Nov 6, 2018

Here's What the Games Press is Saying About Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - Jens Erik (Community Manager)

We recently sent out a beta version of Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden to press and the coverage has been amazing so far! We’ve collected some of the previews we’ve gotten in the announcement below for your perusal.

PC Gamer:

It's fun, funny, and the combat is challenging from the get-go

A pig, a duck, and a mutant lady walk into a camp full of angry ghouls. There's no punchline—just a game over screen, because those ghouls lit me up with rifles and molotovs before I got a chance to move. Dux? Barbecued. Bormin, my gruff boar scavenger? Skewered. Selma? Also barbecued. Look, these ghoul guys live out in the Zone, what survivors in Mutant Year Zero call the wasteland of this particular post-apocalypse. Point is, they don't discriminate who they set on fire.

Gamezone:

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden has a lot of heart but also guts

I was thoroughly hooked on the story and wanted to know more about the world and its secrets. Clearly, there is more in this world than just a wasteland. With an early-point taste of the game, many interesting skills were out my reach but just reading the descriptions were enough to fantasize about tactical applications and new ways to approach combat. In terms of polish and performance, Mutant Year Zero is already up to a high standard, and with about a month left in the oven, it should get even better.

MMORPG:

Not So MMO: Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden – First Impressions

Right off the bat, the game is sort of a blend of story-based exploration and XCOM-like turn-based combat. That’s different enough, but your main characters for the story are a very Howard-like mutated duck and tanky mutated warthog that could easily be working with the Foot Clan. The two are far more serious-minded than the characters they resemble, however. They do joke and the game’s not short on puns, but the devs did a really good job of setting down a layer of humor that feels appropriate to the game.

Techraptor:

Embrace Your Post-Human Inner Beast in Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

Smack-dab in the middle of a patch of woods, I took control of Bormin and Dux. It’s easy to guess who’s who I’m sure. The lovable critters are stalkers in the Zone. Sounds familiar? It should. It looks more like a tip of the hat to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. rather than shameless imitation. In any case, they are out on a seemingly mundane foray for scraps. Bormin doubles as a gravelly and dismal narrator, a kind of post-human Epic Voice Guy. Dux is more of a daffy little bastard, a comic relief foil in contrast with Bormin. The interplay between the two characters fits the setting.

They move and explore the levels from a top-down real-time mode at first. When they encounter hostiles you get to turn-based combat that will inevitably remind most players of XCOM. The influence is obviously there, but Mutant is decidedly simpler and doesn’t feel bogged down by complex details. It’s a clear and humble quality in an indie game that couldn’t support the cumbersome maintenance of a full-on XCOM clone. The combat feels effective and polished, and that’s more than you can ask from a beta.

Critical Hit:

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is ducking hard, and that’s the way I like it

Based on the Swedish pen and paper game, Mutant Year Zero makes no bones about what kind of game it wants to be: Duckin’ hard, unforgiving if you make a single blunder and placing an emphasis on sticking to the shadows so that you can set your characters up in the perfect position to carry out an ambush.

With a development pedigree that stretches back to the original Hitman games, that stealth aspect feels like a natural marriage to the ideals of XCOM and its turn-based strategy. You’re still going to be calculating every single move that you can make, from the chances of landing a deadly critical hit (Hello!) to just how effective that brick wall is going to be when you take cover behind it.

That melting pot of diverse gameplay elements feels right, the in-game chatter between the core group of characters livens up a world that is teeming with danger and the idea of a smaller core group whose growth you can customise makes the game feel more intimate in its design. Unless you choose the permadeath option that is, you mad masochist you.

Gameskinny:

Mutant Year Zero Beta: Our First Look Impressions on Turn-Based Mutant Mayhem

It's hard to overstate how much I enjoyed this blend of real-time and turn-based systems. It fixes one of the biggest problems with X-COM: the inability to precisely position your troops for an effective ambush while retaining the ability to move quickly if the enemy changes position.

In games like this, where you're consistently outnumbered and outgunned, planning and position are of the utmost importance, and I greatly appreciated being able to move about freely.

Gamecritics:

Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden Preview

This sense of being in a lost world to be explored drew me in. I don’t expect the full experience to deviate much from what I’ve seen, but I’ve always enjoyed the concept of ‘lostech’ and seeing a group try to make sense of discovered items that modern people find mundane always brings a smile to my face.

Polygon:

XCOM-like Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden preview highlights novel stealth mechanic

The hook in Mutant is the ability to hide your soldiers behind cover. Each mission starts out with a free-roaming, real-time phase where you can explore the map and spy on your enemies at range. Some of those enemies will go on patrol and, by moving your soldier along behind them, you can get surprisingly close. Then, with the tap of a button, you can have your soldier hiding behind a tree or a rock. Once the enemy turns around, walking their patrol in the other direction, your soldier can ambush them from behind dealing extra damage.

Even more entertaining, once the trap is sprung, and so long as the other enemies on the map haven’t been alerted to your presence, you can reset your team. Once back in the real-time mode you’re free to keep exploring or searching for the next place to set a trap.

Oct 25, 2018

The Ark

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - Jens Erik (Community Manager)

In Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden you will face a world devastated by pandemics, global climate change and nuclear war. The countryside lies abandoned and cities lie in ruins.

In this devastated land you find an island of safety, peace and community – it is called the Ark.

The only safe place

A wide variety of mutants live in the Ark. There they have formed a community under the guidance of the Elder. They have built machines from the scrap of the old world and what little the ancients left behind intact.

The land outside the Ark is called the Zone. It is filled with dangers and the unknown. The Elder warns the mutants not to venture too far into the Zone. Dangerous creatures live there, like the mysterious Zone Ghouls, mutated monsters and automated robots still active from an earlier age.

The Ark has been built on top of an ancient bridge, safely perched above the dangers of the Zone, but in recent days the Zone Ghouls seem more and more aggressive and have been drawing closer to the Ark.

The mutants in the Ark need scrap and supplies to survive, and for this they send out the Stalkers. These are the toughest and most resourceful mutants the Ark can muster. They carry strong weapons and dare venture into the Zone to see what they can find and bring back.

You start Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden playing two Stalkers, Dux and Bormin, on their way back from such a mission.

A bar not only for drinking grog

When you are out exploring the Zone you will sometimes find valuable artifacts which the ancients have left behind. They can be things like a boombox or car battery. Your team of Stalkers may not fully understand the value of such things, but they know that Pripp, the owner of the Ark’s bar where mutants gather for a cup of grog or two in the evenings, has good insights into the matter.

By handing in artifacts to Pripp you can unlock team wide bonuses, such as increasing the damage of your grenades to upgrading the effectiveness of your med kits or receiving a permanent discount in the shop.

A smart strategy may be to save a few of your artifacts and hand them in when you can see that a specific bonus could be particularly helpful. Perhaps you want to get a bonus against a new type of enemy, or see that you need more healing than before.

Upgrade at Delta’s fix pit

Your Stalkers can carry two weapons each and every weapon in the game can be upgraded by using weapon parts.

You will find weapon parts when scouring the Zone for helpful loot. These parts can be used at Delta’s fix pit in the Ark to upgrade your weapons.

Delta is a practiced Gearhead and specializes in making weapons. She can also break down the weapons you have so you get more weapon parts in return, but each Stalker must have at least one weapon. If not they would be useless in a fight.

All weapons have three levels, and the higher you want to upgrade one the more it costs. A good tip is to only upgrade the most useful weapons you have. You will find many new weapons in Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden as you play, and some will be more powerful than others.

A good rule to keep in mind is that silent weapons are almost always very useful. The ability to take single enemy targets out before the rest of their group notices can be extremely helpful.

Iridia’s shop

The main currency in the Ark is scrap. These pieces of broken electronics or old machine parts are much needed in the Ark to keep its machines and electricity running.

You will find piles of scrap all over the Zone. Try and pick up as much as you can find because you can use it to trade in Iridia’s shop.

Iridia used to be a Stalker and is now retired due to sickness. She may be ill tempered, but she may also have useful tips on where to find scrap in the Zone.

In her shop you can buy many things, like grenades, scopes for your weapons, med kits and even new weapons.

Be sure to check back at Iridia’s shop quite regularly as you play, because new items will become available over time.

The Elder’s home

Your mentor and leader has always been the Elder. He knows much about the world and is eager to guide you in the right direction.

He counts on his Stalkers to bring back supplies and in Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden he has a special mission for Dux and Bormin.

As you play you should check in with the Elder back at the Ark from time to time, because he may have knowledge and insights to share about the many dangers you may encounter in the Zone.

The Ark is your only safe place in a dangerous world, and it is the headquarters you go to when you need to gear up and get ready for your next trip into the Zone.

Oct 18, 2018

What is Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden?

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - Jens Erik (Community Manager)

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a game that combines exploration, stealth, tactical combat, and finding answers. You take control of a team of mutants

The game is based on a Swedish pen-and-paper role-playing game from 2014, set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has almost gone instinct and mutants have risen up to take their place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooHyh0seWvw

Starting out you meet Bormin and Dux, a duo of Stalkers. Dux is a walking, talking black duck, equipped with equal amounts of crossbow bolts and sass. Bormin, the team leader, is a big and brutal boar. He's always ready to smack Dux on the head for insubordination while shooting a ghoul in the face with his Scattergun. Together the two Stalkers live in The Ark, a sanctuary built on an old highway overpass, and work as Stalkers, hunters, gatherers and explorers, who venture out into the irradiated Zone on missions given to them by the Elder, the leader of the Ark.

After returning to the Ark from an expedition, Bormin and Dux are tasked with finding a Stalker named Hammon by the Elder. Hammon is the Ark's resident Gearhead, the class that fixes and builds things in the pen & paper RPG. He uses metal scrap to maintain the machines that keep the Ark alive. Without Hammon, everyone's doomed. Bormin and Dux venture north, going further into the Zone than ever before.

Real-time Exploration

The story of Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is Dux and Bormin's journey through the Zone. Travelling through the irradiated wasteland happens in real time and we encourage you to take the time to explore and search through every nook and cranny. Valuable scrap and weapon parts can be brought back to the Ark to buy items and upgrade your weapons. Artifacts left behind by the ancients will unlock new team skills and upgrades.

We recommend taking frequent trips back to the Ark. The shops will almost always have something new to sell you and any good Stalker worth their salt knows that you need every edge you can get against the nasty Zone Ghouls.

As you progress further in the game you'll also meet other mutants who can join your party. We've already revealed Selma, one of Hammon's team mates, and we have more mutants to reveal as we get closer to the release date on December 4th.

Master the Stealthy Approach

Journeying through the Zone is tough. If the Zone rot doesn't set in you will undoubtedly clash with the deadly Zone Ghouls, horrific beings mutated beyond humanity. When you run into these foul creatures it's never a good idea to go for an all-out assault. Ghouls can quickly overrun you with superior numbers. To really gain an advantage on the dangers in the Zone you need to master the stealthy approach.

You can, and should, split up your party whenever you come across a new group of enemies. Send your mutants different cover points in the environment, scope out the area, and set up devastating ambushes against unsuspecting Ghouls. This allows you to pick off stragglers before tackling a bigger group of foes.

If your ambush is successful, or if the Ghouls accidentally discover you, combat begins.

Fight, Kill and Mutate

While exploration and stealth happens in real-time, combat is classic turn-based tactical gameplay. You direct your team of mutants around on a grid, placing them behind cover or moving them into flanking positions so they can take out Ghouls quickly and efficiently.

Each mutant comes equipped with weapons and skills to give them an edge in combat. Need to get to higher ground to take out a tough Ghoul? Have Dux grow a pair of mothwings so he can hover over the battlefield and gain an advantage. Is there a wall blocking your way? Bormin's resilient body makes him an excellent battering ram, so knock down that wall with a well-placed Hog Rush and give the nearest Ghoul a taste of Bormin's shotgun. New skills and abilities can be unlocked as you journey through the game.

You have a number of active skills and passive bonuses to play around with, giving you a degree of customizability when setting up your team of mutants. While you can only have 3 active members of the team you can switch these out on the fly whenever you're out of combat. We want players to be able to choose their ideal team, to fit their style of play.

You will be seeing plenty more of Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden in the next two months. We have a ton of great content to show you guys, ranging from livestreams and gameplay videos to screenshots and concept art.