Biomutant, an open world game developed by Experiment 101 and published by THQ Nordic, came to the PS4, Xbox One, and PC a few weeks ago, giving players a lot of time to see what was good and what was bad about the title.
While some think that its one of the best games in the genre and comparable to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn, others aren’t fans and feel like Biomutant has too much going on to be a memorable and enjoyable experience. Either way, there are some things that were executed better than others when it comes to this game, and it all comes down to individual player taste whether the good outweighs the bad.
10 LOVE: The World Is Beautiful
One of the most important things about an open world game is the setting, as many players prefer exploring the world more than anything else the game has to offer. Luckily, Biomutant‘s world is stunning and many agree that its one of the most beautiful settings of any game in the genre.
Seeing as how the world is dying throughout the story, it probably looked even more radiant before the story began. Due to how popular the open world genre has gotten, many settings from these games won’t be remembered much after gamers stop exploring them, but it’ll be hard to forget how beautiful Biomutant looked.
9 HATE: The Story Is Boring
Biomutant doesn’t have the best plot, using a lot of boring tropes with characters that are barely important. It’s basically about the playable character trying to unite six tribes together and save the planet, while also trying to escape from it. In the process, they have to face their mother’s killer and accept the past.
Luckily, after the first hour or two of the campaign, players don’t have to continue the story as they can explore the world and go on side quests while forgetting all about the story if they’re not enjoying it.
8 LOVE: The Combat Feels Great
Fighting enemies in Biomutant can be both fun and addictive, making it one of the most enjoyable parts of the title. Because of the different weapons that can be earned throughout the game, there are many ways players can approach each enemy, and they all feel great.
Whether it be using a sword, gun, or even the character’s own fists to attack opponents, players will surely get hooked on at least one of the options they have to winning battles.
7 HATE: The Boss Battles Are Challenging (But Not In A Good Way)
Though fighting enemies is fun, the bosses are a whole other story. Some can either be balanced well or easy, depending on what order the player chooses to fight them in, but there are others where it is just as difficult to figure out how to defeat the boss as it is to actually do so, such as the Porky Puff. And once they do learn how to beat a boss, it will still take too much time to actually defeat them.
Some boss battles can take up to twenty minutes to defeat, which can be annoying as they only have a few moves, including the final boss. If some of the boss fights didn’t feel like puzzles and had more ways to attack rather than just a few that took away a lot of health, they’d be much better.
6 LOVE: The Character Customization Provides A Lot Of Options
One of the things that intrigued gamers the most about the game was the character customization, and it did not disappoint. They are able to pick a breed and a class, which impact their stats and the way they fight, as well as choose how they look.
Because of this, if a player decided to make two different characters, a lot of the gameplay would be different, giving them a reason to always start a new playthrough.
5 HATE: The Tribes Are Mostly Irrelevant
After choosing which tribe to join, between the Jagni and the Myriad, and ending the conflict they have with the other tribe, these six groups that originally seem to be important to the plot are pointless. Most of the content they provide in the game can be skipped and players never have to worry about them again.
It would’ve been great if the tribes felt relevant to the game but they only impact a handful of decisions and could’ve easily been replaced with something more exciting.
4 LOVE: There Are Many Hidden Areas To Explore
There are many areas in Biomutant that are not accessible to players when they first come across them as they will need to upgrade their anti-heat, anti-cold, anti-radiation, and anti-biohazard resistances to stay in them for long periods of time.
Because of that, parts of the map, despite being seen easily, feel hidden and make the player want to go inside of them more than other locations in the game. On top of that, there are some bunkers, caves, and tunnels that can be difficult to find, giving players a nice surprise when they do locate them.
3 HATE: Most Of The Side Quest Just Aren’t Fun
Though some of them are great, at least compared to the main campaign, there are a lot of side quests that aren’t fun at all.
Whether it be that they ended too quickly to get to something interesting or it was a long quest where not much happened, the majority of side quests were easily forgettable and the only reason to complete them was to earn XP and items.
2 LOVE: It’s The First Game From A New Developer
Even though there are a lot of things in Biomutant that weren’t executed well, it is incredibly impressive that Experiment 101, a studio that had never developed another game, was able to create such an amazing world and gameplay mechanics that feel just as good as some games that were worked on by people that have more experience.
Most developers decide to create something small as their first project but Experiment 101 did swung for the fences their first time out and it’ll be great to see what they do next.
1 HATE: The Choice To Be Good Or Evil Feels Pointless
Because the game tries to convince players to be good from the very beginning, it didn’t make much sense for the developers to allow them to become the villain of the story if they chose to. Players can kill small, innocent, defenseless creatures and join forces with the most evil tribe in the game.
But even if they do, the ending of the story doesn’t change too much compared to if the player decided to be a hero. Like many other things about Biomutant, this felt pointless and it would’ve been better if Experiment 101 improved the things that actually mattered.
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