Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden review

Recommended

by Janus

Definitely a clear Buy recommendation. I've played the Game 2 times now and I'm quite thrilled. I never played a Game of this Genre before and I became aware of that Game by Accident. It offers a beautiful detailed World and strong Characters. Everyone has a little Story and a different View of the Discoveries you make in the Game. It's just Fun to listen to the Characters when they find an Artifact and guess what that might be and what you did with it before the War broke out. You come into play as a Genre Newcomer quickly and easily and can proceed tactically quickly. Some Reviews have complained that this Game does not get to X-Com when It comes to tactics. It doesn't want that either, and that's perfectly fine. Doesn't have to either. The Game is the way it was made just good. Nor can I join any of the previous Reviews regarding Bugs and Glitches. After about 40 Hours of Play I could not notice anything of the sort except 2 small Things: 1. Sometimes with certain Covers the Character does not lean 100% on the object at 2.1 times The Game is stuck in the break Menu. Also, do not avoid and have no Impact on Gameplay. Otherwise, the Game is designed fairly and you can combine and try out several Tactics as each Character brings their own Skills. You can save at any time and make Mistakes unhappened (only in normal Mode). The End Credits clears everything up (How and Why you can play a Duck, a Pig and a Fox) but gives my opinion hope for a Continuation or Expansion. I would very much like to see that, as this Setting should definitely tell new Adventures. Verdict: I'm thrilled even if this Game has a real Ending. If you have roamed all the Areas and are finished in the last Area, after the End Credits have come to an End. Unused for the present Time, however, is so. Buy, try and have Fun.

After 5 Hours in the Game, I allow myself a Verdict: Worth buying! The Game has a beautiful, slightly comichafte Graphics. The Control is good and simple and the Alternation between tactical free Movement and turn-based combat Is fluid and successful. Occasionally, however, because of the Camera, there are Overcovers with Background graphics, which then cover the Game And make it a little more difficult. In General, Tactics are very big, because even at the middle Level (which I chose for myself) fights are crisp and demand the Player. Those who just "run in and balled up" won't be able to play this Game for long. The Retaliation With xcom was started by the Developers themselves. Clear turn-based Gameplay was not invented in xcom, but at least revitalized. That's why it was clear to the Developers that they would be compared to this Game anyway and therefore preferred it. And they win the Comparison, at least in my Opinion. Now to the Story (without Spoilers): It's not forced on you in the Game, but you get thrown straight into the World and you'll learn the Story little by little. The Developer is with a lot of "black" humor on the Thing that I personally like very much. However, it is easy to see that the Game is completely linear. Which is not a Minus Point For me personally, though, if the Story should hold the Level until the End. Finally, a Look at the RPG portion of the Game: Weapons and Talent Selections (called Mutations) are limited. Here I see a lot of Potential for the Developers in Terms Of Comprehensible titles. Personally, I'm not bothered that in the first Title of the Developers in this Universe, you don't flood the Player, but leave Room for Successor. Andre "big" Developers already have this behind them, just think of the fallout series of Bethesda genaration. Their Skilltree has also unfolded from Title to Title more and more. If the Game pulls through the Quality to the End, I hope there will be Successors!

TL;DR Solid XCOM-like strategy from Swedish indie developers that does something a bit new to the genre but not so much.

Average playthrough goes like 10-13 hours depending on how good you become on taking out the ghouls and robots. There is some variety in enemies to get you to mix up your strategy and set of abilities.

3-man squad and 5 characters but some are too good not to choose for the main roster so doesn't really play that much of a choice here. The only thing that you might miss is the comments and banter from characters but they are few.

Gameplay, as I said, is heavily inspired by XCOM but the stealth mechanic is pretty fun. You get to pick out scattered enemies if you have the damage to do it in one turn. But then again it can be quite ridiculous when a robot blows up near a guy that is looking your way but 8 squares away so the game thinks that you are hidden from him. Also, the percentage to hit is always either 25, 50, 75 or 100%, no hard math here. So there are less true XCOM moments where you miss 99% shot... It's a more forgiving game, overall.

The Lore and voice acting is pretty good, especially how the writers decided to have some fun with how modern things would look like to survivors of the nuclear wars: metal birds aka planes, iron serpents aka trains and so on and so forth.

The plot is pretty straightforward and simple but you don't really play this game for the twists and turns. The ending though did disappoint me. I mean, why on Earth do you make it so obvious...

All in all, I'd be glad to come back to the sequel or DLC if it brings more variety to the gameplay, enemies, character abilities.