Exile’s End tells the story of Jameson, an old soldier who is the last surviving member of a crash landed mercenary team, sent off to make contact with a lost mining colony. After inadvertently dropping in on an alien planet, it is up to him, and therefore you, to open up communications with the bosses of the recovery team and uncover the sinister truth that lies beneath the surface of the strange world Jameson is stuck on.
It tells a fairly decent tale, but aside from the initial opening sequence and the odd cutscene, it is mostly left to the player to explore the side scrolling world, gathering notes and happening upon people in order to fill in the missing pieces. It works well, but in my eyes, the story plays second fiddle to the real main event…the exploration.
With a massive world to uncover, and inspiration from the likes of Another World pushing it along at a fairly hefty pace, Exile’s End isn’t something that you’ll be completing in a matter of minutes. At least not on your first go anyways, because even though the content included can, in theory, be done within a couple of hours, the puzzles, the combat and the opportunity to just check out what is left on that little bit of uncovered map, will see you spending much, much longer with the game.
The controls work well and are exactly what you would expect of a 2D side scroller. Jumping is as precise as it needs to be and both utilising your various weapons and running around as you explore every tight corner is done at just the right pace. With the decision to push Exile’s End out with old school SNES/Amiga visuals, it all works extremely well and whisks you off to a gaming era that holds many fond memories. At least that is for gamers of a certain age, because whilst it appeals massively to me and my 40 year old eyes, I’m worried that a younger, more modern day gamer may not fully appreciate everything that it brings. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the visuals alone were enough to ensure many don’t even bother taking a second look. And that would be a shame.
With a map that unfolds as you progress, you’ll obviously find a fair amount of repetition and treading over old ground in Exile’s End, but this is part of its charm and for each new item you find, or door you unlock, further areas will become accessible. It would however be nice to have some kind of map legend or important moments pointed out, as it is very easy to get lost and lose track of what you are doing or where you should be going. In fact, you’ll probably run around in circles more often than you wish, especially if you’ve taken a day or two away from the game and have forgotten exactly where your feet have recently trod.
But if you’re good enough, a break is something you probably won’t be needing with Exiles End as in theory it could be offset pretty quickly. There’s even an achievement which will unlock should you be quick enough, and par time of the very few who have completed it, or at least are showing on the worldwide leaderboard, seems to be that of just a few hours in length. Obviously that will rise significantly though if you wish to check out every nook and cranny… or if like me, you just aren’t very good at working out where to go next! You see, that’s where that 40 year old brain fails me.
Now, health packs, or the lack of them in this case, make up a major part of Exiles End, and it’s unfortunately not the best part. From the very first minute when you wander around in your low powered suit, and still being very prevalent right through the entire campaign, even when you’re kitted out for the fight, your health will always be your main concern. There are pickups, and enemy kills more often than not see some dropped, but whilst suit and weapon power is right at the top of the dropped items pyramid, health is in much scarcer supply. When you combine this with auto save points that kick in whenever you move from a scrolling area to flip screen, there are times when you’ll find yourself trapped in a corner, with hardly any life force and a whole ton of enemies to hop, skip and jump past.
It’s not fun being on the brink constantly, and as I’m sure you can guess, I was on the edge for much longer than I would have liked – with one section in particular throwing me in and giving me a split second in order to keep away from death again; something which didn’t work out particularly well. I seriously wish that there was either a ton more health available for pickup from the get go, or a manual save option to stop the auto saving madness from leaving you in a dodgy predicament. This may sound like me complaining that the game is too hard, but on the whole it isn’t and it plays exactly like we would have been used to back in the day, but there are some points in which low health and autosaving just don’t go hand in hand. And those points are pretty numerous in Exile’s End.
You see, the enemies which are in place will happily rid you of all last remnants of the good stuff too and they are a pretty varied bunch that do the killing job well. Not only will you happen across other space marines intent on putting you down, but the world which needs exploring is chock-a-block with all manner of alien lifeforms. Some fly, some run and some shoot fireballs your way without hesitation. But each will require a new tactic should you wish to continue your expedition without too much worry.
Whilst it’ll be the main campaign which takes up the vast majority of your time in Exile’s End, as is the way with a whole range of games nowadays, there is also a challenging survival mode in place too – whilst you’ll no doubt also find a speedrun and hardcore option once you complete the campaign. Survival requests you to clear a stage of enemies, and make your way to the exit, all before the tight timer kicks down to zero. It’s a nice add-on and complements the main story well, but it’s also tough as nails and really is only something a veteran Exile’s End player will want to get involved in. In fact, if you haven’t already piled a good number of hours into everything that the single player campaign brings, then you’ll find the survival mode probably too tough a cookie to crack.
In the end though and Exile’s End is a pretty damn decent 2D adventure. Yes it’s tough to get into and I’m slightly worried that many will pick it up with the intention of giving it a good crack of the whip, before finding the initial, rather hardcore, beginning too much to handle. But battle on through, grab enough weapons and items as you do so, and you’ll eventually stumble upon something that oozes old school quality. Just be prepared to take a massive hit in the first instance, balancing that precious life force with the need to check out what is just around the corner.
It may not be for everyone, but if you’re looking for something to keep you busy for a little while, evoking memories of yesteryear, then you could do much worse than jump into the boots of Jameson and grab Exile’s End…especially at the price which accompanies it.
