Biomutant Analysis – The Missing Link in Evolution

Biomutant Analysis for Xbox Series X.

I remember the first time I saw Biomutant in the Gamescom 2017. THQ Nordic surprised at this conference with a Open world RPG with the developer Experiment 101. From the first moment, the title seemed like one of the more flashy projects in the study, but delays were wreaking havoc on it and its launch seemed more and more distant.

THQ Nordic He hasn’t given up on his efforts to build excitement with the game by releasing new videos and gameplays that haven’t won over all users equally. Finally, Biomutant It went on sale on Xbox, PS, and PC not without controversy, as many gamers were unpleasantly surprised to see that this video game is not the same one seen in this presentation four years ago.

But really Biomutant is it that bad? Does it deserve all the reviews it has received? We have analyzed this adventure taking place in a dystopian future populated by mutant animals and we give you our opinion. Before we start, we want to clarify that everything we tell you in the following lines is totally subjective and is based on our impressions while playing it. From the Xbox community, we encourage you to try it for yourself and judge by comparing opinions.

Life finds its way in Biomutant

Let’s start by situating ourselves with the story. Biomutant is located in the distant future where planet Earth was contaminated by a chemical company, the Toxanol Company. Through its greed, this society has wiped out resources and forced the human race out of its home. Fortunately, nature is wiser, and thanks to Tree of life New species began to be born which repopulated the planet.

The beginning of the story will put us in a war between clans of different races for control of the new world. While the survival of these animals is threatened by monstrous beasts called Devour worlds that slowly end the Tree of life.

An overly intrusive narrator

So first, Biomutant It has a very interesting setting and plot. It’s a shame that the immersion in his universe is affected by the style of the storytelling. We have a kind of Voice off which cuts us continuously to give us excessive information pills and comment on many movements or operations that we perform.

Although the narrator’s level of intervention can be changed in the setup, it does not serve to correct the problem that Biomutant introduces to us in a universe of words and terms that we do not understand or explain at the beginning.

The way of chatting with the various NPCs we meet doesn’t help the pace of the adventure either. Being a different species, each character has their own language. When they have finished speaking, the narrator will translate it for us as if we were watching some kind of documentary. A normal conversation may take longer than necessary to wait for the narrator to convey what the other person has said. We can skip it and play the subtitles, but it’s not the best solution to this problem.

A new species is born

One of the best things about Biomutant is definitely the character creation system. Before we begin our journey through the new world, we will need to define what kind of species we want to be. Like a good RPG, we can choose the class first. In total, we will have 5: Shooter, Commando, Psycholoco, Saboteur and Sentinel. Each will have its advantages that influence our style of play.

The choice of class will precede the mutation of our raccoon. We will define the initial level of your 6 statistics: vitality, strength, intelligence, charisma, agility and luck. In addition, we can also configure your genetic resistance to different basic damage such as heat, cold, radioactivity or biological hazards. As you can see, we won’t find anything that we haven’t seen in other games of the same genre.

Masters of wung fu

Now let’s talk about the action in Biomutant. The title of Experiment 101 it has a combat system which at first is quite attractive. As in my game I chose the role of Gunman, I will comment on the catalog of movements of this type of character, although the rest of the classes do not differ too much in the basic movements.

First, we will have a button for melee attacks with our main weapon. We can also run ranged attacks with firearms such as pistols or rifles. Regarding movement, we can dodge, jump and block enemy attacks. By combining melee attacks, timing blocking, and ranged attacks, we can make some pretty showy combos. Ah, it will also be necessary to be attentive to the resistance bar don’t exhaust yourself by dodging too many times. We could be exposed.

As we win fights we will level up. With the points obtained, we will be able to raise our character to the level improve your statistics (vitality, strength, spirit, etc.). On the other hand, we can also unlock new combos from the list of “wung-fu“, The martial art practiced by the creatures of the world of Biomutant. In addition, it is worth highlighting the special abilities that we will obtain little by little and which will serve to put altered states on our enemies.

Two lime and one sand

Sadly, what could have been more than remarkable playable mechanics ends up getting somewhat sloppy. The camera in the clashes, in my opinion, would be one of the most serious problems.

To begin, there is no button to pin enemies. The game works all the time with a system of self-tuned it does not finish convincing and it is done by moving the camera towards our enemy with the paste right. This often prevents us from seeing the position of enemies. Most of the time, a mini-boss will team up with several normal enemies. Even if we fight perfectly, we will surely eat more than one shot that comes from a place that is out of our line of sight.

Another fighting problem in Biomutant is the response to player. By this I mean that when we hit a surface or an enemy with our weapons, there is hardly any physical stimulus at the controls tell us. Even when we receive a bet from our opponents, there is no vibration (or it is so minimal it is barely felt). The feeling of hitting is designed as if we were hitting a soft toy.

Recycle and reuse

However, despite all of this, Biomutant it also has mechanisms that have been fairly well developed. One of them is the manufacture of weapons and equipment. We can upgrade our guns or clothing with junk or materials that we find all over the world. Even, if we want, we can create a new melee or shooting weapon from scratch. If there is a need for material, we will be able to dispose of the material that we do not use. This recycling and reuse system fits very well with the message that the game tries to convey: take care of nature.

A whole wide world to explore in Biomutant

The mechanics of creation we have just spoken of comes from the hand of exploration, probably the one I liked the most in the game. In the game of Experiment 101 We’ll have a full map with thousands of corners to learn about looking for better gear, crafting materials, upgrade points, or medicine cabinets in case we have a bad life.

Uncovering an enemy bunker, ruins or fortress will be rewarding as we will know that there will always be a reward for us, whether in the form of loot or new pearls of information about the past.

Also, as we progress through the story, we will unlock stool it will make our trip more enjoyable (there is no quick trip). Among these means of transport we will find giant mekas with wild animals that we will find in the forests and that we can train if we give them the right fruits.

Nature in its purest form

One of the best things he’s ever developed Experiment 101 it is the world and the universe in which Biomutant is deployed. The team did a great job so that as we go through the different regions, nature feels alive and constantly changing.

It is very pleasant to move around the map. Each zone has its own biomes and weather effects which are interspersed. we will even have day and night cycle. In addition, the environment never seems repetitive. We will always find a new structure or building that encourages us to explore it fully.

In general, we will be able to move to almost any area of ​​the map from the start of the game, with the exception of places with deep water and areas of danger due to cold, heat, radiation or hypoxia. Little by little, we can improve our character to better resist these effects.

Biomutant, a game full of light and shadow

But again, what Biomutant gives us, Biomutant takes from us. The good enhancement of the environment, the play of light and the coloring of the game only hide the bugs in many animations that we will find during the cutscenes. Animations which have no bugs (in fact I found very few) but which they are very archaic. Even at times, it may seem like we’re dealing with a title from two generations ago.

Continuing the cutscenes, on accounting occasions, they are repeated identically (Especially when entering the fortress of a new faction to speak with its leader). It is the same with certain dialogues which are reproduced word for word in the same way.

Finally

Biomutant this is a clear example that sometimes ambition breaks the bag. Playing it gives the feeling that Experiment 101 he wanted to cover too large a work. This means that the title has too many technical aspects that seem to have been overlooked to make the most of other more visual ones.

Actually meets most of the characteristics that can be asked of an RPG– Good crafting, interesting combo system, exploration, skills and stats to improve, etc. But unfortunately this is overshadowed by a bland (and sometimes very repetitive) fights, a plot in which we do not really know where to advance and a narrator whose constant interventions are annoying.

Even with all of this, Biomutant is far from unplayable. Also, I would say I found it funny after its introduction, which doesn’t do it justice. I really enjoyed losing myself in its forests and we stopped in, enjoying each new place I discovered aboard my robot built from scrap metal. Everything to make this perfect weapon made of a piston.