Archetype wants to continue the RPG tradition established at BioWare in the case of Exodus, and not in any way…

During Thursday’s The Game Awards, Archetype Entertainment unveiled Exodus. This is a brand new sci-fi RPG starring Matthew McConaughey. Taking inspiration from Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic, its central concept is that you are a Traveler with the power to save humanity. But you are under the influence of time dilation, which means that years, decades, even centuries can pass in minutes.

Archetype Entertainment has an exciting pedigree. It was founded by James Ohlen, whose resume includes Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age: Origins. Among many other BioWare classics. He was joined by several other developers who worked at BioWare, Naughty Dog and other big teams.

In an interview, Ohlen and co-founders DebySue Wolfcale and Chad Robertson revealed more details about the long-awaited RPG, which was first teased in 2020.

They talked about how the time dilation element works (“Now you can see the impact of your decisions over not just days or weeks, but years, decades, even centuries,” Ohlen said), but also about combat and more.

Players will be left behind in the Exodus universe if they are not careful

“Our combat team is building encounters where the player always has multiple options because we want the player to think minute-by-minute tactically, but also strategically, how to solve problems in combat,” says Robertson. “And we’ve built some tools into our combat systems that will help players do that. And we’ll develop those as well over time.”

Exodus will also draw inspiration from Indiana Jones; the Traveler will explore planets searching for relics that can help save humanity.

Robertson promises something called “Orion’s Gauntlet,” a customizable tool that “gives players some unique abilities that evolve with you as you play.” It can be helpful not only in combat but also in exploration.

“[Relics] act as a kind of lock and key mechanic for us, allowing players to go back to a previously visited planet and access areas they couldn’t reach before,” explains Robertson. “And so we’re maximizing content reuse in a nice way, where players will see more of the exotic locations they visit, but for good reason, given their ever-expanding palette of experiences throughout the game.”

Life is better with companions, especially in an RPG

“We love RPGs and games that have companions with you. We think it’s a powerful way to help tell a story and bring unique gameplay mechanics to the experience,” says Robertson. “Trust us that we have great friends and allies to help you on your journey in Exodus… We understand and respect how important companions can be to players in this game style because we care about them and want to build a relationship with them. But for us, they’re in literally every pillar of the game that we’ve talked about so far, from combat to exploration.”

All in all, Exodus promises to be an exciting project. The only question is whether the developers will manage to live up to their ambitions…

Source: YouTube