Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

I found the gameplay kind of disappointing. Initially it was fun, however the stealth sequences eventually either require no effort from you (you just walk around your enemy's eyesight, wchich is marked with a bright circle on a map) or you're forced to grind it out on earlier maps, because on some maps you have to fight and if you've been using stealth (like, you know, the way the game kind of suggests you do in the beggining) then if you skipped even a small part of combat you're screwed and have to reload. Also, the fact that you can miss the stealth attacks is kind of stupid. If you miss your initial attack (or don't manage to kill your enemy with it) then they alert the entire map and you are simply forced to reloead from the beggining. So overall, an interesting premise but a disappointing outcome.

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a tactical strategy that borrows heavily from xcom. The information on the store page is sketchy, so let me briefly explain the only gameplay loop the game has: Imagine an xcom level where you can choose which enemy pods to fight and when. That's it. The whole game is based around estimation of what you can engage now and what you can and should engage later. It feels ok at first, but gets repetitive rather quickly, which is the biggest flaw of this game. The story is linear, and you get exactly one choice to make in the game that has no effect on the story, so this is NOT an rpg, no matter what the label in the store says. The narrative itself reminds of a sign “Please wash your hands”. While there is nothing wrong with it, it is just not particularly exciting. Where the game shines is the visual presentation. The character models are looking great, and the map objects are beautifully crafted and put together. The team responsible for that did a fantastic job. All in all, I spent around 20 hours for a stop-and-smell-the-roses-playthrough (with DLC and most achievements, but without Hardcore mode). Without the good looks that this game has, I would have quit it much sooner. To summarize: + Good Visuals ok Narrative - Gameplay borrowed from xcom with no innovation - Repetitiveness Verdict: Get it while it is 60% off or more. Not worth the full price. The DLC adds more of the same. So if you played the main game, you get almost nothing out of Seed of Evil.

This is in fact a good game, but it falls short of what it could have been. The setting is rather intriguing, but the main plot never really takes off. The characters are lovable, but don't really get any development or back story. You interact with the world like in an RPG but there's no player's choice. By far the most fun part is the combat. The varied scenarios and situations keep it interesting - despite the fact that the game changing skills are unlocked too early. Just make sure to choose the hardest difficulty. All in all, this game lacks the depth of an RPG and the thrill of tactical masterpieces like XCOM. Still, it's perfect if you just want to spend a few evenings with a nice game without too much weight.

I love this game, yet I can only award it three stars. As others have noted, this is a charming game which manages to present a fair balance of humour, suspense and, well, frustration basically. The learning curve is indeed steep, and as the game itself warns you frequently, the "save" button is your only true ally. You should not go in guns blazing but rather take the stealthy approach. Each level is basically a puzzle where you have to determine where to walk and whom to take out first so their allies will not notice. Once you get the hang of it though, you're in for hours of breathless suspense assassinating as many enemies as possible without getting caught. So far, so good. Where the game definitely loses points for me, is in the nice-to-haves. The extra characters you can unlock do not in fact add that much to the game. You just take them along for variance. Abilities such as "mind control" are seriously flawed by the fact that you are unable to attack the unit as long as it is under your control as it is considered a "friendly". Other abilities, such as Hog Rush, are critical to defeat enemies who are in fact too tough for you. Currency for weapon upgrades is hard to come by and cannot be easily interchanged. It is also not possible to sell surplus equipment (except for weapons, which can be converted into weapon parts at a depressing exchange rate). Spend your weapon parts wisely - one extra damage per turn might be the difference between winning and losing a level. Also, the weapons in the shop and in the field are not that numerous or diverse. I ended up sticking with what my characters own and some which I found in the earlier levels, saving my scrap to buy the occasional EMP grenade (now these are handy indeed). Would I recommend this game? Yes I would. Will I still be playing it in three months time? I doubt it.

Overall I like the game, enough so that I bought the studio's following game, which is quite similar in many ways. The storyline in Mutant was entertaining even though predictable, but the characters and the Steampunky gameworld was really cool. I was constantly impressed with the level of detail in the environments of each setting. This is a stealth-until-it-fails game, it's not necessarily aimed at modern X-com fans, but rather fans of stealth combat. If you don't like stealth, this game is not for you. Negatives? (1) the main RPG element is the character customization system. There's only one instance in the whole game where you actually have to make a choice, in true RPG meaning. (2) when taking out the enemies in a map you follow the exact same method every single time: take out as many enemies as possible in the outskirts before going for the main target. Your job is to discover the one combination of squad-mates, squad skills, and tactical steps necesary to complete the objective. I'm exaggeration, but that's what the game felt like: you can't really play this game in your own way. (3) the constant lack of money for buying resources, like grenades and medpacs, is an issue. This enhances the formulaic feel of the gameplay, since experimentation is punished quite heavily. People have gotten completely stuck in the game, unable to make progress, because of it. The developers should understand that not everyone is looking for a rogue-esque experience, especially if the game is not advertised as one. And if this game is aimed at only hardcore stealth gamers, it should be advertised as such. A lot of negatives maybe, but overall I liked the game and I'm glad I played it. It's a very cool and unusal set of characters, and the gameplay was overall enjoyable, since I like tactical games.