Exodus Borealis Review (PC)

very good
key review info
  • Game: Exodus Borealis
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
  • Reviewed on:
Exodus Borealis key art

My current bottleneck seems to lie in cloth. I failed to set up fiber production early on, which means I have villagers that are not performing as well as they should. That means my defensive towers are not getting built quickly. It also makes it harder to expand my town and make sure that I have all the resources required to finally make steel. And, if efficiency issues did not suffice, there are angry monsters ready to challenge my tower setup, which is not as well designed as it should. Let’s survive the night and then we’ll see which of the problems should be prioritized.

Exodus Borealis is both developed and published by the wonderfully named Smug Marmot Studios. I played it on the PC using Steam. The entire experience mixes two pretty different genres: town and villager management with real-time tower defense.

The narrative setup concerns the power of the community and the challenges needed to establish a viable town. The adorable Vupfox run away from their homeland and try to find a safe haven across the seas. On a previously unknown island, they get a chance to rebuild but something menacing seems to be lurking around the new settlement. The game does allow players to track their villagers and create their own little stories about them. But the overall narrative isn’t too deep, although it sets up the core mechanics very well.

The stranded group of Vupfox has only a little wood and food to start off with. But there’s a big, ominous gate not far from where they have landed. The player needs to balance two very different instincts to make the group thrive. On one hand, the population needs houses, farms, cooking stations, healers and more, to increase their numbers and take care of their basic necessities. On the other hand, powerful towers and solid walls represent the only way to make sure that demons and spiders do not reach the town and start destroying buildings.

Exodus Borealis
Exodus Borealis
Exodus Borealis
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Because the initial number of available Vupfox is small it is hard to overcome labor scarcity. Towers require wood and stone, even in their simplest form, but so do houses, even small ones, and farms, and other buildings. As soon as a research center is up and running the road is open to charcoal, clothes, cooked food, steel, and more. Gamers can also put up towers that boost other towers and the group guarding the gate needs variety to deal with all the incoming threats. I made the choice to ignore walls for my first few games of Exodus Borealis and I quickly discovered that making killing zones and channeling enemy movements is very important.

This new island also holds gems, which sometimes pup up when mining for stone or ore. As the coming monster mobs become more powerful it is crucial to create gem-based elemental force multipliers to deal with them. Exodus Borealis accommodates different playstyles and approaches. I tended to focus on defenses first, feeling safe only after having three towers up. I only then started to worry about my characters and their creature comforts, without looking at what the gate could throw at me for the first few strikes.

It’s also feasible, although more stressful, to accept losing one building early on to get the resources needed to then put up stronger towers. The biggest problem I have with the game is that it becomes predictable. It is always important to know when to move villagers from one job to another. But, at one point, only the monster assaults introduce actual excitement and town development is almost on autopilot.

Exodus Borealis is a decent-looking Unity-powered video game. I especially like the snow-covered months, when the houses and the people get a fairytale vibe. The user interface is good, giving players plenty of information about villager roles and the most pressing needs of the town. The ability to massively speed all the action is also much appreciated. The sound design is less impressive. The soundtrack mostly exists in the background and is easily replaced with some favorite tracks, while the only important sound is the one accompanying the attack notification.

Exodus Borealis
Exodus Borealis
Exodus Borealis
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The Good

  • Mix of development and tower defense
  • Gem system
  • Villager management options

The Bad

  • Limited story
  • Wall management
  • Some tech development

Conclusion

Exodus Borealis is a good mix of genres. It creates tensions by asking gamers to constantly balance priorities and work with limited resources. It introduces quite a bit of complexity with its gems and challenges the player to create a solid tower system that will take down enemies and can be easily expanded.

I, personally, didn’t love the choice to make monsters only attack targets in the village, rather than the actual towers. But I understand how it helps balance the experience while increasing the danger level. The main ideas of Exodus Borealis are good and it will be interesting to see whether Smug Marmot Studios will expand on them using the Vupfox or if they plan to use new protagonists for their next project.

Review code provided by the developer.

story 7
gameplay 8
concept 9
graphics 8
audio 7
multiplayer 0
final rating 8
Editor's review
very good
 
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Exodus Borealis screenshots (21 Images)

Exodus Borealis key art
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