Slightly more than a year later, Biomutant from Experiment 101 and THQ Nordic has finally gotten the “next-gen” treatment with an Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 update. Biomutant was originally announced back in August 2017 but dropped off the radar for a while. The game eventually did release but received a mixed reception from players and critics alike.
Playing it now on PlayStation 5, Biomutant is a decent game that attempts to do a lot of things at once. Does it warrant a “next-gen” purchase? Let’s find out, shall we?
Narrative Storytelling
In Biomutant players will take on the role of a mutated creature. You’ll create this creature at the start of the game after viewing the opening cinematic. The character creator presents you with a range of options and these will affect how your playable character starts out in the game world. Players will choose a base species type from six different options. You can then move a circular mutator around to change your attributes and the colour of your fur. You’ll also be able to change your resistances somewhat and then finally select a class from the options available.
The class choices don’t really affect your gameplay too much since players are free to take their character in a completely different gameplay direction to what they’ve initially chosen. The classes are effectively just a starting point and as you level up, you’ll be changing things up. You can opt to focus on “Ki” based attacks or ranged attacks for example. Alternatively, you can focus on melee attacks or “Wung-Fu”. It’s entirely up to you.
The storyline of Biomutant kicks off after a lengthy introduction sequence. During this segment of the game, a narrator will explain what’s been happening to the world. The backstory gets established and then, things really get going. Without spoiling too much, the story of Biomutant involves a world that’s been polluted by a corporation. Now, the Tree of Life is at risk and it’s up to you to save the world.
Varied Gameplay
Biomutant’s aura system plays into its mild RPG aspects. Players will align themselves with 1 of 6 different tribes and this will alter how the game plays out for you. Depending on your actions, you can either choose a “Light” or “Dark” path. If you want to just destroy everything and everyone, “Dark” is for you. If you want to try to save the world, opt for “Light”. The narrator as well as the characters in the game will voice their opinion about the state of the world and the actions you’ve taken though so there’s plenty of nuance to your decisions. Morality crops up quite often since some decisions aren’t exactly as cut and dry as they might seem.
Circling back to the gameplay aspects of Biomutant, hacking and slashing is the order of the game. This is an action-adventure hack and slash game after all and the RPG aspects take a bit of a backseat at times. Players can go ballistic and button-bash their way to victory but there are some enemies which require a bit more of a calm calculated approach to defeat. Using long-range weapons and “Ki” based attacks such as acid spit can prove to be invaluable in some battles. The “Ki” based attacks are a lot of fun in the game and should definitely be tried out when exploring the world.
Open World
Biomutant’s world opens itself up a bit after a while and gives you a bit more freedom to do what you want to do. The “Old World” that you have in front of you can be explored quite freely with the only limitations being the environment itself being too harsh to deal with. This forces you to explore elsewhere and upgrade yourself some more before being able to progress further.
The story of Biomutant does get quite dark at times with some of the lore behind what happened to the world being a bit too close to home given the fact that our real world is also suffering at the hands of giant corporations. Thankfully, the game does balance this out with some humour.
The NPC characters talk in “Gibberish” but there’s a Narrator who translates for you. David Shaw-Parker voices the Narrator and while he has done a fantastic job here, he can become a bit grating over time. Players can turn down how often the Narrator speaks in-game and it’s an option that a lot of players will use given how often his voice pops up telling you to do something.
The open-world combat in Biomutant is fast, fluid and frantic. However, there’s a slight problem with this with regard to the camera angle and camera control. The camera gets thrown around quite a bit in battle and it’s disorientating at times. With that said, the battles are still remarkably fun and the addition of slow-motion finishers and flashy effects really sweetens the deal.
Biomutant also features some larger creatures which don’t really flinch much when being hit. These are tough foes and require a different approach to defeat. When you do eventually take them down though, there’s a feeling of satisfaction that immediately washes over you. Coupling this with a loot system means that defeating large foes feels rewarding. The crafting system in Biomutant plays right into this too with some really great crafted weapons feeling super powerful in-game.
Visually Appealing
When it comes to graphics, Biomutant is a mixed bag. There are some almost photorealistic environments mixed in with character models and textures which look cartoon-esque. Some textures in-game look terrible when up close. For the most part, though, you’ll be in awe at just how vibrant and beautiful the environment looks. There’s also a photo mode which can be triggered by pressing both analog sticks or activating it from a menu. The photo mode features a great range of options and the game runs smoothly. If you opt for the Quality visuals you’ll get 4K at 30 FPS or 4K with a variable frame rate. The Performance mode drops the resolution down a bit to 2K in favour of a higher framerate.
The game also has a photo mode which can be triggered by simply pressing both analog sticks in or by launching it from a menu. This can be activated at any time, instantly freezes the action and you can play around with the camera taking the best screenshots known to mankind. The photo mode is honestly one of the best parts of the game and there are so many opportunities in the game to really explore your creative side with the photo mode. The gorgeous locales and the varied mutated monsters are quite photogenic.
On the topic of mutated monsters, Biomutant features a lot of incredibly eye-catching designs which range from zany to terrifying. It really is remarkable and there’s a specific giant creature that you see at the start of the game that will leave you awestruck.
The soundtrack featured in Biomutant has a few memorable tracks with a battle music track that is well suited the to combat and action. There’s a distinct East-Asian undertone to the game’s music and theme and it works together with the fact that you are referred to a “Ronin” in-game.
Final Verdict
Overall, Biomutant on PS5 is an action-adventure game that does a lot of things right while dropping the ball in some aspects. It draws inspiration from the numerous open-world action-adventure games of yesteryear but still manages to set itself apart from them with its cartoony, vibrant aesthetic. On PlayStation 5, it runs perfectly fine and the vibrant visuals are fantastic throughout.
This game is no Horizon Zero Dawn but even at its junkiest, you’re still bound to have fun with Biomutant. The visual fidelity upgrade the PS5 version brings to the table is welcome and since the game is now quite old already, all of the major bugs and issues from its previous versions of it have been ironed out. If you have played Biomutant before, the PS5 version is well worth picking up but don’t expect something mind-blowingly awesome. This is a fairly standard, open-world action-adventure game but one that is strangely compelling thanks to its vibrant vibes.
Developer: Experiment 101
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
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