Darkness.
The soft hum of a ships idle system. Your body tingles, pins and needles against your skin- how long has it been since you moved last? Against your better judgment, you will your eyes to open- a hiss escaping your lips as your lids part, the harsh lights burning your sensitive pupils.
Inhale- breathe.
Your stomach contorts- uneasy. The heavy, putrid smell of rotten meat is mingled with something else. Something almost sickly-sweet, like a thick cherry liqueur. There is an undertone of rotten eggs, and a faint note of garlic. Instinctively you curl your hand into a tight fist, clenching your own thumb to calm your desire to wretch.
You can smell it now- the scent that was previously washed out. The heavy metallic quality in the air. The thick coppery taste that makes your mouth water in preparation for your natural desire to recoil. You don’t need to SEE to know what you will find.
As you mouth a silent prayer to whatever deity may be listening, you regretfully open your eyes- ignoring the discomfort. You already know what you will find, and your suspicious are confirmed instantly. Your right thumb throbs in protest at the death grip you’ve held it in.
Up! Move! 
The numbness in your legs faint, you move to your feet-assessing the situation. Looking out the ship window, you see nothing but a pitch black void- only faintly making out the rust red dirt of the planet floor. You wipe a fleck of blood from the glass surface. A far better view than the gruesome scene laid before you that you’re actively ignoring. Your fist tightens around your thumb one last time before releasing, your eyes moving from the window, to the corner. To one of the bodies slain. How long has it been? How did you even get here? But most importantly, what happened here?
Uttering a reverent apology, you shift the armor-clad corpse, removing the suit piece-by-piece before adjusting it on your own person. Armor is no use to the dead. Hopefully, it will be enough to get you some answers. Clicking your newly acquired helmet into place, you make your way to the door, beginning the decent deeper into the ship.

A miniscule section, only a fraction of one of the 4 floors that are ABSOLUTELY SPRAWLING. 

Exophobia is what appears to be the first game developed by Zarc Attack. What is blatantly a love letter to what some may now (jokingly) call “Boomer Shooters”, it also brings some additional, yet familiar elements to the table for a fresh twist on an age-old genre. With an astounding attention to detail as well as a fantastic stylized art direction- Exophobia combines the retro FPS elements we all love, along side some surprising Metroidvania mechanics to the forefront, creating some fantastic, fresh game play.

There are multiple types of enemies you'll encounter. Unfortunately, some of them MAY involve flamethrowers.

At it’s core, Exophobia is exactly what it initially LOOKS to be: A retro-stylyized FPS. The graphics and feel will absolutely harken some elder-gamers back to the likes of titles like Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein and Blake Stone. Controls will feel absolutely intuitive to anyone familiar with FPS, old and new alike, but players from the 90’s will feel especially at home. The controls are what you would expect, and more. Though I did wish there was keyboard and mouse integration, the controller is set up nicely and is beyond functional. To note, there is the option to use K &M within the options menu itself, however, each time I attempted to play using it, I notably ran into an error or the game crashed. (I was provided a beta testing version of the game, and this will likely not be reflective of the final release.) Overall, anything you could want in a retro-style FPS, this title brings full force on a SURFACE and FUNCTIONALITY standpoint. But what else has it brought to the table?

The key to all your back-tracking adventures: Weapon Upgrades.

The overwhelming answer would be: Metroidvania! The main driver for the Metroidvania addition is your weapon. While initially it looks deceptively simple, and like it is just a mere plasma pistol, you would be sorely mistaken. Over the course of the game, you will stumble across weapon upgrade rooms. These will provide you with the means to access previously unreachable areas, opening paths and areas you may have thought unattainable. It’s a delightful twist that surpasses sheer acquisition of just “more guns”! Visually, you get to watch your weapon change as it’s abilities change- a pleasant attention to detail. Who knows, if you look around, some of those weapon abilities might help you find some interesting secrets, as well!

Shh. You can absolutely pet the super secret doggo.

Graphically, I found Exophobia nothing short of a feast for the eyes. While the visuals are very “retro”, there has been some definite choices made as far as color theme has done. While most things you look at will be some shade of blue-grey, the dominant accent color is a delightful, poppy red-orange. The uniform choice of color, as well as implementation is amazing, and really works well within the scope of the game to draw your eyes. Also, amusingly enough, it really serves to downplay just how gruesome the world of Exophobia really is. There were times I found myself looking at rooms, and taking a moment- allowing myself to “translate” what I was really seeing. Overall, I found Exophobia an absolute visual delight.

The sound and music direction feels well thought out, and generally well done. More than the sound design, the musical score is nothing short of fantastic. With a gorgeous backtrack that amps up with combat, you simply couldn’t ask for more. You won’t find any of the grainy, muted, and overdriven sounds of old. You will, however, find crisp sound effects that bring the world around you to life, and have a thrilling adventure to some unbeatable synth vibes.

Assess your situation beforehand, when you're able. It could make things easier, or harder.

So, while I clearly was enjoying my time in game- and found a large amount to praise- was there anything I didn’t like? Well… yeah, actually. I did walk away with a few gripes that, hopefully by the time of release, will have been addressed. Again, as mentioned above: The copy of Extophobia that I received was in Beta, as well as prior to official launch. That being said, I did take note of a few things. Primarily, keyboard and mouse seem unstable. This was a big one- and may be for others, as many find FPS more responsive with K & M. Realistically any attempt I had in using them resulted in ultimate failure, and ended up being a hassle. A small irritation I also had was the default terminal font. While I was beyond blown away by the theming- in an attempt to keep with the sci-fi retro design, pixel font that can be tricky to decipher is used for most things, as well as log entries. While over time, it get’s easier to read- eventually even I got tired of it. Luckily the developer was kind enough to offer “sci-fi” and “smooth” options. While I sincerely appreciated the gesture, I feel it should have been an option given at the beginning (with examples of each),or the “sci-fi” fount should have been used by default. The only other complaint that I found, was that at times… the AI could really be lacking. While in most cases, enemies were more than content to engage- sometimes melee enemies found the concept of moving 3 feet to the right to talk around a railing was too much to comprehend. While most ranged aliens were rarely a REAL threat (lookin' at you, Flame Thrower Guy…)- a lot of unexpected intimidation came from melee wielding foes that would simply rush at you at break-neck speed. Finding out that a railing was simply too much of a hassle to move around (or vault over) left some to be desired. In the grand scheme of things- very few complaints, and none truly overshadowed my experience.

It's just a jump to the left, OR a step to the right. Either way, I'm sure that would correct your little pathing issue...

Overall, Exophobia was a sheer delight to play. The developer, Zarc Attack, put an insane amount of time and effort into this title- and really seemed to understand who the target audience is. Not only that, but I sincerely believe there is enough of a fresh take brought to the table, it would easily be an attractive title to people outside of just FPS enthusiasts. While difficult and punishing at times, Exophobia feels wildly rewarding when you start to think outside the box, utilizing your surroundings and mobility. A feast for the eyes as well as the ears, the musical composition and sound design is phenomenal. Completionists will have plenty to do, lore being scattered about in ways that only the most dedicated of adventures would be be able to find. In short, I easily anticipate this to be a new favorite title in a lot of gamers libraries, come it’s full launch.

Currently, Exophobia is slated to be available on PC (Steam/GOG/Humble/GMG), Nintendo Switch, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series X|S on it's launch date of July 23, 2024.