As I assist free a speaking frog the dimensions of a small automotive – who additionally occurs to be an engineer – from imprisonment, I discover myself considering, “Exodus is loads… weirder than I anticipated.”
Merely the style of this recreation had me excited – it is a true throwback to choice-based action-RPGs of the previous; filled with morality methods, crunchy, synergistic skills, mouthy companions and weighty fight. But it surely’s what I didn’t go in ready to play that leaves me most intrigued – there’s a critical, galactic-scale, hard-sci storyline right here, however it’s keen to go full ’70s cosmic freakout amid all that.
Exodus presents a universe with celestial powers, science-indistinguishable-from-magic areas and, sure, extremely advanced, speaking animals. It was across the time that certainly one of my companions was screaming “There’s nonetheless time to barter!” into the face of a charging war-bear (who we’d upset by killing her human good friend) that I spotted, regardless of drawing on a longtime style, fairly how completely different Exodus is aiming to be.
At gamescom 2026, I performed a mission set a number of hours into the sport – the sport’s hero, Jun units off on a rescue mission to avoid wasting an area station (manned by hyper-intelligent frogs) from an invading pressure, alongside two of the sport’s companions. Suliman is a reserved, barely spiky particular person, and Elise is a much more happy-go-lucky mercenary who tends to her fight duties in a combat-ready exosuit.
It’s an action-heavy slice of the sport, and what struck me first was the load and optionality of fight. Jun’s major weapon is definitely many weapons in a single – the Recycler can shift kind into something from a burst-fire battle rifle to a shield-annihilating vitality weapon, with the frequent thread being that it feels good to fireside. This style isn’t significantly identified for its responsive gunplay, however the opening skirmishes – a decent combine of canopy capturing and flashy potential use – had been sufficient to persuade me that this was something however an afterthought on this recreation.
However past that, Jun may also use crafted or scavenge gadgets like hovering, drone-like grenades, in addition to an array of Celestial powers that act like cooldown timer spells in fight – letting me ship eruptions of vitality beneath enemy ft from the opposite aspect of the sector, or petrify enemies for my companions to cope with.
And talking of these companions, Elise and Suliman additionally gave me a style of how your chosen staff can essentially alter the way you select to play. Whereas your squad will combat autonomously, every comes with skills that may be simply accessed and unleashed mid-fight, in addition to “final”-like assaults that may shift the course of a battle.
Suliman errs in direction of stealth, with the flexibility to part behind enemies and take them down with melee, or to take down a number of enemies in a single assault. Elise, alternatively, is way extra noticeable, firing rocket salvos that may do large space of impact harm.
It’s clear that these two companions have been chosen to supply a way of how one can tailor your squad to your wants. Whereas each had been helpful in any given state of affairs, I discovered myself reflexively reaching for Suliman’s skills earlier than a full-scale combat broke out, letting me skinny the ranks, and Elise throughout fights that had gotten out of hand, letting me retreat and take a breather. With the variety of companions we all know are going to be on this recreation, it’s clear that there’s as a lot a tactical cause to convey somebody alongside as there’s the basic “I need to be their good friend!” aspect so acquainted from the likes of Mass Impact.
One other shift from the anticipated is that this recreation’s tackle morality – different video games within the style had already moved away from “good or evil” into one thing is likely to be higher termed as “individualist vs. egalitarian”, however Exodus goes even additional in direction of letting you outline the precise sort of persona you need Jun to have. Traveler Oaths subdivide the normally binary selection – right here referred to as Paladin and Immortal – into much more honed takes in your character’s persona. Including much more complexity, your companions will react otherwise to completely different Oaths, which means you’ll must go some solution to hold them onside whereas ploughing your personal chosen path.
The whole lot from the above has clearly been chosen to deepen the action-adventure RPG style – fight is extra various and choice-oriented, companions are extra specialised, morality is extra wealthy and complicated. And surrounding all that is that sense that if we are able to take a near-FTL journey to avoid wasting a bunch of frogs, something might occur – it is likely to be coming in a well-known bundle, however Exodus is promising one thing really new.
Exodus arrives for XBOX Collection X|S and XBOX on PC on April 7, 2027. Play it on each console and PC at no extra price with XBOX Play Anyplace.
EXODUS
Wizards of the Coast
EXODUS is a cinematic single-player motion RPG set in a brand new, far-future sci-fi universe.
You’re Jun Aslan, a salvager preventing for the way forward for your homeworld. Discover historic ruins, blast your well beyond hostile Celestial enemies and rival human factions, and get well highly effective Remnants to reshape your civilization. Uncover your future and lead a crew of unforgettable companions as you seek for the important thing to humanity’s survival throughout essentially the most harmful reaches of area.
Unravel an Epic, Cinematic Story
•Rise from a survivor of a Rot-infested world into somebody able to shaping the longer term, as decisions of advantage or ambition form the legacy you permit behind.
•As inheritor to the Aslan Dynasty, you could put together the subsequent technology of Vacationers to embark on Exodus to avoid wasting your world, realizing years will probably be misplaced earlier than you come.
Lead Your Crew, Construct Your Dynasty
•Assemble a crew of sharp-edged specialists — troopers, smugglers, mercs, students, and Woke up animals — whose expertise and chemistry form each combat and choice.
•Construct bonds together with your companions — combat beside them, fall for them, save them, or lose them.
Discover the Ruins of Forgotten Worlds
•Descend into the wrecks of historic civilizations, derelict alien ships, and forgotten tombs few have ever laid eyes on.
•Salvage highly effective weapons, misplaced know-how, and artifacts the universe was meant to neglect, and humanity was by no means meant to own.
Make Onerous Selections with Actual Penalties
•Your choices will have an effect on your crew, your missions, the individuals who keep behind, and the destiny of your whole world.
•Due to Time Dilation, your actions will echo throughout generations as you journey throughout the distant frontiers of time and area.
Struggle for Humanity’s Future
•Wield the Recycler—a particular weapon that, as soon as upgraded and modified, can morph into what you want, once you want it.
•Command the Gauntlet — a one-of-a-kind weapon and gear solely you may wield, fusing scavenged alien tech into devastating new skills.
Survive a Hostile Galaxy
•Take down monstrous creatures, historic battle machines, rival salvagers, and the universe’s apex predators: the Celestials.
•Tear by way of encounters your approach — weapons blazing, slipping by way of unseen, or generally speaking your well beyond the difficulty.
Play Inside a New, Sci-Fi Universe
•Embark on an journey 40,000 years from Earth, the place Time Dilation brings the true price of interstellar journey to life.
•Uncover a wealthy universe that has expanded right into a tabletop RPG, a novel duology by award-winning creator Peter F. Hamilton, and an episode of Amazon Prime’s Secret Stage sequence.
