From the Press Release
Alexandre Bannwarth, a first year design student at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand saw his dream weapon design for ‘Metro: Last Light’ become (virtual) reality when Ukrainian developer 4A Games offered to build his creation in-game. Based on the novels by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, the critically acclaimed video game ‘Metro: Last Light’ is set in a bleak post-apocalypse, where the remnants of mankind struggle to survive in the Moscow Metro – the largest nuclear bunker in the world. With modern technologies lost forever, these survivors have learned to fashion crude, hand-made weaponry scavenged together from scrap metal and spare parts.
Inspired by 4A’s incredible designs, Alexandre submitted his own - the ‘Multi Barreled Bicycle Shotgun’ - in a ‘Design a Weapon’ competition run by gaming website GamePlanet.co.nz. His winning design caught the eye of 4A Games, as did the competition judges’ tongue-in-cheek verdict – “It will be scandalous if 4A Games doesn’t release it as DLC (downloadable content) for the game...” Never one to shirk a challenge, 4A Games’ team of weapon designers, led by Andre ‘Prof’ Prokhorov (an engineer by training who personally designed most of Metro: Last Light’s unique handmade arsenal) have, with Alexandre’s permission, done exactly that.
The unique ‘Multi Barreled Bicycle Shotgun’ is made from reclaimed bicycle parts and, like all of Metro’s handmade weapons, is based on sound mechanical principles that mean it could conceivably function in the ‘real’ world. “When we saw Alexandre’s winning design, and GamePlanet’s mock challenge to 4A Games we knew we had to try and make this happen,” said Huw Beynon, Global Brand Manager for Metro: Last Light at Deep Silver, the game’s publisher. “4A Games spent many hours making this design a reality, with all the care and dedication they afforded their own designs.” "Alexandre's concept for the Bicycle Shotgun was the perfect blueprint for our weapon designers." said Andrew Prokhorov, Creative Director and co-founder at 4A Games. "When we first saw his design, we immediately saw the potential - it is a fitting addition to the Metro arsenal, and the team enjoyed the challenge of bringing it to life it in-game."
The Multi Barreled Bicycle Shotgun appears in the latest DLC pack for Metro: Last Light, the aptly named ‘Developer Pack’, available to download now. For the full story on how Alexandre’s design became reality, including his own design notes and work-in-progress images taken from 4A’s development process, visit GamePlanet.co.nz.
To learn more, visit the official Metro: Last Light website.