Still, you don’t need to worry about a lack of content in Biomutant my quest log overflowed with things to keep me busy for dozens of hours, even if those activities were largely shallow. The tasks themselves aren’t bad, they’re just the definition of busy work, and the rewards aren’t worth the effort half the time. That’s because you can always sell it or, better yet, break it down into valuable ingredients to craft better parts.īiomutant boasts an overwhelming amount of side activities that are mediocre best but too many of them boil down to completing simple actions a set number of times in different locations. The drive to make cooler weapons is potent and scavenging for new parts consistently felt worthwhile even when I found loot that was inferior to what I already had.
The same goofy satisfaction applies to armor and gear my character rocked a mascot helmet and a polo shirt that looked ridiculous, but the outfit was augmented to be as sturdy as a suit of armor. I had a great time maximizing this system, and seeing my creations tear through monsters always felt rewarding. These abilities add a flashy wrinkle to the action, but they also don’t pack as much punch as I wanted in battle, even after investing stat points into them.īiomutant’s combat became more tolerable once I acquired stronger weapons via a robust and rewarding crafting system. After collecting random junk like old sniper scopes, trumpet horns, or even bananas, you can slap together devastating killing machines. I appreciated the variety of special powers at my disposal such as creating trails of fire or conjuring ice storms. Parrying feels especially unsatisfying, and the loose lock-on system makes staying on target a finnicky pain. Being barred from summoning my boat in one clear body of water but not another puts a damper on the game’s sense of freedom.Ĭombat blends stylish melee with wacky gunplay but lacks the polish it needs, often feeling messy and imprecise.
Summoning a mech from the sky feels empowering until you realize some vehicles can only be used in vaguely designated zones. Traveling gets even better thanks to a variety of transportation options, from riding various mounts to stomping around in a mech suit to soaring on a glider. I enjoyed Biomutant most when I simply explored, stumbling upon hidden bunkers or abandoned villages and clearing them of their precious loot. The anthropomorphic character and monster designs are a charming blend of strange, funny and, sometimes, unsettling. A majestic Tree of Life sits at the world’s center and its four gigantic roots snake for miles overhead for a wondrous sight.
Despite its post-apocalyptic premise, the vibrant overworld is packed with color, and I love how that beauty is juxtaposed with ruins of modern civilization. Like many jacks-of-all-trades it winds up being a master of none, and a thick layer of technical jank on top of half-baked ideas makes Biomutant feel like a case of feature creep that needed to be scaled back.Īt its core, Biomutant is a typical open-world game featuring a large map littered with basic objectives, points of interests, and various environmental biomes with bizarre wildlife roaming in between. The game blends elements of open-world design with stylish action, gunplay, crafting, a morality system, and more. Much like its gene-spliced protagonist, Biomutant is a hodgepodge of ideas stitched together to form what is ultimately a mixed bag.