TL;DR
Exo One is a visually stunning exploration game where you pilot a gravity-defying craft through surreal landscapes. While its meditative atmosphere and freedom to roam are highlights, the console port runs smoothly, retaining impressive visuals. However, the core gravity mechanics can feel clunky and aren't well-explained, potentially leading to frustration and aimless wandering. It's an intriguing experience, but the unrefined mechanics hold it back from a top recommendation. Curious to see if the unique gameplay loop clicks for you? Dive into the full review for all the details!
In Exo One, players pilot a unique craft across a series of surreal and expansive environments. Utilizing gravity, players can roll, glide, and fly to traverse these vast landscapes. Exploration is key as you navigate both aerial and underwater realms, uncover hidden secrets, and ultimately progress to the next stage. The game allows for a significant degree of player agency in how you explore its world.
Exo One, developed by the Australian studio Exbleative, initially launched on PC in November 2021. It has now been ported to Playstation 4 and Playstation 5; this review is based on gameplay on the latter. The console port exhibits solid technical performance, with Exo One running smoothly and retaining all of its original environmental effects. Lighting, dust particles, steam, and water droplets are all rendered with impressive visual fidelity.
Exo One fosters a meditative gameplay experience. Players can easily lose themselves in gliding through the environments, enjoying the soundtrack, and taking their time to progress.
One of Exo One‘s defining characteristics, the freedom to explore environments independently, also presents a challenge. While the game offers clues to guide players, these can be subtle and easily missed, potentially leading to aimless wandering in search of the next objective.
The core mechanic of using gravity to build momentum can be somewhat problematic. While the rest of the game promotes a sense of fluidity, the gravity mechanic can feel clunky, leading to frustration when attempting specific maneuvers. Furthermore, the in-game tutorial is insufficient in explaining how to effectively build and maintain momentum to reach desired destinations.
In conclusion, Exo One offers an intriguing experience, but falls short of receiving our highest recommendation. This is primarily due to the somewhat unrefined game mechanics, which do not quite match the overall quality of the game’s other aspects.
Exbleative provided a review code for this assessment. Provision of review materials does not influence our editorial objectivity.
