Metro

Metro is one of gaming’s most atmospheric post-apocalyptic franchises, a series of survival horror first-person shooters developed by 4A Games and based on the best-selling novels of Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. Set in the irradiated ruins of Moscow after a nuclear war, the games follow the survivors who fled underground into the city’s vast subway system, building fragile communities in the dark while mutants and rival factions threaten them at every turn. Known for its oppressive tension, its gas-mask survival mechanics, and its grim moral weight, Metro has built a devoted following across four mainline games and is returning to its roots with Metro 2039.

The Metro Games in Order

The series follows a clear progression. It began with Metro 2033 in 2010, adapted directly from Glukhovsky’s debut novel, followed by Metro: Last Light in 2013. Both games were remastered and re-released together as Metro Redux in 2014. The franchise then took its biggest leap with Metro Exodus in 2019, which carried the story out of Moscow and across post-apocalyptic Russia. A virtual reality prequel, Metro Awakening, arrived in 2024, and the fourth mainline entry, Metro 2039, is set to launch in Winter 2026, marking the series’ return to the tunnels that defined it.

The Story and World of the Metro

The premise is bleak and unforgettable. After a devastating nuclear war, the survivors of Moscow retreated into the Metro, the city’s deep subway network, where individual stations evolved into walled settlements with their own governments, economies, and ideologies. The surface is a frozen, toxic wasteland roamed by mutated horrors, forcing anyone who ventures up to rely on gas masks and a dwindling supply of air filters. Down in the dark, rival factions like the fascist Reich, the communist Red Line, and the trading collective Hansa wage their own wars, while the elite Spartan Rangers try to hold the line against the mutant threat and the human cruelty that thrives underground.

A signature feature of the series is its quiet moral accounting. Rather than spelling out good and evil through obvious choices, the games track the player’s small actions, how they treat strangers, whether they show mercy, whether they stop to listen, and reflect those decisions back in the endings. It is a system that rewards humanity in a world that punishes it, and it gives the Metro games an emotional undercurrent most shooters never reach for.

Metro 2033, Last Light, and the Moscow Tunnels

The original two games form the heart of the franchise. Metro 2033 introduced Artyom, a young man raised in the tunnels who sets out on a desperate journey across the Metro to warn the other stations of a mysterious threat known as the Dark Ones. Its blend of claustrophobic horror, resource scarcity, and stealth made it a cult favorite. Metro: Last Light continued Artyom’s story with sharper combat and even stronger atmosphere, deepening the lore of the Dark Ones and the factions fighting for control of the underground. Together they established the tense, handcrafted, story-driven style that became the series’ trademark.

Metro Exodus and Leaving Moscow

Metro Exodus in 2019 was the franchise’s most ambitious entry, breaking free of the tunnels to send Artyom and a band of Spartans across the ruins of Russia aboard a steam locomotive called the Aurora. The game traded some of its claustrophobia for sprawling, semi-open sandbox levels that changed with the seasons, from the irradiated Volga to the sun-baked Caspian desert. It was also a technical landmark, one of the first games to showcase real-time ray tracing, and its later Enhanced Edition pushed that technology even further. Exodus proved the series could evolve while keeping its survival horror soul intact.

Metro 2039 and the Return to the Tunnels

Announced in April 2026 during an Xbox First Look presentation, Metro 2039 is the fourth mainline entry and a deliberate return to the franchise’s roots. After Exodus took players out into the open, Metro 2039 heads back down into the Moscow tunnels for what 4A Games has called the darkest chapter in the entire saga. Set four years after the events of Metro Exodus, it follows a new voiced protagonist known as the Stranger, a haunted recluse forced to return to the Metro he swore he would never see again. The underground has been united under a single authoritarian banner, the Novoreich, led by a new Führer who turns out to be the legendary Spartan, Hunter, ruling through propaganda, fear, and brutal violence.

The game features an original story crafted by 4A Games in collaboration with Glukhovsky, rather than an adaptation of any single novel, and the studio has built it as a strong entry point for newcomers. It is scheduled to launch in Winter 2026 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC. The development carries real-world weight, as 4A Games is a Ukrainian studio whose team has worked through the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Glukhovsky himself is living in exile after being sentenced in absentia for criticizing the war. The studio has been open about how those experiences shaped the game’s tone and themes. I covered the reveal in more detail in my piece on Metro 2039 being announced.

The Metro Novels and Dmitry Glukhovsky

The games exist because of Dmitry Glukhovsky, whose novel Metro 2033 began as a free online project before becoming an international best-seller. He followed it with Metro 2034 and Metro 2035, and the world grew into a sprawling shared universe with dozens of additional novels from other authors set in metros across the globe. Glukhovsky has remained closely involved with the games, lending his voice to their stories and writing the 2024 virtual reality prequel Metro Awakening. A feature film adaptation has been discussed for years without materializing, reportedly stalling over demands to relocate the distinctly Russian setting, but the games have more than carried the franchise’s vision on their own.

Metro endures because it offers something few shooters dare to. It is slow, heavy, and morally serious, a series about holding onto your humanity in a world designed to strip it away. With Metro 2039 dragging players back into the tunnels for its bleakest story yet, the franchise looks set to remind everyone exactly why those dark Moscow corridors have haunted gamers for more than a decade.