Archetype Entertainment has finally shared the first gameplay trailer for its debut title, EXODUS, and it's fair to say it's very reminiscent of Mass Effect. Not that we were expecting anything much different from a studio founded by key BioWare veterans like Creative Director James Ohlen and Lead Writer Drew Karpyshyn.
In the trailer, we saw several brief dialogues between protagonist Juno and some of their companions, not to mention shooting, a grappling hook used in a fight with an armored bear, and even stealth (which was largely absent from Mass Effect). The trailer debuted on a stream hosted by CohhCarnage, where Ohlen and Archetype General Manager Chad Robertson answered several questions about the game.
EXODUS won't be an open world game, focusing on curated missions like in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect instead. That said, there'll be room for exploration and optional content.
Described as an action roleplaying game, it will feature a lot of choices for players, the main twist being that they will get to see them impact their own homeworld over the decades and even centuries. The central theme of the game is that Travelers like Juno embark on perilous journeys to distant planets in a desperate effort to recover long-lost technology that could help humanity fight off the Celestials.
In that regard, Ohlen described Juno (who can be a male or female depending on the player's preference) as a blend of Indiana Jones and Dune's Paul Atreides. On one hand, they are explorers who venture into forgotten crypts and lost worlds to uncover precious artifacts; on the other hand, they are also leaders of their civilization, making pivotal choices for the development of humankind.
The aforementioned journeys are conducted at near-lightspeed. As a result, while the trips may take days or weeks for Juno and their team (by the way, they can only take two with them at a time, like in Mass Effect), years or even decades may have passed for those back on the home planet, which should result in some interesting plot progression.
As you would expect in a game made by BioWare vets, EXODUS will feature deep relationships with the player character's companions, some of which will be romanceable. There may well be infighting between them, too, and it will be up to Juno to deal with the potential fallout.
We also got some info on the so-called lifestone, a blend of mineral and live vegetation that Juno can take advantage of while in combat and in exploration. It certainly sounds like this game's version of magic-like powers.
EXODUS is being co-developed with the help of Certain Affinity and will be released on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X. No date was provided, but the developers teased that it won't be long before we get to see more gameplay. Meanwhile, you can either read the novel released earlier this year or watch the dedicated 15-minute episode of Blur Studio's Secret Level that just became available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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