When a game touts itself on being developed by industry veterans, I tend to get skeptical and unsure of what kind of quality to expect. Among other recent examples, one such title has come into focus recently in the form of Exodus. Developed by former BioWare developers with previous experience spanning Dragon Age: Origins, the original Mass Effect, and the first two Baldur’s Gate titles to name a few, Exodus stands as a title with a lot to prove for Archetype Entertainment. 

Exodus also marks a significant turning point for Hasbro’s new initiative of investing in the video game space through their subsidiary Wizards of the Coast. “We started Archetype in 2019 with a clear goal, and I think we’ve done a nice job staying focused on that the entire time we’ve developed Exodus,” said Chad Robertson, the game’s co-producer. “At its core, we want to build games that bring together world-class storytelling, real player agency, and modern AAA gameplay.”

The world of Exodus was heavily inspired by both previous works from the developers, as well as sci-fi media including the likes of Star Wars, the Dune films, and Interstellar. From what was shown in the extended gameplay footage and talked about by the developers, it’s clear that there were plenty of notes taken from these franchises when creating the basis for the narrative around humanity’s survival and morality-driven dialogue choices.

The World of EXODUS

In Exodus, you take on the role of Jun Aslan; a salvager from a colony called Lidon and child of a famous traveler who has mysteriously disappeared when investigating the Rot. The Rot is a virus that has enveloped most of the extended universe you traverse. As you embark on missions to investigate and try to find a solution to eliminating the Rot, you are faced with the factor of time dilation, where days for you are decades back home.

Lidon is a human colony settled 200 years ago that is in dire straits. The colony was originally terraformed by ancient Celestials, and is not naturally habitable. This is made worse by the fact that Lidon is a dying world, as the habitable tech that allowed this settlement to serve its people is failing, succumbing to the infection of the Rot. As the only person with unique genetic Celestial traits, Jun is the colony’s last hope to eliminate the Rot and ensure survival for what is left of humanity.

To say the world of Exodus is subject to high stakes is an understatement. Between the existential conflict of helping humanity survive and exploring the deep history of the galaxy and the mysterious Rot, it’s clear that the team at Archetype is putting every ounce of experience from their work on games like Mass Effect into constructing a rich world and narrative. Further evidence of influence from their previous work comes up in the moral-driven dialogue system. The “Traveler Oath” system gives Jun dialogue options that vary between either the Paladin or Immortal paths, with the game rewarding the player for both pursuing one path entirely or discovering a hybrid of moral choices throughout the game. 

“Moment to moment, we want you to react to the situation,” said Drew Karpyshyn, one of the writers on Exodus. “[A]nd sometimes that means some players are going to react specifically to [moments in a certain way] but some players will say ‘I want to embrace a certain philosophy or archetype’ and go down that path.”

‘Depth’ is a word that keeps coming back to me for describing how expansive Exodus’ story and world is. 

Companions

On your travels, you will be joined by a variety of companions, each with a unique personality and values around the events that occur in your expedition. Companions are vital to expanding your view of the story in EXODUS, as moral decisions you pick also influence how your companions will react. 

Among the swath of companions are Elise and Tom, the first two you encounter in the game. Elise is a mech pilot that throws caution to the wind and tends to choose brute force over patience. Contrastingly, Tom is an experienced traveler that is more of a coach to Jun, and provides moral perspective. One companion who folks may recognize the voice of is C.C. Orlev, voiced by none other than Matthew McConaughey. C.C. Orlev is a mysterious mentor character, and true to that mystery there wasn’t much shown about his greater role in EXODUS, but I hope at one point he ends up saying “All right, all right.”

In addition to these mostly-human companions, Exodus also has a host of several companions that are “Awakened” animals. These include Houston, a wolf-like friend to Jun, and Salt who is a robot octopus. True to the games that inspired Exodus, there are indeed romance options for several of your companions. However, I must unfortunately let you know that players cannot romance the robotic octopus. I’m sure this is a massive disappointment for some people.

“Obviously we’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from games of the past; Bioware games and other games that have done some interesting things with companions,” said Writer Drew Karpyshyn. “Of course we want to build on what we’ve done before and push it forward. I wouldn’t say we’ve specifically taken one example of how companions could be done and said ‘that’s what we’re doing.’ We’ve just taken some of the things we liked and made them feel real and give them these full arcs and have them react to what you do.”

Gameplay

Exodus is a third-person action-adventure game, with combat appearing to vary between ranged and melee options depending on how you pursue missions between stealth and going in guns blazing. Right away I can see some DNA from Anthem in the combat, as there is a similar degree of customizability between movement skills and ammunition choices. Unlike Anthem, however, the player builds out their preferred loadout via skill trees as opposed to choosing a class. 

Beyond combat abilities, the skill trees are also integrated into the story, as selections in the skill trees contribute to Paladin/Immortal traits just like dialogue choices. While there wasn’t any demonstration of how those skill tree choices play out in the story, it is fascinating to see skill trees become intertwined with the game’s narrative, as I can’t think of another game that has done something like this.

In addition to different guns and grenades, there are also abilities the player has access to on a wheel. From what was seen in the extended gameplay trailer, these are called “Glyphs,” and can be used to damage enemies among other uses. In the trailer during a boss fight, the player is seen scrolling past one called “Erupt” which creates a Livestone trail that smashes through objects and enemies. After scrolling past, they land on the “Lance” glyph which spawns a lance that the player throws at the boss’s weak point. 

Abilities can also extend beyond taking down enemies. The Lance glyph, while useful in combat scenarios, is also an upgrade that can destroy bramble developed by the Rot. Then in another part of the gameplay trailer, the player can be seen using the “Scrambler Cloak” which lets them go invisible for a brief period to sneak up on an enemy.

By far the most fascinating aspect of the game that affects everything you do is time dilation. It adds a layer of existential conflict for your homeland, as there is no knowing what may happen while you are on a mission. While it reportedly isn’t utilized excessively, it is used for “very special occasions” or otherwise pivotal narrative moments. I can’t wait to see how time dilation plays out in the colony of Lidon, as I think this will add an extra layer of depth to an already expansive story. 

Exodus is shaping up to be an incredibly ambitious title from Archetype Entertainment. Every aspect of the gameplay shown off appears to be a culmination of the team’s combined expertise in immersive storytelling, world building, and action-adventure gameplay. While this game has a lot to prove both as a debut title for Archetype Entertainment and as a sound investment for Wizards of the Coast, I am coming away from this gameplay showcase confident and excited about EXODUS. 

Exodus launches in early 2027 on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.