Biomutant is the first new, fully 3D open-world game this year. For fans of the genre, this is great news since the last big one was in December via Cyberpunk 2077, although Biomutant's setting and gameplay are quite different from that RPG.
It should be noted that Biomutant has some technical issues, ones that will be hopefully improved upon by a day-one patch or any future updates down the road. Ultimately, there is a good game here, even if the launch version might have a few wrinkles. What are some of the positives and negatives about Biomutant?
10 Best: Ratchet And Clank Plus Fallout
The concept for this game is great. It’s like Ratchet and Clank because it stars a fuzzy mascot armed with crazy weaponry. It’s also a lot like the Fallout games because it takes place after an apocalypse, although there is a lot more color and nature in Biomutant. While these two properties might not have all that much overlap, a game combining the two sounds enticing.
9 Worst: Tries To Do Too Much
Biomutant is an ambitious game that packs in plenty of systems; in fact, it might be a bit too much since the overall experience can be overwhelming. There are multiple upgrade trees, each with different upgrade points, or materials needed.
It’s a somewhat realistic game but there is comic font thrown into battle to seemingly be like Borderlands. There is crafting and a light and dark system as well and these all just scratch the surface of what Biomutant wants to do. This makes for an impressive game, but some ideas could have benefitted from further development.
8 Best: The Beauty Of The World
Biomutant can be stunning, which again, is how this wasteland is more appealing than Fallout’s more barren territories. In this way, Experiment 101's game could be likened more to Horizon Zero Dawn.
There are some moments of true beauty in Biomutant such as coming over the horizon and seeing a sunset. Getting to witness these majestic moments can be tricky for a few reasons though.
7 Worst: The Graphics
One of those reasons would be that the game’s actual graphics, even running on a PS5, are not that detailed close-up. A bustling plain of blowing grass could look good from far away but up close Biomutant can look like a high-end PS3 experience at times.
It’s not even because of normal glitch stuff like texture pop-ins, although this game does suffer from those too. Some patches could fix these details though, and Biomutant still has instances when it is visually impressive.
6 Best: Weapons
There are lots of inventive, fun weapons to play around with in Biomutant. From fists to swords and guns, the way in which someone can obliterate enemies can vary.
There are even long-ranged weapons that aren’t guns such as the boomerang, which is wicked. Plus there are plenty of powers at a player's disposal too, like speeding through battle arenas and leaving a trail of fire behind or tossing out an electric ball of destruction.
5 Worst: Controls
While the weapons and powers are cool, actually using them in battle can be tricky. There is a lock-on system in the game but it focuses automatically, making it hard to be as precise as one may want. Tweaking this feature to prove players with more immediate control could benefit the overall experience.
Overall, the controls in combat feel quite loose; consequently, Biomutant is not quite as satisfying as it could be in this area. There is still fun to be had, though.
4 Best: The Mech
The mech is in the marketing material for Biomutant, which can be misleading for other products. Something this cool should take a long time to get normally but this unlocks within the first few hours.
While this does depend on exploration, if one follows the story, the mech will become available pretty quickly. Like most of the combat, the mech can be clunky to operate, but it’s still cool enough so that most of the gripes do not diminish its worth.
3 Worst: Story Presentation
One of the most puzzling ideas thrown into Biomutant is its story presentation. It’s told through a narrator like a storybook, a creative decision could work for a smaller game.
The thing is Biomutant is an open-world RPG with tons of NPCs to talk to. Why have a narrator translate an NPC’s dialogue? It’s an unnecessary step that, again, is just wildly bizarre in a game like this. It creates a bit of a disconnect between the story and the player.
2 Best: Character Customization
There are six breeds to choose from at the start of the game. On top of that, there are also five classes. Each breed and class gets some bonuses to them but for the most part, choosing a set path won’t lock that much out of the experience for a player so it shouldn’t be that nerve-wracking.
The actual customization of the playable character isn’t the most robust as it is fixed to a slider. That said, it’s pretty decent all the same.
1 Worst: The Bugs
At times, Biomutant can feel a lot like Cyberpunk 2077. It’s not for the obvious reason that both titles are open-world RPGs either. Unfortunately, it’s due to the bugs.
More specifically, it’s the game crashing quite frequently on the PS5. In terms of the performance, there aren’t as many bugs in Biomutant as there were in Cyberpunk 2077 at launch; however, there are some things that future patches definitely need to polish. Naturally, someone's mileage may vary, and this is hopefully one area that will be improved upon quite quickly.