Metro 2039 is bringing back one of the most practical features from Metro Exodus, with its latest gameplay trailer teasing the ability to swap key weapon attachments straight from the backpack. Barrels, stocks, and sights can apparently be changed in the field, which should give the Stranger more ways to prepare for whatever is waiting in Moscow’s tunnels.
4A Games showed the footage during Gamescom: Opening Night Live 2026, offering a closer look at the Stranger and the world surrounding the new protagonist. The trailer moves between decaying stations, irradiated ruins, and a population being crushed under fascistic propaganda, giving Metro 2039 a grim setting even before the monsters arrive.
Visually, the project looks like 4A Games’ most photorealistic Metro yet. Detailed surfaces, soft lighting, and bleak outdoor environments give parts of the footage a near-photographic quality, while mask wiping, stealth kills, and grim close-quarters combat reinforce the series’ more tactile side.
Metro 2039 also continues the franchise’s history as a technical showcase. Metro Exodus was an early adopter of full ray tracing, but the new game appears to be reaching for an even higher level of visual detail. 4A Games is using its proprietary in-house engine rather than Unreal Engine 5, which leaves the eventual PC requirements open but gives the studio its own technology to scale across different systems. Xbox Series S is part of that console hardware target as well, so the game will need to work across a broad range of performance levels.
New tools will open more paths through Moscow
Several pieces of equipment make their debut in the footage. A gas-powered blowtorch can be used to get through barricaded areas above ground, while a UV lamp appears to help with searching dark and dangerous spaces. The trailer also teases a blueprint system for weapon parts and upgrades, suggesting that customizing equipment may involve more than simply swapping attachments.
Breaching charges, which appeared in an earlier 2026 trailer, are part of the same picture. Metro 2039 looks more linear than Metro Exodus, but these tools point to a journey that still expects players to examine their surroundings and find different ways forward instead of simply following a single path.
The return to the Metro system also brings back some of the series’ stranger paranormal elements. The trailer teases the presence of the Dark Ones, echoing the supernatural menace of Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light. The monsters seen in the footage have also undergone more mutation during the four years since Artyom set out, adding another threat to the Stranger’s route.
4A Games is putting plenty of care into the smaller details, too. Returning weapons receive fluid reload animations, and the Stranger’s hands make careful adjustments while checking the Breacher for radiation signals and monitoring filter timings. Even movement retains the heavy, tactile feel that helped define the original trilogy, making every interaction look like it carries a little physical weight.
Gamescom attendees in Germany can also try a playable demo during the event, offering an opportunity to see how Metro 2039 feels beyond the carefully edited trailer footage.
Metro 2039 will arrive in February 2027 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. Xbox Series S is also part of the console hardware target. The game still has no specific release day, but 4A Games and publisher Plaion have confirmed that the February window remains in place.
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