The making of the “Enter the Metro” video for the upcoming Metro: Last Light is possibly even more interesting than the live-action trailer itself.
The “Enter the Metro” promotional video revealed last month is a pretty powerful bit of cinema. It’s a live-action depiction of the end of the world that preceded the events of Metro 2033, a post-apocalyptic survival horror/shooter in which the last remnants of humanity are eking out an existence in the subway tunnels of Moscow. It’s every bit as bleak as it sounds and the trailer, which threatened disappointment by forgoing actual gameplay, really nailed the game’s emotional underpinnings.
How it got there is a story in itself. The video it set in Moscow subway but was actually shot in Kiev, Ukraine, which director Jim Weedon described as an ideal stand-in but for the extreme cold, which made shooting difficult. The third day was a grueling 22-hour shoot, but the team did catch a nice break with the baby, which I won’t spoil here except to say that it’s actually kind of heartwarming.
Metro fans will get the biggest bang out of it, but the sheer amount of work that went into this production is fun to watch entirely in its own right. I also take it as a very hopeful sign for the future of the franchise; if 4A Games and THQ put as much effort into getting the game right as they did this promotional video, Metro: Last Light should be a treat.
Metro: Last Light is currently expected to hit sometime in early 2013 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
