Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

I read about this game before it came out and was curious to see what it would be like. I'm glad I waited, as they patched it for issues with earlier AMD CPUs (I have an FX-8350) among other bugs. After playing the brief demo, I knew it was going to be the next addition to my growing library. I don't see the similarities with Fallout, short of it being set in a post-apocalyptic world, that others do, though I definitely see the similarities with X-COM's combat with both the mechanics I enjoy and the bugs that plagued X-COM, such as difficulty with navigating between vertical areas. Other than that, the game has a unique style of exploration. I was initially thrown off by using the keyboard to move rather than the mouse, but it all became clear to me after playing for less than an hour. Exploration is key, as it's important to find all loot to afford upgrades and items, and watching enemies' patrol routes is imperative for successful ambushes. Ambushes and the setting are my favourite unique attributes this game has to offer. Running into combat will get you killed quickly, while setting up ambushes on patrolling enemies to thin their ranks made for a thoughtful mechanic. There were a few times when I had to get a critical hit to be able to successfully ambush the target, which was one of the more memorable moments I had in the game. The setting was believable, even with its cartoon-like graphics, and the Ghouls were an interesting take on enemies who lived in the Zone: the game's name for the post-apocalyptic wasteland. The several types of Ghoul added more fun and helped to plan which targets to take down first and which could be left for later. The robots were also vexing opponents, the Medi-bots being a particularly annoying foe. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys '90s games with an isometric view and turn-based combat. It's fun, funny, and will make you take your time to think before you act. I hope the expansion adds more of the same!

As a person who played the original Mutant pen and paper game, I must say I got very excited when I heard about this game. After starting the game I found the graphics, gameplay, storytelling and music really promising. Just an hour or so into the game though, I find myself stuck as all my possible paths forward in the game are guarded by way too many and too difficult opponents. I'm now at a point where I've reloaded and tried a number of different approaches without success, and I'm about to put down the game for now, as I don't wan't to waste what's left of my precious free time on this. I think this game would need a less steep difficulty curve to ease players into the game.

As a kid I read a ton of the old Eastman & Laird Ninja Turtle comics (they were significantly more serious and occasionally straight-up gory in comparison to the cartoon or the live action movies). I also probably watched Howard the Duck way more than it warranted. I generally avoid most anything with anthropomorphic animals as protagonists these days, but something about MYZ sparked some serious nostalgia for me. I'm also a huge turn based tactical fan with thousands of hours in games ranging from Jagged Alliance 2 to XCOM 2, so this seemed right up my alley. I played through twice on xbone, once before Seed of Evil, the second time with it. I don't own it through GOG, but I noticed there weren't many comments, and if anything, MYZ deserves some attention, or at least some discussion here, because I'd be interested in a sequel that improves on what they established here. I'd say the game deserves decent marks in most metrics people might use to grade a game, with art direction being a high point, but it falls short of being something I felt I could really get into. The main gameplay loop left me systematically jumping between maps for easy kills, running the simple math of how many points of damage I could deal per turn rather than feeling involved or invested. I guess what I mean to say is that I uncharacteristically ended up playing the metagame for optimal kills to refresh cooldown timers (most skills require a certain number of enemy kills between uses, and the number of enemies in the game is finite), and I generally never play games like that, minmaxing and taking advantage of metas. Something about MYZ brought that out of me though, and I feel like it's due to a very, very narrow scope in terms of what you're able to do as a player. I'm torn - if I had been involved in making it, I'd be very proud, but as a customer, it left me mostly unsatisfied. But again, a sequel that expands on this would be great to see though.

Love it! If one can ask for more, is more 3D cutscenes! I HOPE sequels/DLC are coming!!!

A solid (though limited) cast of characters, great combat and exploration, and a fun tone. Definitely pick this one up if you see it on sale!