Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

Loved this game. Did a good job of being engaging without becoming over-complicated or overstaying it's welcome. I think this should be the ideal for indie, or AA developers; a nice 30-40 hour adventure that focuses on it's core gameplay without getting bogged down by subsystems or mini-games. Not the most in-depth strategy game, but if you want something a little lighter that still scratches the strategy/tactics game itch, this is worth taking a look into.

As recommenced to me. This game has a X-COM feel. My mane problem is the interface. The main button is not on my keyboard. The one that would allow ambush and servers as the enter button, but isn't the enter key. Any help would change my view greatly.

Проект похож больше на пробу пера и на протяжении всей игры воспринимается скорее как большая демка. Вариаций оружия и противников очень немного, умений мало того что единицы, так они ещё и пересекаются между разными персонажами, при этом применимых из них всего пара другая. Нечего и говорить, что какая-то вариативность тактики при этом отсутствует да и не требуется, так как все сражений похожи друг на друга. Город - условность, НПС как таковые отсутствуют как и какие-либо опциональные задания. При этом играется спокойно и достаточно медитативно, половина времени уходит на неспешное обшаривание зачищенных локаций в поисках металлолома. В это время можно насладиться достаточно красивыми видами постапокалиптического мира. Пойдёт для поклонников жанра, дабы отдохнуть от более глобальных сложных вещей, остальным скорее покажется не заслуживающим внимания. 3.5 из 5

I'm giving this a positive review with a lot of caveats. If you are considering this game I highly urge you to try the demo first. Gameplay involves are setting up ambushes and then executing them picking off one or two enemies which can require some trial and error. | think there is some great voice acting and the overall world is interesting enough for me to want to complete it. The game is also stable and I didn't run into a ton of bugs while playing. Some of the items are really neat but there just wasn't enough of it. Now for the negatives. The gameplay is repetitive you will use the same abilities for the most part to engage in these ambushes. The fifth character is just a mash up of the other character's abilities which was very disappointing and the progression is pretty uninspired. You can only equip specific types of mutations at a time and you will quickly determine there are some that are way better than others. Also the enemies especially early on have way too much health. Overall the setting and characters tip this on the positive for me but I wouldn't pay full price. There are better tactics games out there but this one does feel unique. I just wish it gave more options and had some better variety.

The Ancients were responsible for melting the ice caps, spreading a plague across cities, and ultimately destroying each other in a cataclysmic war. Decades into the aftermath, the last remnants of civilization live in a megastructure called The Ark. Earth's surface is completely uninhabitable. Prolonged exposure to the environment causes mental deterioration, turning those infected into Ghouls. The Ark's final hope lies in a new breed of mutant humans discovered in the woods who are capable of withstanding "the rot." Known as Stalkers, they are sent on a mission to track down a rogue agent fixated on discovering the mythical "Eden." The main narrative follows Dux and Bormin on their journey to recover Hammon. Hammon is a vital figure to The Ark due to his mutant ability to communicate with machines. Because his powers largely sustain the station's life support systems, The Elder—the leader of The Ark—sends Dux and Bormin into the wasteland to bring him back alive. The setting feels very similar to the Wasteland franchise, sharing a similar sense of humor that permeates both the dialogue and the locations. I enjoyed the endearing voice acting, with the cast nailing Dux as a cynical loner and Bormin as a loyal warrior dedicated to The Elder's cause. Because the party can have up to three active characters at a time, it was interesting to hear how different companions reacted to the events around them. Mutant Year Zero leans into t society so thoroughly dissolved that its characters often mistake everyday objects, like toasters, as lost relics of The Ancients. While these interactions are just a bit goofy, I found they played an important role in humanizing the characters. As the story reaches major milestones, the game features a few cutscenes narrated by Bormin in the past tense, as if he is reading a passage from his own chronicle. I really enjoyed the delivery of these lines. Even though the narrative twist was somewhat predictable, the pleasant cutscene format made the delivery highly satisfying. The gameplay of Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is something of a mix between XCOM and an isometric stealth game. Each location the Stalkers visit is essentially a large tactical map, which has enemies roaming about. When not in combat, enemies have a visual radius around themselves which can detect a Stalker if they get too close. Similarly, the Stalkers are hidden from enemies until they enter their fields of view, or attract their attention through a loud noise (like firing a rifle). These mechanics create a tense exploration phase whenever the Stalkers are not actively fighting. In many cases, combat is optional, as they can simply sneak to the exit of most maps. However, enemies often guard chests containing new weapons or armor, and defeating them awards valuable XP, providing a strong incentive to fight. The stealth system introduces a rewarding planning component. Stalkers can sneak around the map to analyze the best way to initiate an ambush. If an enemy is isolated from their allies and killed silently, it prevents the rest of the map from being alerted. By methodically hunting down stragglers, you can dwindle the enemy's numbers before open combat inevitably breaks out. Each Stalker features two weapon slots, a few grenade slots, and apparel slots for armor and headgear. While body armor typically provides flat damage reduction, hats grant unique boons, such as an enhanced critical hit chance from high vantage points. Upgrading weapons is critically important; it increases raw damage output and allows the application of status-inflicting modules that can set enemies on fire or incapacitate them. Additionally, each Stalker unlocks distinct mutant abilities via personal skill trees, granting tactical options like hypnotizing enemies or growing wings to fly to high ground. The stealth and combat come together rather addictively in Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden. While the game's production value limited its cinematic narrative scope, the writers successfully delivered an enjoyable cast of characters to follow through the wasteland. Overall, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a game I highly recommend, particularly to fans of XCOM or tactical stealth games. Or... at least that's what The Elder says.

Мир пошаговых игр можно разделить на до и после выхода X-COM, потому что очень много проектов выходило и выходит на её движке. И Mutant не исключение. Хорошо это или плохо? Давайте разберёмся. X-COM на выходе был настоящим хитом, но сейчас лично у меня любые проявления его движка вызывают рвотные позывы: перемещение камеры за плечо при стрельбе, перегруженный интерфейс базы, отвратительное построение мира. Я сейчас перечисляю минусы относительно недавней Warhammer 40,000 Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters. Но с мутантами всё немного иначе. Мироустройство здесь практически точная копия The Fall Last days of Gaia и это хорошо, локации интересно исследовать, они открываются последовательно, никто нас никуда не гонит и не ставит перед сложными выборами - можно изучать мир в собственном темпе. Мотивация на исследование тоже есть: лут, расходники, оружие и броня. Бои с противниками... нормальные. Из-за наличия стелса можно нехило так упрощать себе жизнь, уничтожая слоняющихся по округе врагов. Сюжет вполне неплох, персонажи не плоские и вполне прописаны, у каждого уникальная озвучка на разные ситуации плюс манера общения и акцент (как в случае антропоморфной лисой). К тому же игра небольшая и устать от неё... можно или нет? Да, из всего перечисленного вытекают и минусы. Игра даже несмотря на свою продолжительность успевает утомить. Причиной тому плохой баланс - примерно с трети игры играть становится чересчур легко (на средней сложности), бои не вызывают трудностей. С середины игры мотивация почти полностью пропадает, так как оружие новое находится редко и чаще всего оно бесполезно: за всё DLC один лишь автомат с глушителем, остальное что-то неведомое. Броня и шляпы повторяются, торговец на базе никчёмен и после и довольно быстро ничего предложить не сможет, так как загадочное сообщение про обновившийся ассортимент не несёт за собой буквально ничего. Обновляется лишь количество гранат и аптечек, дефицита в которых и так почти нет. Прокачка персонажей быстро упирается в потолок, да и на борт можно взять лишь по три способности. Мне было лень им жонглировать. Антропоморфные звери крутые, а вот бойцы человеки обычные и ничем не примечательные в плане визуала. Кто мешал сделать всех персонажей зверьми? Непонятно. Тем не менее при достаточном терпении вы пройдете игру за два-три дня и получите удовольствие. От X-COMа здесь минимум, болячки оригинала вылечены. Фанатам пошаговой тактики рекомендую. Эта игра, как я считаю, сейчас уже забыта. Возможно, даже заслужено. Она довольно средняя, но и любить её есть за что.

An XCOM-style turn-based strategy game with open exploration segments between fights and an extremely heavy emphasis on stealth -- so heavy in fact that, pretty much right from the get go, every single map boils down to equipping the whole squad with silent weapons and OTK’ing each patrolling enemy one by one before tackling the main group, because fighting more than 2 or 3 enemies at once is a death sentence. Even then, the fights are so stacked in the enemy’s favour that you’ll find yourself restarting fights if you miss even a single shot. Immediately tedious and frustrating. No thanks.

The idea is cool but it feels a lot more like a proof of concept. The variety is really small and there's barely any meaningful customization options.