Archetype's Exodus: An Exploration for the Hardcore Science Fiction Enthusiast.

For a specific breed of science-fiction enthusiast, the announcement of Exodus stood as the most impactful reveal from a prestigious gaming awards ceremony. Interestingly, those very fans might not have grasped its full importance during the initial showcase.

Exodus, the inaugural game from a new studio filled with ex- talent from a renowned RPG developer, was initially unveiled a couple of years prior. At the latest event, the development team provided an projected release window of 2027, accompanied by a spectacle-filled trailer. Before this showcase, the studio's leadership discussed some of the real scientific concepts that underpin for the game's universe: relativistic time effects, human augmentation, and interstellar colonization. These are all suitably complex ideas, which are particularly difficult to communicate in a brief, showy trailer.

“I would have preferred some of those intriguing and fresh ideas were featured in the trailer. All I saw was ‘standard man in space,’” wrote one commenter. Another quipped, “My impression was ‘this is like a well-known space opera RPG at home.’” Feedback in fan hubs were equally varied.

The trailer's approach clearly is understandable from a business angle. When trying to capture attention during a marathon barrage of game announcements, what is more marketable: A group contemplating the intricacies of Einsteinian physics? Or massive robots combusting while other giant robots fire lasers from their visors? However, in choosing spectacle, the developers failed to include the quieter details that make Exodus one of the more intriguing hard sci-fi games coming soon. Let's explore further.

The Celestial Conundrum

Does Exodus feature aliens? Yes. That's complicated. Consider that image near the start of the trailer, depicting a humanoid with ashen skin and metal components merged into their body. That was surely an alien, yes? In the end hinges on your stance regarding one of the game's core thematic dilemmas: If you applied gradual replacement philosophy to the human biology, is what remains still human?

“We want the Celestials... for a player that isn't invest significant amounts of time into learning the backstory, to still grasp the fundamental idea that they're evolved humans, understand that they’re an antagonist you have to face... But also, at the end of the day, make sure it's engaging and that they're compelling and that they are satisfying to fight against,” explained the studio's lead executive.

Comprehending how these otherworldly beings aren't strictly aliens requires understanding vast expanses of both the cosmos and history. Time dilation — the Einsteinian theory that time moves slower for high-velocity objects — is an fundamental core tenet of Exodus’ narrative setting. Here are the basics: Humanity evacuates a desiccated Earth in the 23rd century for a remote corner of the Milky Way. Due to time dilation, some human colonists arrive millennia before others. Those firstcomers radically altered their genetic sequences and assumed the “Celestial” name.

“There’s multiple tiers of evolution. The people who arrived at the Centauri cluster first... had tens of thousands of years of evolution into the Celestials... They really see unaltered humans as essentially backwards, beneath them, not really worthy for the higher tiers of society,” stated the game's lead writer.

Exodus is set about 40,000 years in the future. Ponder that immensity — that's the equivalent of all of recorded human history repeated ten times over. Now contemplate what humans would evolve into if they spent ten entire human histories advancing the boundaries of biotech. You would not possibly perceive the end product as human. You might even believe you're seeing an alien. The most fearsome strain of Celestial, known as the Mara-Yama, can adopt multiple forms. Some possess talons and appendages and stand nine feet tall. Others are covered in chitinous shells. According to expanded universe lore, when Mara-Yama travel between stars, their physical forms can atrophy into little more than a fleshy blob attached to a head.

A Universe of Ideas

Among the detonations, beam attacks, and combat creatures, you might have noticed snippets of advanced technology in the trailer. The protagonist, Jun Aslan, operates a metallic machine that produces a violet glow. A spaceship flies into a portal and disappears at near-light speed. This all seems past human comprehension, the kind of tech ascribed to a highly advanced civilization. Yet, these are further examples of concepts that seem alien but are deeply rooted in mankind's own evolution.

Beyond the core development team, the Exodus universe is being authored by what the narrative lead called a duo of “literary legends.” One bestselling author has already published a doorstopper novel set in the universe, with another planned, while another esteemed writer has written a series of short stories. Enlisting such respected science-fiction minds into the project years before the game's release has allowed the studio to develop a dense fictional universe as a framework for the game.

“It was really a collaborative effort. We had set some foundations, and working with him, he would have ideas... and we would work to see how they all meshed... With someone of that caliber, you don't want to handcuff him. You want to give him latitude,” the narrative director said of the collaboration.

One interesting scene shows Jun seemingly shape the ground beneath him, fashioning stone into a instant bridge. This material, called livestone, reacts to brainwaves from Celestials or Uranic humans — descendants of later human arrivals who were allowed certain technologies by the Celestials. Since Jun exhibits this ability, one might wonder about his nature.

“Jun's not exactly a Uranic human... Jun is sort of a modified version, for want of a better term,” clarified the writer, adding that the ability to use Celestial technology is a “central mechanic of the game.”

The vast scale of the Exodus setting — both in distance and temporal scope — means there is ample room for diverse stories to be told, drawing from the same universe without creating interference.

Tales of Time and Loss

Although Exodus has been publicly known for a couple of years and is still distant, several stories have already told within its universe. The first major novel examines the connection between a Uranic human and a woman whose ship arrived many millennia later than planned, making Celestials utterly alien to her experience. An episode of a streaming show tells a poignant story about a father searching for his daughter across star systems, with time dilation causing profound effects on their family; by the time he finds her, she has lived decades.

The game itself is centered on “Jun’s story,” set on the planet Lidon — a world mostly left by Celestials that has become a human stronghold. A corrupting influence known as “the Rot” has begun destroying everything, including critical life support systems, and Jun must master his unusual powers to {find a solution|stop