Biomutant is an open world action game from a small developer, which makes the game all the more impressive when you first boot it up. The graphics are fantastic, making the world vibrant and colorful. Upon closer inspection, yes, there are imperfections and blurry bits, but it manages to keep up the illusion throughout most of the game. The game takes place in the future, where the world has been polluted to the point of no return. Remnants of the human world are still scattered about, and the Tree of Life is the only thing sustaining the world, but even that is slowly being poisoned, and it is up to the protagonist to solve that problem.
The game can be overwhelming at first. In the start, you set up your character, picking from a class which affects the stats, and a bunch of other stuff. Then over the course of the first few hours, the rest of the game’s systems are introduced. However, these mechanics can feel like they are not explained well, and that they do not all gel together properly. There’s just something off about the whole package, which drags the game down.
The core of the gameplay loop is exploration to get loot, so that you can get stronger and keep on going. Combat is simple, and a combination of melee and ranged attacks. The protagonist has guns which you shoot and then can also get up close to slash. There are special moves you can unlock as well as a few weapon types. Yet combat doesn’t feel deep at all, and hits lack impact, so you don’t feel like you’re properly doing damage. The camera in battles is also a bit awkward, especially when you’re trying to lock onto a specific enemy.
The loot being the biggest thing feeds into the crafting system, which is easily one of the most addictive parts of the game. You gain parts that you can use to strengthen existing weapons, or to craft completely new, stronger ones. That’s the main way to get stronger, quicker. There’s also a leveling system, where each level provides you with points to put into specific stats so you can get a character build that fits your playstyle. This gameplay loop should be the thing that keeps you going but unfortunately the bland combat doesn’t make it that satisfying.
The story is very weak. There is a permanent narrator who is providing the exposition. It is constantly talking, providing commentary when it may be unwanted, and you just wanted to explore in silence. The worst part is that all the characters in the game speak gibberish, so for dialogue, you get them speaking gibberish and then the narrator then translates. It’s a very slow and annoying way to converse. The game uses a quest system, so you go around finding new quests to complete. The main quest is simple int that you are tasked with defeating four strong enemies and is quick.
Unfortunately, the game falls into the trap of having repetitive missions in an open world. These start to become too repetitive from the middle of the game. You’re tasked with facing four major bosses, and the approach to each boss is always you doing fetch quests to find parts to get some sort of special vehicle or mount. Once you acquire the vehicle or mount, you have to use it against the bosses. This is the other big flaw of the game; these major bosses change up the gameplay to not use the battle system… rather you are forced to use the new vehicle or mount you had just acquired. Some boss battles also have a terrible design, which makes it frustrating.
While exploration is always fun, especially just searching around the place for items to pick up, for some reason, you end up having good enough equipment very soon. This is to the point that the new stuff that you find is often not better, and you end up having to scrap them. Similarly for the crafting system, it might take you a while to get enough good parts to craft a better weapon. Sidequests are plenty and you’ll be constantly unlocking them. They’re also fetch and hunt quests, but some have amazing rewards so it can be worthwhile to do.
The meat of the game is not the story, but all the other stuff. The story itself is a straightforward story with no twists, despite the semi-interesting post-apocalyptic world that has remnants of human civilization, but everything is not human. Fighting the four bosses, and conquering all the areas is repetitive and bland, and it’s short. The game takes around 10 to 15 hours to complete, if you do a healthy-ish dose of the side content. After which you can go back before the final boss and just keep on exploring, although it'll be the same stuff that you’ve already seen.
Overall, Biomutant, considering its small development team, is an impressive game. Unfortunately, it’s not an amazing or even a solid game. There are a lot of flaws, mainly concerning the mission structure and the poor story. Both are too repetitive and simple. The combat is off, feeling too floaty. However, there are pockets of potential where it can be addictive and fun, such as the exploration and crafting mechanics. If you have time, it’s worth a dabble, going in fully knowing and expecting these flaws.
-----------------------------------------------
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
