachelor's degree, dual majoring in English and History with a minor in Film and Media Studies, and has been a senior staff writer and reviewer for Screen Rant's Gaming section since 2026, with roles in editorial, and various freelance projects.

A terminal Midwesterner who graduated from the University of Kansas, Kyle also has knowledge and interest in literature, film, film adaptions of literature, and history.

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Following a VR-only title developed by another studio, 4A Games' mainline series is finally making its long-awaited return with a fourth entry, Metro 2039. We haven't yet gotten a comprehensive look at the game – a lengthy cinematic trailer has given us some clues about its story and , but the only gameplay we've seen has been a heavily scripted sequence. This lone Metro 2039 gameplay teaser is oddly not innovative in the slightest, but maybe that's for the best.

We were primed to see a new Metro game with ahead of time, but anyone who was excited to see what great leap the series was going to make may have been left disappointed. One would expect that a sequel coming more than seven years after its predecessor might bring some surprises, but all we've seen is... more Metro. I have no doubt 4A Games has a few tricks up its sleeve still, but the unexpected mundanity of Metro 2039's gameplay teaser is actually quite refreshing.

Metro 2039’s Gameplay Teaser Doesn’t Have Any Surprises

A couple of days after Metro 2039 was announced with its lengthy cinematic trailer and a deep dive with the developers, courtesy of an Xbox First Look video, the YouTube channel uploaded its gameplay teaser individually. Embedded above, the short teaser was originally attached to the end of the announcement trailer, but was crucially uploaded separately at 60 frames per second. It looks gorgeous and atmospheric, and has some wonderful animation work, but the most striking aspect of it is the déjà vu I felt.

Metro 2039's first gameplay teaser doesn't really have a major revelation. It looks exactly like previous games. In fact, there's a very similar sequence in the opening of Metro Exodus, where Artyom is swarmed by mutants and barely saved by a group who help fight them off. These sorts of scenes are Metro's bread and butter – a laborious trip through abandoned metro tunnels is often capped by a scripted climax.

Metro’s Gameplay Doesn’t Need To Take Huge Strides

Seeing nothing new has paradoxically secured my excitement for Metro 2039. All three existing games come highly recommended, and each very satisfyingly refines the same gameplay loop, introducing interesting, but not transformative, systems here and there. This gameplay teaser is essentially showing that 2039 is going to be more of the same. Sign me up.

Metro's brand of tightly designed survival shooter doesn't really need to innovate. Its immersive simulation elements are key, and simply providing a handful of new weapons and gadgets has helped Last Light and Exodus remain faithful to 2033's vision while still attempting to make a more compelling experience. Exodus is by far the most ambitious entry (possibly even more so than ), but 2039's gameplay teaser suggests it may even be taking a step backward.

Will 2039 Abandon Metro Exodus’ Open Zones?

Metro 2039 cinematic screenshot in swamp

The short, scripted gameplay sequence shows Metro 2039's new protagonist, known currently only as the Stranger, entering the Metro. The game's official description seems to confirm we're going back to the confines of the tunnels: "In the wilderness beyond [Moscow], the reclusive Stranger is haunted by violent waking nightmares. When the ghosts of his past force him out of exile, he must undertake a harrowing journey into the shattered ruins of Moscow, to the one place he swore he’d never go. The Metro."

Exodus' big advancement was leaving the Moscow Metro, taking place across a series of open zones. While I personally think Exodus' level design was well done, and a smart compromise amid the open-world game boom, there is a legitimate argument that Metro needs to, well, take place in the Metro. It wouldn't be a Metro game without excursions to the surface as well, but it would appear that 2039 is returning to its roots with regard to its setting.

Considering Exodus' innovations and a brand-new protagonist, the door was wide open for Metro to make some major changes, but 2039 appears to not only be more of the same, it may be shirking the series' biggest innovation entirely. It's certainly an unexpected turn for triple-A game development, where steady, overt iteration is expected, but it's definitely not unwelcome. We'll have to wait and see for sure, but if Metro 2039 turns out to be exactly what we expect, I won't be upset at all.

Metro 2039

Like Post-Apocalyptic Systems Released 2026 ESRB Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood, Language Developer(s) 4A Games Publisher(s) Deep Silver Prequel(s) , Metro: Last Light, Franchise Metro Number of Players Single-player 7 Images Close