In the first of three installments in an episodic documentary series, 4A Games takes us behind the scenes of Metro Exodus, opening the hatch and taking us through the origins of the company, their aims as a group, and what we can expect from the new game.
Aptly named “Spartans”, the episode begins with Lead Game Designer Viacheslav “Must” Aristov weaving a tale of four pals with the burning desire to make something new and extraordinary despite their small size – this would become Metro 2033.
It’s from these original four that 4A Games gets its name, named after Aristov, Creative Director Andrew “Prof” Prokhorov, Technical Director Alex Maximchuk, and Art Director Andrey Tkachenko.
The group began in a small, dark office in Ukraine funding themselves with very limited resources, desperately looking for a Publisher. The team was small and unheard of, but each member’s body of work on other games preceded them, yet they were still seen as a risk.
With S.T.A.L.K.E.R. under their belts, the team decided to follow a far more narrative-driven experience. Taking the aesthetic they’d previously worked with, they wanted to push it further and tell a tale with the kind of atmosphere and world they had fallen in love with.
Opting for a more linear experience through the underground metal tunnels of Moscow with Metro 2033, the natural next step was to move out into the world at large, now venturing across the whole continent of Russia.
Beyond the cold gray of steel networks, Metro Exodus is set to offer a world with distinct seasons, still tinged with ironwork and rust. A massive shift in scale, the team were excited to take the step forward with the series.
Metro Exodus launches Feb. 15, 2019, on PC, PS4, and Xbox One alongside a currently unobtainable, yet highly desirable Artyom Edition. You can view the whole episode below:
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