Near the end of last year, we asked the Push Square community to vote for their most anticipated PS5 games of 2024. Over 11,500 votes were cast across 50 games, and it's fair to say that the results are very tightly packed.
16.12.2023 - 15:15 / pushsquare.com / Matthew Macconaughey / James Ohlen
Announced at The Game Awards, Exodus, from developer Archetype Entertainment, caught the eye of many RPG fans desperate for anything that remotely resembles the original Mass Effect trilogy. That's no accident; Archetype boasts some of BioWare's most storied talent, people responsible for games like Baldur's Gate I & II, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Age: Origins. Oh, and Matthew McConaughey is in it.
The ever-reliable Shinobi602 compiled an excellent primer on the lore of Exodus over on Twitter, summarising the timeline and bringing us up to seed. Archetype has produced a fantastic series of videos, setting the scene and the tone (extremely bleak) of the story to come.
Forty thousand years ago, humanity was forced to abandon a dying Earth for a new home amongst the stars. They found one in the Centauri system in massive, interstellar arks, where the pecking order vastly differs. On the verge of extinction, humanity struggles for survival in a cold and hostile galaxy.
James Ohlen heads the studio, which was founded four years ago in 2019, and Exodus will be the studio's debut. Ohlen was previously BioWare's senior creative director, where he worked for 22 years. He left in 2018 and opened Archetype with Wizards of the Coast's assistance to develop a new IP.
Chad Robertson serves as general manager and was formerly the studio director of BioWare Austin. Drew Karpeshyn, lead writer on Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, is also on board, and he said of the energy at the studio: «With Archetype, my passion has been rekindled. The feel in the studio reminds me of my early days at BioWare; I can feel the magic in the air.»
Related Articles
Matthew McCona-yay
What do you think of Exodus and the team assembled at Archetype Entertainment? Find a new home in the comments section below.
Khayl Adam is the second best video game journalist Australia has ever produced, and his ambitions of world domination have (thus far) been curbed by the twin siren songs of strategy games and CRPGs. He has always felt an affinity for the noble dachshund, the best kind of dog.
I'll take a spiritual successor to Mass Effect 1+2, especially if it has the same narrative bones.
Cool Matthew is the lead character that's refreshing I knew these guys had their heads screwed on were getting a great game here no box ticking thanks guys you got my money. Ah hahaha
Near the end of last year, we asked the Push Square community to vote for their most anticipated PS5 games of 2024. Over 11,500 votes were cast across 50 games, and it's fair to say that the results are very tightly packed.
We already knew that Ubisoft was plotting a 2024 launch for its open world sci-fi shooter Star Wars Outlaws, but a since-edited post on a Disney Parks blog may have nailed down more precisely when we can expect to visit a galaxy far, far away. Multiple outlets, including IGN, noticed the original blurb referenced a “late this year” release window for the title – but that line’s since been edited to a more neutral “in 2024”.
Our Game of the Year coverage continues with the Best PS5, PS4 Story Game of 2023, of which a top four has been put together by the Push Square editorial team. This category highlights the best adventures you can venture on from a narrative perspective on PS5 and PS4. With an intriguing main plot, wonderful characters, and fun distractions of the core path, they'll keep you engaged with their story no matter how long it takes to roll credits.
Our Game of the Year coverage continues with the Best PS5, PS4 RPG of 2023, of which a top four has been put together by the Push Square editorial team. This category is all about celebrating role-playing games and what they bring to the table from a story and gameplay perspective. The titles below will marry the two elements together to create an amazing, engaging experience from start to end.
Insomniac Games was recently hacked by a ransomware group known as Rhysida, which claimed to have access to large amounts of internal, confidential data, including personal information of several employees. Following Insomniac’s refusal to pay for the return of the data, the hacker group has now released the vast majority of it online, as reported by Cyber Daily. In a statement provided to the outlet, the hacker group has said it viewed Insomniac as “an easy target”.
Some new details have leaked for Insomniac’s upcoming title, Marvel’s Wolverine.
Remedy Entertainment's Alan Wake 2 received widespread acclaim from fans and critics when it launched on 27th October, continuing the tale of the tortured, titular writer. The sequel to the cult-classic Alan Wake, buoyed by more than a decade of hype and developed by a Remedy with the momentum of a well-received Control behind it, you'd expect the game to sell like gangbusters, wouldn't you?
Bandai Namco is full steam ahead with Tekken 8 as the fighting game fast approaches launch day. The title is due for release on 26th January 2024, and up to now, most of its trailers have been focused on single characters. This new one, however, shows off the game's Story mode — and it's looking typically mad.
Things are starting to heat up in the PS5 Pro rumour mill. Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb, who's been a relatively reliable source of information in the past, has made further comments on Sony's unannounced mid-step console, suggesting it's currently scheduled to arrive in about nine months' time.
Insomniac Games, the PlayStation first-party studio behind the recent Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and the upcoming Marvel's Wolverine, has been hacked, with sensitive information currently held hostage in a brazen digital heist.
Square Enix has spilled a few more beans on Visions of Mana, the freshly announced, brand new instalment in the storied Mana series. For starters, this won't be an open world adventure. Questions were raised regarding the game's scope when its debut trailer showed off some huge environments, but no, it's not quite that big.
There are so many roguelikes and roguelites now that it's getting harder and harder to stand out, and that's something Have a Nice Death doesn't quite overcome. By and large, this is a perfectly decent side-scrolling action game, but it doesn't reach the upper echelons of this competitive niche.