Biomutant Gamescom Coverage
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Biomutant, the recently announced open-world action-RPG from Experiment 101, immediately stands out due to its vibrant colors and intriguing "post-apocalyptic Kung-Fu fable" premise. After the initial announcement piquing everyone's interest, Biomutant has been getting quite a lot of press attention during the ongoing Gamescom trade fair.
For example, here we have a sizzle reel that showcases the game's various environments, characters, and features. Brace for airships and literal hand-cannons:
Then, moving on to something more long-from, IGN offers us a look at Biomutant's gameplay demo, along with some developer commentary. Character customization, the basics of the game's story, a word or two on the combat – it's all there:
And here's just the gameplay, without the commentary:
Gamereactor brings us a 23 minute long video interview with Experiment 101's founder, Stefan Ljungqvist:
Finally, we get to the previews. Here's what PC Gamer has to say:
Biomutant's world is dying. It's up to you whether you want to heal The Tree of Life it or let it expire—and your in-game decisions, governed by a Yin and Yang-style karma meter, will determine your final outcome. Decisions made throughout the game will lock off certain dialogue paths. While players can occasionally revisit important decisions, being mindful of your approach makes sense if you're pursuing a specific outcome.
Our hero runs into the game's central and recurring antagonist, The Meat Eater. The ensuing fight offers a glimpse of the game's combat, which offers a smooth mix of ranged, melee and Max Payne-style bullet time. We're yet to develop our character, though, meaning we're not yet up to the task of bringing the world's last carnivore down. Our nimble critter instead takes cover in a nearby cave. Within, we find a cluster of Morks—biocontaminated creatures that spawn from the oily ooze that is the reason for of the world's sickness.
Biocreeps are the gateway to mutations—special abilities that can be mixed and matched to better deal with baddies. The first I'm shown is moth mouth, which lets you spit out a swarm of bugs. Telekinesis and Funghi follow—the latter of which lays mushrooms that can bounce you to otherwise inaccessible areas, or to fling hostile pursuers skyward. With that, there's a strong Metroidvania element to Biomutant, and Experiment 101 confirms specific mutations will help players reach areas within the game's world map.
The flip side of pursuing these mutagens, though, is that Biocreeps release infection upon death, which can cripple players and their teammates. If an NPC dies as a result of said infection, he or she is gone for good—forcing players to weigh up the value of hunting specific skill-altering toxins against the threat of losing comrades.
Biomutant's world is also littered with weapon upgrades, and a comprehensive looting and crafting system will expand the range of possible builds. "I think we're up to 500,000 combos of ranged weapons and a similar amount of melee weapons," says Expriment 101. "Again, we'll have more in the final game."
And here are some hands-on impressions from Gamereactor:
In fact, the first prototype was a top-down action-RPG design, but 24 hours before flying out for a meeting with Sony about the game, the three people who made up the studio at the time made the decision to flip the perspective and that proved a major change for a game that, apart from the setting and theme, has little in common with the original prototype.
We got to sit down and spend some quality time with the Gamescom demo, which basically features a somewhat altered start of the game and lasts for about 30 minutes. We start at the character creation screen where you get to customise the look and attributes of your mutant pirate racoon (or whatever it is we're playing as). Basically, a longer, thicker character means you're slower, but deal more damage, whereas the opposite is true for a short slender one. You can also customise the fur, fangs and other attributes, but just how this will influence your character stats is not decided. It may or it may not. We opt for something fairly mid-range, giving us a bit of extra survivability while not being overly sluggish.
Even if our build wasn't extremely quick the combat was still fast-paced as you dodged in and out of melee range, firing your gun(s) from a distance and unleashing various combos up close. The basics sees you jump, slash and shoot, with the shoooting being semi-automatic where you'll hit enemies as long as you're facing the right direction. It's more RPG than action game in this sense.
You will be able to pull off some rather fancy moves, juggling enemies, using various mutation powers to stun or cripple them as you chop down their health bit by bit. For the purpose of the demo we were a bit overpowered, and unlocked new mutations faster than you will in the proper game where mutations will be unlocked as you gather resources and chose them from an ability tree, and it's easy to see how larger mobs with mutation powers of their own could present a challenge later on. Overall, the combat feels fast, fluid and accessible.
Some of the abilities we got to try included sending a swarm of flying critters to confuse an enemy, using telekinesis to throw objects at enemies, conjuring up mushrooms that work like jump pads, and sending bolts of electricity through the tips of your fingers Palpatine-style. In addition to the mutations, you'll also be able to equip your character with "cyborg reinforcements" that include cybernetic wings or a jump pack.
The demo also introduced us to the ying and yang-themed karma system that's reminiscent of what you might be familiar with from Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect. This system will play into your interactions with the various factions as well as filling a role at the end of the game. In this demo, it was represented by a few different paths you chose at the very beginning, but in the game, it will revolve around your interactions with characters, your choices, and how you deal with the situations you're in.
