Every now and then a game comes along which just cements itself as an instant adventure game classic, Chicken Police is such a game. If you like unique games with a superb atmosphere and art style my recommendation couldn't be any higher. I can't believe that this is studios first game, can't wait to see what they do next. If there are any criticisms I can make it's that the game is one the easy side, you're very unlikely to encounter any showstoppers unless you miss anything. This is more of a "come along for the ride" kind of game. And nothing wrong with that honestly.
...but I had 5 stars worth of fun with it. It's just a very unique game with its own flavor and those don't come along very often so I think Mutant Year Zero is worth both your time and your money. If you like me enjoy unique atmospheric games with some kind of RPG twist, and especially if you like stealth or turn-based games, this is one for you. It doesn't have the gameplay depth, or longevity, of say XCOM enemy unknown, but what's here feels lovingly handcrafted and with a lot of flavor.
Short Points from a long-term RPG fan. * Loved, loved the story. * Loved, loved the characters. * Loved, loved the main story and sidequests. * Gwent battles felt too easy but were still fun. I think for future games it might be nice if you had to adapt your deck more over time, so if you're fighting in the forests some units are powerful, it the mountains other units, attacking a castle etc. Right now if you have a good deck you can pretty much leave it as is. I focused a lot on offensive damage (fire, arrows, pits etc). Even on hard I pretty much breezed through the game and only changed the basics of the deck once when Black Rayla left. I think I lost 1-2 of the big battles over the entire course of the game. * Gwent puzzles were more work than fun I thought since every encounter had new mechanics. I think enjoyable gameplay mechanics is something you learn and then perfect as the game progresses. Learning new mechanics for every puzzle by trial and error just gave me a headache. Maybe others feel different. * Losing some party members because of certain encounters felt a bit harsh, I lost Gabor because I nullified the Nilfgaardian laws in a Rivian town. I was one his side long-term but didn't feel that this was the time to make a stand for those views. Maybe in a couple of years there could have been such a discussion with the Rivians, but not during wartime or after they've helped me retake a city. I've heard similar things from other players too. I think some kind of mechanic to explain your actions to leaving party members and potentially still have them in the party might have been good. Might not work 100% of the time but sometimes I've you're lucky. * The savegame system... yeah. Hmm. On one hand it prevents save-scumming but sometimes you really just click the wrong button or misread something. Overall a great experience because of the story though!
When all other RPG games on the market are made for people with an average IQ of 80.... along comes The Witcher. And thank God for that, what a fantastic journey! I've played litterarly every other PC RPG game there is and this undoubtebly makes it to my all time top 5. An absolute must play for all RPG fans out there.
