New trailer for Exodus from a team of former BioWare developers at Texas-based Archetype Entertainment, was unveiled at this year's Game Awards.
In the trailer, we'll see the sci-fi RPG's protagonist Jun, a young man tasked with finding a way to stop the mysterious Roth from destroying his planet. To do this, he will have to travel across the galaxy and recruit a variety of colorful characters, including an octopus in a mechanical suit known as Salt.
But what makes this even more intriguing is the concept of time dilation, perhaps most famously introduced in Christopher Nolan's novel. Interstellar. This means that Jun's journey to one location could result in him returning home for years, which of course fits into the classic BioWare-style choice-driven narrative.
The trailer also features CC Orlev, Jun's mysterious mentor, played by Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey. You may remember that Interstellar The star took the stage at the Game Awards 2023, but at the time we didn't know who he was playing.
Overall, everything looks great, and my excitement only increased after attending the briefing with Archetype before the Game Awards. From the very beginning it seems that the developer is taking a reasonable approach to Exodus
“One of the things that we're especially excited about as sci-fi fans is that we honor hard sci-fi, but of course we try to make it fun and accessible in the form of a game. But specifically, the science comes into play in such a way that time itself acts as another important factor in the game – almost like another antagonist that June has to deal with,” said Chad Robertson, co-founder and general manager of Archetype. “Ultimately, time itself plays a central role in history and creates the basis for great history as a whole. [with] some tough decisions Jun will have to make.”
However, what immediately intrigued me about Exodus was the involvement of Drew Karpyshyn as narrative director. For those unfamiliar, he is a writer from Edmonton. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and also Mass Effect And Mass Effect 2three of the greatest sci-fi games among BioWare's other games. Let him play a key role in Exodus near fellow BioWare alumni as Robertson, King and Archetype co-founder and director James Olen (lead designer KOTOR And Baldur's Gate) is extremely exciting.
During our preview, Karpyshyn said: Exodus calls back to Mass Effect in some key ways.
“The most important thing for me is to work on Mass Effect it reminds me that the Archetype is simply the depth of the universe we have created. “We've just put so much thought and care and time into creating this incredibly vibrant, deep, expansive universe that you can explore, between the Awoken and the Changelings and the Celestials, and the cast of characters and how those things change and evolve as you make choices throughout the game,” he said.
“That's what I love about role-playing games in general – the opportunity for players to explore something they've never seen before, something completely new. We've really given you so much to explore. You'll constantly be digging and finding something new, and there's something for everyone.”
In addition to this feeling, Exodus game director Chris King says the team's goal is to make players feel like “co-creators of the experience.” This includes not only being able to customize Jun (who can be male or female) and make those tough choices for him, but also considering the impact of how it affects the world and your ability to influence other characters.
He says it also promotes a “play your way” gameplay philosophy. Part of this comes down to third-person shooting, which involves a high-tech weapon called the Recycler, which the team calls the “Swiss Army Knife” of firearms. Essentially, it can transform into different shooting modes, which can then be upgraded using what King calls a “complex weapon modification system” that allows each shooting type to evolve.
On top of that, according to King, the levels were designed to support both run-and-gun options and stealth. Jun also has a special device called the Livestone that can manipulate the environment to create more gameplay options, such as cover or, as seen in the trailer, makeshift bridges to cross chasms. This, when used in conjunction with the grappling hook, should make both movement and exploration much easier.
At the same time, Archetype recognizes that some games can feel bloated with how much content they throw at you.
“Philosophically, one of our early arguments was with a lot of open world RPGs, they kind of bombard you with so much content, but at the expense of quality, and it can feel like you're doing a bunch of fetch quests and doing things just for the sake of playing,” King says.
“And so we tried to find a balance where every piece of content we add to the game is handcrafted. It has an interesting story. It moves the main story forward. It moves the interesting characters or companion characters forward, you do something to help them. […] Everything we put into it has a purpose, and we don't try to do things just to make numbers.”
Again, we return to the emphasis on depth rather than breadth. According to King, a key example of this is all the ways time dilation can affect not only the larger narrative, but also each individual companion. “What I'd like to tease with all of these characters is how you meet them initially and who they are at the end can be very different,” he said.
And of course, as another fun comparison to BioWare, Archetype notes that yes, you will be able to form romantic relationships. majority your comrades, with one exception. “I'm sorry to disappoint everyone – you can't romance Salt! She doesn't like people, but you can romance many of your characters,” says Karpyshyn.
However, Robertson praised Salt's “pretty amazing” sense of humor. More broadly, Karpyshyn says some romantic relationship options can be “quite greedy” and lead to “unpleasant situations” where you have to choose between them. Considering that BioWare games are famous for having such memorable companions as Garrus, Rex and Tali from Mass Effect and Bastila, Jolie and HK-47 from Knights of the Old Republic, I can't wait to see what Archetype has in store with the cast. Exodus
For Karpishin this is the ultimate goal Exodus. “It's about connection with these companions, connection with the world. Players will just want to spend more time in this world, more time with their companions,” he said. “They'll really want to just immerse themselves in the experience and lose themselves. That's what I really want people to get out of it.”
As someone who spent countless hours during half of 2023 piecing together 20,000 word retrospective on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (and a lot more time replaying Mass Effect trilogy of different years), everything I saw and heard about Exodus really speaks to me to this day. I hope the team succeeds because, man, there really is nothing better than a classic BioWare RPG.
Exodus will be released on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC in early 2027.
Image credit: Archetype Entertainment
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