Metro 2039’s ‘much darker tone’ was directly influenced by real world events amid the war in Ukraine during development

The wait is finally over, and Metro is back. Fully revealed today, Metro 2039 is the latest sequel in the hardcore, post-apocalyptic FPS franchise that explores a desolate world and the horrors that nuclear fallout can create.

During an early access event to get an advance look at Metro 2039 before today’s Xbox First Look, the devs at 4A Games revealed that it takes place within the Moscow Metro, where “hope is lost and the future looks bleak.” The underground communities there have been united in tension under a new ruler, and they are “flooded with propaganda, misinformation, and fear.” So, it’s not quite a happy tale.

Most importantly, though, it’s been over seven years since Metro Exodus released, and there’s a reason for that wait: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine greatly impacted 2039’s development, according to those at the studio, which has one office based in the country.

While the franchise has always been about “preventing war,” creative director Andriy Shevchenko said that it’s now about the fact that “war is our reality, and our message has shifted to be about the consequences: the cost of silence, the horrors of tyranny, and the price of freedom.”

The game’s “much darker tone” is teased to great effect in the disturbing reveal trailer with some unsettling imagery, but it’s no less scary than the kinds of events that those who’ve actually been affected by war have gone through in real life.

“Everything we had planned for the next chapter of Metro changed in 2020, and more significantly in 2022,” said executive producer Jon Bloch. It’s clear that the development of the new game hasn’t been easy, and that’s made this project especially personal for those who’ve worked on it, carried by Ukrainian pride.

“Reality forced us to take a different approach, told from a uniquely Ukrainian perspective, but this is still a Metro story in the Metro universe,” Shevchenko said. The devs highlighted that they sometimes had to get electricity from generators or batteries and dealt with power outages from rocket or drone attacks during the conflict while making the game. I find it hard not to root for a title that somehow was created under circumstances like this.

The voiced main character in Metro 2039 is known as The Stranger, “a recluse plagued by his violent nightmares, forced to undertake a harrowing journey back down to the Metro, a place he swore to never return,” said co-creative director Pavel Ulmer.

At the end of the presentation, 4A Games gave a short look at a mix of gameplay and cinematics, and it looks stunningly gorgeous and eerily realistic. In the presentation, devs touted 4A’s own engine that’s been used to create previous titles, and this is just the latest iteration of that, helping to create what looks like a must-play FPS.

Metro 2039 is due to launch this winter on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

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The People of Tortuga is one of several factions in Windrose, and finding the buyer can be a headscratcher. You might think that you’ll find them in Tortuga. That’s where the problem is: they’re at a different location.

This guide will help you find the People of Tortuga faction so that you can find the buyer and interact with him.

How to find the Tortuga faction in Windrose

Since the map of Windrose is procedurally generated, sharing the location of the People of Tortuga faction might not workout for you. Instead, here’s how you can find the faction quite easily.

• Keep grinding the missions until you receive the Buccaneers quest.
• This is a faction quest that you can undertake at character level 3.
• The first task of the quest is to get 50 bags of gunpowder for the Buccaneers and deliver them to Henri Boucher.
• The second task is to deliver the shipment of tanned hides to Charlie Sharpe.
• Charlie Sharpe, incidentally, belongs to the People of Tortuga faction.
• If you open the map now, the quest location will highlight where Chalie Sharpe is located. This is the same place where the People of Tortuga Faction can be found.

Complete the second task of Buccaneers, and you’ll have found the location of the People of Tortuga Faction. This is the most consistent method of finding the faction. Typically, you’ll find them at a hideout slightly distant from Tortuga.

Once you find the hideout, you’ll also find the trader waiting for you at the same location. You can then proceed with your transactions. If you want to focus back on the Buccaneers’ quest, there will be one more task for you to complete.

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