Skip to main content

Space Western action RPG Exoplanet: First Contact combines Fallout with Firefly

Exoplanet: First Contact
Anyone who has ever watched Firefly can tell you that sci-fi and Westerns make a great combination, so it’s surprising we haven’t seen this setting used very often in games. The Borderlands games come close, but forgo the more Western-influenced aspects for their own style.

On the other hand, Exoplanet: First Contact, a new game now seeking funding on Kickstarter, makes no bones about how openly it mixes the two genres, even describing itself as a space Western. “We mixed the best of TESIII: Morrowind, Gothic, Fallout with the Firefly TV series and the Dune Universe. These are the main ingredients defining the look and feel of Exoplanet,” the Kickstarter page reads.

Related Videos

While the list of influnces might have you thinking that the game is a stat-heavy RPG affair, it focuses as much on shooter-style action as it does your character traits. When you’re not shooting or leveling your skills, the game will offer a crafting system built around antigravium, “the new gold.”

Players take the role of Jack, who finds himself on planet K’Tharsis, a “wild, untamed resource colony far away from civilization.” The scope is certainly ambitious, with no loading screens when entering houses or caves, and the only borders you’ll encounter are natural to the landscape. Jack will need food, water, and sleep, or else his mental and physical condition will be adversely affected. Of course players will have help from a number of perks unlocked as they progress through the game.

Unlike some Kickstarter projects, development on Exoplanet: First Contact is already well underway, with the game’s proprietary Sahara engine already in use. An alpha version is already working, and the game has already been greenlit via Steam Greenlight. Funds raised will be used to complete the game’s development.

Exoplanet: First Contact is seeking a relatively modest $45,000 in funding. As with any good Kickstarter campaign, there are a number of stretch goals in place, starting with more background options available for your character at the start of the game. Currently the highest stretch goal is $80,000, which will see random encounters added to the game.

At the time of this writing, Exoplanet: First Contact has raised nearly $32,000 toward its funding goal. With 17 days remaining until the campaign ends on Sept. 12, it seems fairly likely that it will be successfully funded. To back the campaign yourself, head over to the Kickstarter page.

Editors' Recommendations

Lego 2K Drive melds the best parts of kart racers and Forza Horizon
A custom car built drives around Lego 2K Drive.

Forza Horizon 4's excellent 2019 Lego expansion worked so well that it seemed obvious that an open-world Lego racing game should become its own thing. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long to see that become a reality. Visual Concepts and 2K Games have announced a multi-title partnership with The Lego Group that begins with the open-world racer Lego 2K Drive, which launches on May 19.
I was recently flown out to 2K's Novato headquarters to go hands-on with Lego 2K Drive ahead of its announcement and came away impressed. The Lego and open-world racer combination still works quite well, harkening back to some great-playing racing games with aesthetics and a car customization system that gets as much mileage out of the Lego association as possible. Whether you're a fan of this new wave of open-world racing games or want to build and then race the weirdest Lego creations possible, you'll be thoroughly entertained by Lego 2K Drive. 

Entering a Lego world
My hands-on time with Lego 2K Drive encompassed the game's opening hours. The central premise is that players are trying to qualify for the Sky Cup Gran Prix, a race in the sky that only attracts the best drivers from this Lego world. To qualify, one must win four Grand Brick Arena circuits in each of this game's biomes. But first, I had to learn how to drive. After designing my Lego character, I was let loose in Turbo Acres. In this smaller open-world area, it's manageable to learn the basics from an experienced Lego driver named Clutch Racington.
"We wanted to feel like you are playing with your Lego sets in the real world"

Read more
6 things you need to know before starting Resident Evil 4
Leon fights off a parasite in Resident Evil 4's remake.

Resident Evil 4 is finally out and it’s one hell of a remake. Capcom spared no expenses with the ambitious project, reinventing the horror classic and making one of the series’ best games (again) in the process. For newcomers, it’s a perfect way to experience one of the best games of all time without some dated mechanics, while old fans will get a kick out of seeing the original radically reimagined.

That surprising approach might also present some challenges upfront. If you know the original like the back of your hand, you’re going to need to unlearn a lot of your muscle memory before heading into the remake. Like Leon S. Kennedy, I’m here to guide you to safety. Before you start the remake, here are six tips to get you started on the right foot. Some are old features you may have forgotten, while others are completely new to the remake.
Learn the flow of battle

Read more
Before the Wii U eShop closes, pick up the best Zelda remaster ever
Link waving in Wind Waker HD.

As we approach the final days of the Wii U’s life span with the impending eShop closure, I’ve been reflecting on my time with that system. Although it’s considered a low point for Nintendo, the Wii U and 3DS era was when I truly became a fan of the company, closely following every new announcement and release. I enjoyed many great Nintendo games on Wii U, like Super Mario 3D World and Xenoblade Chronicles X. Still, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is the Wii U game I still come back to the most.

Maybe it’s because I got the Wind Waker-themed Wii U that included the game as a pack-in, but I fell in love with the HD remaster. Not only did it show off the console's power with gorgeous updated visuals, but it fixed a couple of issues with the original and used the system's GamePad seamlessly. On top of that, it's a charming and surprisingly bold game that still stands as one of the best games in the series 20 years after its North American release on GameCube.

Read more