Game Complete - Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

A post-apocalyptic turn-based strategy

I was able to snag this game for an unbelievable price off of Amazon the other week, $10.95 for the deluxe edition on XB1. I've always prized physical editions over digital purchases - I like looking at them, and they're also easy to lend out to friends after I've had a playthrough, and then there's the issue of ownership - but this was an absolute steal considering it also came with the Seed of Evil DLC. Once I started my playthrough over the weekend I was immediately hooked with the gameplay and setting.

Growing up, I've always been interested in the post-apocalyptic setting. There's something so cool and interesting about the grittiness and having to 'make-do' or 'start over' with the scrap and remnants of ages long gone. It probably started with my first viewing of Mad Max 2 and really piqued when I discovered the Dark Sun campaign setting for AD&D 2ED (Brom's artwork really set the mood and atmosphere). Apparently, this game was also based of a traditional pen & paper RPG from Sweden named 'Mutant'. 

In Mutant Year Zero, you start off with the Stalker (the term for salvager) duo of Bormin and Dux (although I wonder why they made up the name Bormin instead of the more common name Boris) as they search for scrap through the remnants of what I imagine to be America. Soon after, they are hot on the trail of another missing Stalker, meeting the rest of the party in quick succession, and unraveling the mysteries of The Zone. The Stalkers often have things to say about each map and have humorous banter between them, especially when you encounter 'artifacts' from the old world and the characters attempt to understand their purpose. This brought back memories of the Love, Death & Robots short, Three Robots which basically revolves around that plot point of misinterpreting the use of ancient human relics.

This baby just mulched enemies.

Gameplay: 

For reference, I played on the middle difficulty (HARD), non-Iron Mutant. 

I originally had expected something along the lines of X-COM when I was playing, but I was sorely mistaken. This was not an action packed gun fest like X-COM as much as it was a tactical game of reconnaissance, picking and choosing your fights, and often waiting for a patrol to straggle off on their own so you could pick them off with your silenced weapons to make the central fight of the map more manageable. I appreciated that it was more realistic in that sense, it didn't make a lot of sense that your guns would be rattling off in X-COM and just because something was out of sight they didn't hear it, especially when you used explosives. 

The first part of the game was definitely the toughest due to a lack of resources and very weak guns, and that you have to get through a relatively tough battle (while you can pick off two carefully, you're forced to have a battle with 6 enemies simultaneously - a leader, a pyro, 2 zone dogs, a marauder, and a heal bot. Easily the toughest battle I had in the game, get ready to set up well, use grenades, and make liberal use of the Gaper to interrupt the robot) to get your third silenced weapon in order to reliably pick off enemies. The latter half, when you've learned most of your key abilities, and have access to stronger/upgraded weapons becomes a bit of a cakewalk and you're able to steamroll through most of the encounters (I even botched several pulls and was able to recover quite easily with the use of abilities).

I was surprised to hear that a lot of people found the game extremely difficult. It seemed rather simple once you understood the combat system and took the time to strategically place your units. I think Iron Mutant mode is definitely doable once you've understood the mechanics of the game and have some meta knowledge to plan ahead in terms of when and which weapons to upgrade. However, one bad pull can put you in a spot of trouble, and I've run into a couple cases where after setting myself into position with Selma's Super Tendons passive and returning to explore mode, one of my party member's pathfinding made him run through a group of mutants which triggered a battle. 

Characters: 

I enjoyed the cast, they were funny and entertaining. I also liked how they had a marked difference in appearance: a boar, a duck, two humans, a fox, and a moose. One thing I was curious about was that on some of the artwork, they depict Selma as more mutant-like, with grey, cracked skin. However, in game, she looks like a normal human save for a small black horn protruding from her forehead (and it's easily missable).

That said, there was definitely an imbalance among the characters in terms of usefulness, at least in my opinion. Bormin and Selma were basically auto-includes since they both had Twitch Shot (arguably the most powerful ability in the game), and Boar Smash (KO 2 rounds) and Alpinist (+50% CC if on higher level) respectively. I used Dux for the third slot (effectively sticking to the original 3 characters) because of his minor ability Circuit Breaker and passive Alpinist. I found that Alpinist was the strongest passive in the game. Along with a crit scope you had a reliable 70%+ crit rate, with the Aristo Hat I had Dux at 100% for the majority of the game. 

The other characters are playable, but definitely not as optimized as the first three. Magnus is basically a one trick pony, the only thing he has of value is Possession. Possession can be a strong ability, you have the potential to control any enemy for 2 turns. The only downside is that the stronger the enemy, the lower probability of you possessing them. I found that the most effective way to use it was on a group containing a Tank and a weaker enemy, possessing the weaker enemy was a guaranteed success and by placing the weaker enemy directly in front of the tank and taking a shot, you would force the tank to spend his turn knocking the possessed over and shooting him, preventing him from attacking you. You could then finish the tank off reliably in the second round. The rest of Magnus' arsenal is rather lackluster and doesn't allow him to kill enemies quickly reliably, Chain Lightning deals a laughable 3 damage to enemies.

Both Farrow and Big Khan are slightly more combat capable than Magnus. This is mainly due to the fact that they get a passive +20%CC in one of their skill trees. Farrow has nothing unique in her skill trees, she has the maneuverability of Selma, and the utility of Dux, and no real damage dealing abilities. Big Khan fares slightly better with his unique Ground Pound major mutation, which is a great "oh shit!" ability to stun nearby enemies for a turn, but Gunslinger and Puke Fire couldn't hold a candle to Twitch Shot or the reliable crit rates of Dux and Selma. His dearth of skill points when I got him meant he was warming the bench throughout my run of Seed of Evil. 

Overall:

After the last game, I've had a little difficulty in finding a game to really grab my attention, but once I popped this game in, I couldn't put it down. I was so engrossed in it, my girlfriend even had to come down at 4am to tell me what time it was. I was hooked for four days straight playing the main campaign and the Seed of Evil DLC.

While I don't think there's anything bringing me back to replay it again (few games really do), I enjoyed my time with it, loved the humour and gameplay. I would give this game a solid 8/10.