Exile
1988 · Action-Adventure · BBC Micro / Multiple
Overview
Exile (1988) is a BBC Micro action-adventure with a physics simulation of gravity, inertia, water and wind, in which a jet-packed explorer roams the caves of planet Phoebus — often cited as one of the earliest Metroidvania games.
Deep Dive
Mike Finn of the Columbus Force is sent to the planet Phoebus on a rescue mission, and the renegade genetic engineer Triax steals a Destinator from his ship. Finn explores a huge underground world with a jet pack and weapons, collecting energy cells, and a teleport system pulls him back to a safe point when he is close to death. The game simulates gravity, inertia, mass, explosions, water, wind and fire, and its creatures react to noise, have line-of-sight vision and remember where they last saw the player. Some choices can make the game impossible to finish.
Developer Story
Peter Irvin, author of Starship Command, and Jeremy Smith, author of Thrust, wrote Exile for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron, published by Superior Software in 1988. Audiogenic published versions for the Commodore 64, Amiga and Atari ST in 1991.
Did You Know?
- To save memory, the BBC version used a reduced 128×128 screen and generated its world procedurally from a fixed seed.
- Amiga Power named the Amiga version the best game of 1991.
Sources & further reading
- Exile (1988 video game) — Wikipedia
