You don’t have to be a True Detective superfan to understand what makes Matthew McConaughey the perfect pick for Exodus, but it helps. Archetype’s upcoming epic embraces several genres of sci-fi, but with the game’s new cinematic trailer, we’re getting a peek at one more: sci-fi horror. McConaughey’s delivery as mysterious stranger C.C. Orlev is as methodical and haunting as ever, but it’s got nothing on these bio-horror ships. Step aside, Rust Cohle: there’s a new existential nightmare in town. Here’s the haunting threat now stalking the galactic halls of Exodus.
McConaughey and the Mara-Yama
“Do you know what fear is?” McConaughey asks before answering himself. “The Mara-Yama do.” The actor’s ominous words are accompanied by an image: a shadow falling across a spaceship as a larger vessel overtakes it. Meet the Mara-Yama. There are parallels to the Yuuzhan Vong and Dark Eldar, and this menacing ship would feel at home amongst the body horror of Scorn. The Mara-Yama are Celestials but unlike any threat we’ve seen thus far. They stalk the forgotten corners of Cluster space, subjecting their prey to “intense psychological torment” before neurologically draining them.
The Mara-Yama don’t just want your cargo. As Matthew McConaughey says in the new Exodus trailer, “They want minds, memories, emotions. The more twisted and tortured, the better.” It’s too early to say how Archetype intends this new threat to function, though. Will these cosmic threats remain mostly off-camera as an ominous presence in the lore or can players expect to face these grim Celestials in the field? Can C.C. Orlev even be trusted? The devs haven’t dropped many details yet, but anything giving Hellraiser-in-space vibes is an instant “yes” for me.
