The creative folks over at The Bearded Ladies and Funcom were nice enough to allow me to review their new real-time strategy game, “Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden”. This story merges tactical strategy, stealth, and turn-based combat along with exploration and scavenging.
Without any spoilers, the story takes place in the future after humanity pretty much messed everything up and years later the new generation is picking up the pieces. The world is known as “the zone” where it’s not safe to be, the only safe place is a haven called the “Ark”. A special group of explorers known as Stalkers ventures out into the zone to gather supplies and ensure that a race of marauders known as the ghouls are kept at bay.
Now come our heroes, a mutant boar named Borman and a Dux the duck. While looking for a lost group of stalkers they meet up with one of the missing stalkers, Selma, she looks human but she has small horns coming from her forehead. Selma’s group was looking into strange crafts that have crashed near the Ark; the group’s leader believed they came from Eden, a fairytale-like land safe and far from the terrors of the zone.
The game is a lot of fun! The controls take some getting used to but luckily you have the option to have a tutorial that can pop up when you need it. Combat was a bit tricky at first since I’m not used to turn-based combat games like “XCOM” but after a couple of fights, I think I can take on anything…within my skill level (level 5 versus level 29 is pretty sad).
Trees, now you seem them…
The graphics are top-notch! I love how when you have to walk among the trees that instead of making them vanish, they just change how they look (as you can see below!).
Now you don’t!
“Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden” is a fun and addictive game. The story is unique, the voice acting is great, and the dialogue is fun to listen to (especially the banter between ghouls). What’s entertaining is that you can find clothing items and have your characters wear them (they’re not just for looks; they can give you an edge in combat!). On my scale of 5 stars, it’s a 4.5! See you guys in the zone!
