Playing Mass Effect spiritual successor Exodus was the best kind of surprise

Playing Mass Effect spiritual successor Exodus was the best kind of surprise

My relationship with Mass Effect begins and ends with the first game (let’s just blame the M35 Mako and leave it at that), and so Exodus – which is making no bones about being something of a Mass Effect spiritual successor, born from some of the same creative team – isn’t a game that’s been anywhere close to my radar. But the Gamescom gods contrived to put Exodus on my appointment schedule, and while the 45 minutes or so I played wasn’t what I was expecting when I first sat down, I’ve come away both intrigued and impressed by what developer Archetype Entertainment is trying to achieve.

A Glimpse into the Future

Exodus, for a quick story refresher, takes place around 40,000 years from now, focusing on protagonist Jun Aslan – a sort of evolutionary bridge between humans and an advanced, genetically engineered form of humans known as Celestials – who, as the narrative unfolds, becomes embroiled in a quest to save his home planet, Lidon, from a Celestial techno virus. As our Gamescom demo begins, however, there are other concerns. As the slick opening cinematic briskly conveys, our intrepid party is attempting to infiltrate the defence platform Khonsu, orbiting Lidon somewhere in the year 42530.

At this juncture, our crew consist of Jun, pilot and mechanic Kara Voss, Parliament of Ravens operative Suliman Tenjin, heavy-hitting weapons expert Elise Charroux, and Awakened Octopus mercenary Salt (in Exodus’ lore, the Awakened are essentially upgraded, highly advanced animals now trying to find their own place in the world after having been looked down on by humans for so long – which explains how another companion, Houston, is both a wolf and Jun’s adopted brother). And as the sequence unfolds, there’s a moment of tension as our team attempts to slip through security using an illicitly acquired access code, but ultimately – success! – the mission begins.

And what sights! Once Exodus switches to playable third-person mode, its action really does look striking: as we strap on mag boots and navigate the treacly micro-gravity environment of the station’s airlock exterior, we’re treated to some lovely deep space vistas; Lidon looms out among the stars, while vast ships spew green lasers amid swirling asteroids. Space debris – rock chips and other detritus – clusters in small groups along our path ahead, scattering outward as we stride on through.

As game director Chris King explains, the set-up and the sequence – which sees our group on a mission to liberate the frog-like Kay (another Awakened species) imprisoned within Khonsu – is very much inspired by Star Wars’ iconic Death Star infiltration, but the goal is to “surprise players and put our own twists on it”. And that starts with a station aesthetic that eschews shiny metal in favour of mineral: first an exterior of cavernous sweeping curves, then within, spaces structured from limestone – a key substance in Exodus’ lore – resembling the kind of hexagonal structural jointing you’d find in Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway.

And as luck would have it, one of Jun’s party tricks is his (or her, if you opt for the female Jun) ability to manipulate limestone. That means, at certain points, you’re able to summon elevated platforms from the ground, or march him over to an impassable chasm, and conjure walkways where none were before. Jun can also use his “precognition” ability to highlight potential areas of intrigue around the environment – a weak wall, say, or a hidden room, which may house useful resources or weapons mods – lending progression a light exploratory side focus.

There are moments, too, when the action takes a pause for dialogue-driven story beats. There are choices to make as Jun and friends converse with the imprisoned 42C, an enthusiastic ‘human expert’ Kay whose knowledge has mostly been acquired by scanning the airwaves – which explains why most of the conversation plays out against the backdrop of loud heavy metal – and, later, there’s a bit of conversational bartering with a robot worker who’s camp enough to give C-3PO a run for his money (narrative director Drew Karpyshyn tells me that while this particular mission is perhaps one of Exodus’ more humorous ones, the team isn’s going for grim sci-fi and wants to mix in moments of levity.)

And as King explains, one of the reasons for showcasing this particular mission at Gamescom is the simple fact it includes “a bit of everything,” calling it as “a really nice representation of the game. There’s some fun combat. There’s a good bit of exploration with some side areas in it, but then there’s also some cool choices that you get to see preview some of the longer-term ramifications.” But undoubtedly it’s combat that takes centre stage here, with Khonsu effectively playing out like a linear series of combat events – which, given my previous obliviousness to Exodus, initially took me by surprise given I was expecting a quieter, talkier sort of game. But the more I played, the more it made sense.

• Developer: Archetype Entertainment
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
• Played on: PC
• Availability: Out 7th April 2027 on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC (Steam)

Between Exodus missions, then, is what Karpyshyn calls a loop of preparation, where players embark on missions to, say, secure alliances with people who’ll help you when you go on them, “or will help keep things on track while you’re gone, building up your dynasty, your followers to sort of keep things in place during these long absences.” As for how this is structured, it sounds like your options start to open out across various branches defined by your choices from initially linear beginnings.

And interestingly too, Archetype is keen not to leave you completely blind when it comes to key decisions, which is where Exodus’ Breakpoint system comes in, showing images, hints, of what the future might hold depending on the decision you make for your dynasty. And if you choose to put more points into Jun’s precognition abilities as you play, it’s possible to improve your ability to prognosticate and predict what’s going to happen. “The more info you have up front,” notes Karpyshyn, “the more you can try to direct what direction you want to go in. Because obviously, nothing ever goes as planned, so you’re constantly trying to steer things back on course in unexpected situations.”

Exodus is nothing if not ambitious. And having now got a sense of how Archetype is looking to achieve those ambitions – how it’s looking to fill in the moment-to-moment gaps between those huge sweeping story beats without losing that vision of agency and choice – I’m impressed. I wasn’t expecting quite such a bombastic 45 minutes when I first picked up a controller and settled into Exodus, admittedly, but the more I played, the more it made sense. I might not be much of a Mass Effect fan (damn you M35 Mako once more), but Exodus is now firmly on my radar ahead of its arrival next year.