When Exodus was first announced, it was positioned as a sprawling sci-fi RPG that could fill the void left by Mass Effect’s extended absence. This week, that became even more relevant following Electronic Arts’ announcement that Mass Effect developer BioWare was being shut down and the next game in the series was canceled.
With more eyes on Exodus than ever, the game’s developer released its own announcement following BioWare’s bad news.
Exodus developer Archetype Entertainment released a new trailer for the game that reveals the protagonist’s redesign. The original design for Jun was met with largely negative feedback from fans, with one fan commenting on Reddit that the old design looked like “he was stung by a bee.” In contrast, the new design seems to be a hit, with more than one person noting Jun’s new resemblance to Jim Hawkins from Disney’s Treasure Planet (this is a compliment, I promise). In the reveal video, studio co-founder Chad Robertson notes that the redesign was made in direct response to community conversations about the original design.
What the video doesn’t show is the female version of Jun. Just as in Mass Effect, players will be able to choose the gender of the protagonist and further customize features like hair, though the core body and face structure are set. So far, Archetype Entertainment hasn’t shown off what FemJun looks like, which is getting really annoying considering the game is set to be released in just about six months. Where is she, Archetype? The fans (me) need to see her.
If, somehow, you’ve been living under a rock and missed the big news, then I’m sorry you had to find out this way. EA announced on Oct. 21 that it was shutting down BioWare and canceling the next Mass Effect game. The news quickly sent video game developers, press, and fans into a state of mourning for one of the most influential and iconic studios in the medium.
The silver lining, if you can call it that, was that a trailer for the canceled game almost immediately made its way online. Unfortunately, it looks amazing. The trailer teases an espionage take on the series in a brief but beautifully chaotic bar fight that also includes an older version of Liara from the original trilogy. Now we all have to sit with the knowledge that this game will never exist. Hopefully, games like Exodus can help fill the gap.
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