The first episode of a short series on games I discovered at EGX Rezzed 2017.
At first, EXO ONE appears to be one of those marble-based physics games, something like InFlux (Impromptu Games, 2013), which aren’t typically my cup of mead. The tutorial is a bit rough around the edges and is harder to grasp than the game itself.
If you escape the tutorial, you find yourself alone on some far-flung planet which I found stunning. EXO ONE appears to be a “walking simulator” game but with a ball to roll around instead. You can also leap into the air and glide if you’ve picked up enough momentum. It felt a bit like an open-world driving game where there are no dangers – think FUEL without any goals whatsoever.
While I’m told each planet’s surface stretches to infinity, I’m not sure I’d call it a game for explorer-players; it’s more about the experience. Of what I saw, EXO ONE was a scout-and-trigger game, where the player seeks hotspots to make progress. But compared to some more genteel experiences which are perhaps better titled “crawling simulators” EXO ONE gets away with it. Apparently later worlds will offer different environments like, say, a water world.
The game is still in development – you can find out more from the EXO ONE website.
Interested in other games I’ve dabbled with? Check out the series index!
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Wow, just swung by their site and what a gorgeous looking game. There are some beautifully barren vistas and the colour palettes, lighting, cloud formations and monolithic structures poking out of them add a lot of spectacle. I dare say the gliding around reminds me of good ol’ Zineth and my favourite bits of Journey.
Gregg, I just didn’t want to leave the game.
According to the developer there aren’t artificial walls on the planets – they just go on forever. It also used that storytelling narration trick to suggest goals. “he went towards the blue light because there was nothing else to do” kind of thing. It sounded very much like the guy from Bastion / Ethan Carter.
The video does not do it justice at all, there’s a weight and loneliness that you can only feel inside it.