If you’re one of the few people like me who enjoyed Metro 2033, 4A Games’s survival horror FPS, then you’re probably also excited for the upcoming sequel, Metro Last Light. Despite THQ’s recent financial troubles, it looks like the game is still being developed.
To alleviate any worries, THQ and 4A Games have released a live action trailer that has a heavy focus on story. However, rather than telling us the story of the sequel, this trailer is a prequel to the original and, because of this, has some curious imagery.
For those who are new to the series, Metro 2033 began as a series of books about nuclear war in Russia. Following a devastating nuclear attack, all of Russia now lives in the underground Metro. While seemingly not so bad, the nuclear fallout has given rise to monstrous creatures called The Dark Ones who also inhabit the Metro. The books, as well as the game, follow a young man named Artyom as he deals with the perils of life in the Russian metro system.
Head on past the break for my in depth look at the trailer!
The trailer starts off as any good post apocalyptic themed trailer should, someone listening to the radio in an old beat up room. However the man soon becomes startled and rushes out of the house and onto the streets.
The man runs past a women sitting in the stairwell with a baby. Based on later events in the trailer, one can assume that this is Artyom’s, the series’ protagonist, mother.
As the man hectically runs down the streets of Moscow, we see a crazed preacher talking about the end of the world. Suddenly, sirens begin to sound and we see missiles in the background
The crowds in the street, including the women from earlier, are frantically trying to get inside the metro which is under guard surveillance. To no one’s surprise, hings soon get out of hand!
This is where things begin to get interesting. One of the guards see the women and her child and, while she isn’t able to slip past the crowds, she hands him over to the guard. Seeing as the trailer takes place 20 years before the original game, I thin kit’s safe to assume that this baby is Artyom.
Now for my favorite part of the trailer. While they could have easily shown the people left behind getting blown up in an explosion, the trailer opts to leave it to the viewer’s imagination. We are left with a black screen and all we hear are distant explosions and sreams.
The trailer ends with an older Artyom standing at the metro entrance. As the camera pans out, we see Moscow in ruins and the title screen pops up!
I hope you enjoyed this look at the trailer. Now if you’ll excuse, I need to reinstall Metro 2033!
This trailer seems like a near exact enactment of Artyom’s description of how he came to be adopted by his stepfather Sukhoi (or Uncle Sasha, or Alex in the game for whatever reason), with the exception of one scenario. Artyom and his mother were living in Timiryazevskaya station until Artyom was barely a year old when the station was overrun with rats. Sukhoi was a guard with a caravan when it happened, and a woman ran up to him, handed him her child (Artyom) and cried, “Save him!” after which Sukhoi took the child with him to VDNKh. Aside from that, I have to say this trailer does a great job of presenting this bit of Metro history.