Biomutant: Everything We Know

One look at any trailer for the game and you would either think THQ Nordic picked up Master Shifu from the ‘Kung Fu Panda’ films, or Rocket from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, gave him guns and swords and let him out in an RPG to kill monsters. Well, I am still sold either way. However, for all its hype and mutated Kung-Fu kitties fighting monsters in a post-apocalyptic world, the vibe on this one is hard to catch, somewhat.

The combat is reminiscent of the ‘Devil May Cry’ games, with a combination of lock-on weapons and melee combos, but the racoon like main character that doesn’t speak any known language is a first, along with the post-apocalyptic setting of the game that really throws things into the mix. Regardless, this is one game that has been on the radar of every RPG lover since the beginning of the year, and as the release date draws closer, here is everything we know about the action open world RPG, ‘Biomutant’.

Biomutant Plot: What Is It About?

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The game has been described by its makers as a “post-apocalyptic Kung-Fu fable RPG”, and the fable part of it may be confirmed by the omnipresent narrator who is present in the trailer, dictating all the happenings in the game, voicing the main character as well as the NPCs.

The plot of the game, true to its little synopsis, will see a post-apocalyptic version of a fictional world, struck by natural disaster as toxic oil rises from the surface and pollutes and damages the Tree of Life, a mythical tree holding all of life together in this fictional world. The tree is said to have five roots, dividing the sandbox world of the game into six tribes. The purpose of the game through quests is to go to the end of each root to save the tree from the oil, as well as a boss creature that is gnawing at it.

The game will employ a choice-based narrative system with each of the player’s choices and moves influencing how the storyline proceeds, but the endgame here would be either allying with the tribes, three of which want to heal the tree of life, while the other three don’t and plan to take things their own way, or the elimination of other tribes to increase the influence of allied tribes, in an effort to save the tree. The way to do this would be through the Karma system, similar to the honour system in RDR2, wherein your actions in the world and interactions with the tribe members would determine their reactions to you, thus deciding whether they would be hostile towards you, or become suitable allies. Along the way to each of the Tribe’s enclaves and the end of the root, the player encounters and must fight his way through numerous mutated monsters and beings. More on the gameplay in the next section.

Biomutant Gameplay

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The game has been in development for more than two years now since it was announced, and significant details regarding the gameplay mechanics of this unique third person open world RPG have been revealed with the new gameplay trailers. The players take control of the racoon/cat like creatures, fully customisable from the beginning of the game.

Players would be required to tweak many characteristics of the main character, both physical and internal, providing player control over how their character looks, including colour of mane and fur, even allowing them to choose something of a “DNA sequence” that would allow them to tweak attributes like strength, agility, vitality, charisma, and intellect in the character, having a direct impact on the overall statistics of the character during gameplay.

For example, a thinner character would be more agile compared to a bulky character who would be slow but would be able to deal and take more damage. Likewise, a character with more intellect would be able to lead conversations and negotiations better, which would eventually work out in the favour of the player when the Karma system comes into play.

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As for the Karma system, it will be the one factor deciding how NPCs interact with you, and what their stance towards the character is, directly impacting the storyline of the game. ‘Biomutant’ also has a companion system that will allow the player to recruit allies and companions to fight alongside or to travel with them, and this too is something that will depend on the Karma system.

The player will be armed with a sword and two hand guns at the beginning of the game, and the weapons wielded can be modified or crafted from the game’s elaborate system using items and parts the player picks up during the course of the game, that can be combined together to form new weapons and enhancements, both electrical and cryogenic, something which is going to be a must since most of the moves are based on those, apart from the player’s basic melee moves. The game will similarly follow a level-up approach, and the points accrued through the same can be used to improve physical attributes.

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Movement through the game may be solely through foot, although the player might need to equip physical enhancements from gathered parts to equip gear specifically required to deal with the dangers in that area, or vehicles as seen in the trailer including jet skis, balloons and armoured trucks. Similarly, the same enhancements may also be equipped by the player to enhance their physical attributes and change their appearances by adding crafted biomechanical body parts. The game will involve a dynamic day-night cycle that will obviously have an impact on player, NPC and enemy activity.

Biomutant Crew: Who Is Behind It?

‘Biomutant’ is being developed by Swedish developers Experiment 101 comprising of ex-employees from Avalanche studios and the team that worked on ‘Just Cause’. ‘Biomutant’ is going to be their first game and the makers have stated that their primary focus was to create a game that was “fun in a good way”, and “combined shooting, melee attacks, and abilities in a quite intuitive way”. Stefan Ljungqvist will be serving as the director of the game to be published by THQ Nordic. The game will run on the Unreal 4 engine.

Biomutant Release Date: When Will It Premiere?

The release date is unannounced as of now, with both THQ Nordic and Experiment 101 stating that the game would be available in 2019. If rumours are to be believed, significant work remains on the production of the game, considering which a 2019 release date may not seem all that plausible. So, realistically speaking, we are looking at an early 2020 release date. ‘Biomutant’ will be available across PS4, XBox One, and Windows platforms.

Biomutant Trailer

Check out the exciting story trailer for ‘Biomutant’, here.

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