EXODUS is an upcoming sci-fi game set in the far future from Archetype Entertainment, based on the Peter Hamilton novels. Some of the veteran team behind the upcoming game attended The Game Awards, where they shared more background on the game as well as some details regarding its play design, along with a new trailer. The new trailer focuses on Jun Aslan, the main protagonist who can be customized as male or female, and is a descendant of an ancient race of spacefaring humans.
Jun Aslan is a scavenger on a mission to combat the “ROT” which is an infestation threatening life. Along the way, Jun will encounter characters who can join in on the adventure, and all have skill sets that can be customized. From stealth to all-out in-your-face combat styles, players are encouraged to make the game their own and are not confined to a singular design. The developers have also intentionally made the game so that players will have to make morally ambiguous choices, which will impact their relations in different ways throughout the game.
Archetype Entertainment has quickly gained fame with a team that has worked on a number of successful franchises, but its members want to make a new game that will garner similar heartfelt praise from fans. Drew Karpyshyn (senior writer on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for BioWare, lead writer for the first two Mass Effect video games) had the following to say:
“If we achieve our goals, I think we’re going to be standing up there in that upper echelon of RPGs that people look back on, you know, years and years later with just love and affection, and that’s what we’re going for.”
– Drew Karpyshyn
VP and General Manager Chad Robertson elaborated on a previous comment by Drew regarding how players will have multiple directions in which to alter Jun as the game progresses. Will they focus on retaining Jun’s humanity or strive to become something else through the use of something called livestone?
“If you haven’t heard us describe it before, the easiest way to think of it is a material that’s kind of at this intersection of mineral and vegetation. Because of his Celestial DNA, Jun has an ability to manipulate that and work with it in cool ways that affect both combat and core gameplay.”
-Chad Roberts
When asked about RPG elements, Game Director Chris King said there are many systems integrated into the game, including skill trees, weapons, player, and character customizations, and more. Chris emphasizes that this range of customization options is intended to give the player the freedom to make the game more their own, allowing them to play it the way they want to play it.
“We have a constellation skill tree that players will level up in and that applies to Jun. And then we have all kinds of other systems that touch and integrate with this. You’ll be able to upgrade your abilities. Your weapons, the companions can all be upgraded. We have special combat suits; those can be customized and upgraded. “
More information from the interview and presentation can be found on Wccftech (1, 2). According to the latest update, EXODUS is planned to launch in 2027.
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Discussion (7 replies)
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Still looking forward to this game. The team behind it knows they've got a reputation to live up due to their history with all of the Mass Effect Games (different folks had different rolls throughout the series but one person in particular only worked on the first two.
As much I as know some folks don't like Wccftech, I do recommend checking out the links I referenced in the post as they are a bit more in depth and I didn't want end up basically copy/pasting or parroting everything they covered. There was a lot of reporting on stuff from TGA, and I was just too tired to cover it, but they were one of the very few sites who covered this game.
If there's nothing more exciting to go over tomorrow I might end up doing a TGA post since there was a few interesting things that happened and I'm happy to say that 2026 isn't quite as bleak as it was looking before in regard to game releases.
As much as I liked Drew Karpyshin's writing in Mass Effect and the tie-in novels, that was 15+ years ago. People change, who used to make great things might make shovelware later. Just look at James Cameroon. Now I'm not saying Karpyshin definitely changed since the O G Mass Effect, but I'd rather be cautious than get my hopes up.
The graphics seems outer world-esque too, more AA than AAA.
Long story short, I need a lot more convincing before I'm sold on this project.
"MadMummy76, post: 100314, member: 1298" wrote:Long story short, I need a lot more convincing before I'm sold on this project.
I feel the same but I'm trying to be optimistic with it and hoping for the best for them. Its run of the mill to hear about studios being gutted but we're still waiting to see something epic from those that manage to move on. I kind of feel the same about that vampire game from the ex-CDPR folks.
"MadMummy76, post: 100314, member: 1298" wrote:The graphics seems outer world-esque too, more AA than AAA.
I feel the same about this too. It's sort of in-between and I'm hoping they can improve on them but I really doubt it. More than a few folks on the internet have taken notice as well so they should know it's already becoming a strike against them.
Please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck...
"Peter_Brosdahl, post: 100316, member: 87" wrote:I feel the same about this too. It's sort of in-between and I'm hoping they can improve on them but I really doubt it. More than a few folks on the internet have taken notice as well so they should know it's already becoming a strike against them.
That should purely be an artistic choice. Developers shouldn't waste time on perfect looking realistic graphics. Just make the game fun and enjoyable and most importantly, memorable. Graphics are the least important criteria for me. Just look at Metal Gear Solid or the original Resident Evil 2. Laughable graphics but man, those games rocked!
"igor_kavinski, post: 100330, member: 10805" wrote:That should purely be an artistic choice. Developers shouldn't waste time on perfect looking realistic graphics. Just make the game fun and enjoyable and most importantly, memorable. Graphics are the least important criteria for me. Just look at Metal Gear Solid or the original Resident Evil 2. Laughable graphics but man, those games rocked!
If tney can do something cool and unique with the graphics that is a win. I like fidelity I dont want.... poor graphics. OG wow graphics are blah. Current updated are much more acceptable. Nobody has nailed photorralistic.
"Grimlakin, post: 100331, member: 215" wrote:Nobody has nailed photorralistic.
Not in real-time, anyway. But there's a defined path to get there.
I'll stay cautiously excited for this one. I'll still play through the ME games from time to time (takes about a week), and I still watch Stargate and The Expanse through as well (and Deep Space Nine of course). Just a sucker for good writing in SciFi I guess!
Discussion (7 replies)
Join Discussion →Still looking forward to this game. The team behind it knows they've got a reputation to live up due to their history with all of the Mass Effect Games (different folks had different rolls throughout the series but one person in particular only worked on the first two.
As much I as know some folks don't like Wccftech, I do recommend checking out the links I referenced in the post as they are a bit more in depth and I didn't want end up basically copy/pasting or parroting everything they covered. There was a lot of reporting on stuff from TGA, and I was just too tired to cover it, but they were one of the very few sites who covered this game.
If there's nothing more exciting to go over tomorrow I might end up doing a TGA post since there was a few interesting things that happened and I'm happy to say that 2026 isn't quite as bleak as it was looking before in regard to game releases.
As much as I liked Drew Karpyshin's writing in Mass Effect and the tie-in novels, that was 15+ years ago. People change, who used to make great things might make shovelware later. Just look at James Cameroon. Now I'm not saying Karpyshin definitely changed since the O G Mass Effect, but I'd rather be cautious than get my hopes up.
The graphics seems outer world-esque too, more AA than AAA.
Long story short, I need a lot more convincing before I'm sold on this project.
I feel the same but I'm trying to be optimistic with it and hoping for the best for them. Its run of the mill to hear about studios being gutted but we're still waiting to see something epic from those that manage to move on. I kind of feel the same about that vampire game from the ex-CDPR folks.
I feel the same about this too. It's sort of in-between and I'm hoping they can improve on them but I really doubt it. More than a few folks on the internet have taken notice as well so they should know it's already becoming a strike against them.
Please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck...
That should purely be an artistic choice. Developers shouldn't waste time on perfect looking realistic graphics. Just make the game fun and enjoyable and most importantly, memorable. Graphics are the least important criteria for me. Just look at Metal Gear Solid or the original Resident Evil 2. Laughable graphics but man, those games rocked!
If tney can do something cool and unique with the graphics that is a win. I like fidelity I dont want.... poor graphics. OG wow graphics are blah. Current updated are much more acceptable. Nobody has nailed photorralistic.
Not in real-time, anyway. But there's a defined path to get there.
I'll stay cautiously excited for this one. I'll still play through the ME games from time to time (takes about a week), and I still watch Stargate and The Expanse through as well (and Deep Space Nine of course). Just a sucker for good writing in SciFi I guess!