Archetype Entertainment has finally shared a first glimpse at actual gameplay for Exodus, the upcoming sci-fi RPG created by a host of former Mass Effect developers. And wouldn’t you know it, it sure looks pretty Mass Effect-y, but with a host of fascinating new elements all the same.
While we’ve seen some brief trailers and screenshots before now, the Future Games Show gave us a full 20-minute look at gameplay, going through some conversation, interactions with party members, and a decent chunk of a combat encounter.
To set the stage, Exodus is set in the far future of humanity, taking place largely within the Omega Centauri Cluster, a region of space roughly 16,000 light-years away from Earth. Throughout the centuries, various interstellar powers have risen and fallen, ultimately leading to the emergence of a genetically-modified human descendant species known as Celestials.
You play as Juna Aslan, a salvager trying to save his homeworld from a Celestial virus known as “The Rot.” To that end, Jun becomes what’s known as a “Traveller,” seeking ancient advanced relics called Remnants in order to save the future of humanity. In Exodus, you’ll travel across the Centauri cluster to try and find a cure
The gameplay demo shows Jun and the party travelling to a planet called Tseng, following in the footsteps of the grandfather of Phaedra, one of the main party members. Here we see how the third-person combat will function, with Jun issuing orders to party members on the fly while using a host of abilities, including a grappling hook, rocket grenades, and more.
“When you create a character at the start of the game, we make players choose what style they like to do. You can sort of think of that as your class. One thing that’s unique with how we do it, though, is that we don’t make you choose a hard commit. Once you make that choice in character creation, we have skill trees that embrace these things, and the deeper you go on those we have what’s called mastery,” game director Chris King says in a group Q&A attended by CGMagazine, “So one of the interesting choices you make as a player is do you build hybrid setups where you dabble in multiple things, or do you just go all in on one specific tree. We also have complementary systems based on your choices in the skill tree or character class, that’ll tie into synergies and other things you can do, like the companions and skills they have.”
The comparisons of Exodus and Mass Effect are obvious and probably never going to stop. It’s a similar third-person role-playing shooter, heavy on mystical sci-fi elements, and emphasizes complex relationships with party members. It makes sense, too, considering Archetype was founded by James Ohlen (former creative director at BioWare), Chad Robertson (studio director at BioWare Austin), and Drew Karpyshyn, (lead writer of Mass Effect 1 & 2).
“We love the comparison to Mass Effect. It’s an amazing science fiction franchise, and some of us have had the pleasure of working on it,” Archetype general manager Chad Robertson says, “I think the thing I’d focus on, in terms of what we’re trying to deliver with Exodus, is the overall experience being based on elements that weren’t a part of that franchise. Specifically, we’ve done things in the story with time dilation, for example, that make it stand out and feel unique.”
Time dilation is a real physics phenomenon from Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, stating that time passes at different rates for different observers depending on their relative speed or proximity to gravitational mass. This concept was explored in Christopher Nolan’s film Interstellar. What this translates to in-game is that large chunks of time will pass at certain points, putting even more weight behind how the decisions you make will alter the fate of entire planets and civilizations.
Archetype will be revealing more information on Exodus in the future, but in the meantime, you can see a handful of new screenshots below as well.
Exodus is scheduled to release in early 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
