The world has ended. Plagued for decades by nuclear war, all the humans are gone, replaced by half-human/animal mutants that are far from thriving in the post apocalyptic wasteland Earth now is. For everyone, or should I say everything, to fight is to survive, and battles for food and supplies are numerous and frequent.
Coming from the minds of those who worked on HITMAN and PAYDAY, Mutant Year Zero tells the dark tale of a rag-tag group of mutants looking to survive in the harshest of earthly conditions. But basic survival for this lot will not suffice, and between your stealth-based XCOM combat you will be told a story of searching for the truth found within a far away haven.
But for the player the real meat of the game comes in the form of the two main gameplay elements. For the main bulk of your time with MYZ, exploration will be key. As you travel through desolate wastelands and abandoned cities you will be constantly looting whatever you can find that will aid you in combat. Armour, various weapons and the like can all be scavenged, and in order to progress smoothly you will have to have upgrading your squad at the forefront of your mind.
And then comes the combat – or lack of it if you so choose. You see, by using darkness to your advantage you can sneak up to and ambush opponents, or bypass them all together if you don’t fancy a scrap. But when you do engage in a fight you will quickly see how much the recent XCOM titles have inspired the MYZ developers. The combat is where your looted equipment and squad member’s unique abilities will come into play, as you will have to think one step ahead in strategic turn-based combat. In true XCOM style, cover will play a huge part in separating victory from loss, as will how you position your crew across the battlefield.
If you wish to get immersed in to an in-depth tactical shooter with an interesting story behind it then by all means take a look at Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden. It is now purchasable on Xbox One for £29.99, PS4 and PC. Oh, and it’s debuting on Xbox Game Pass too – another reason to invest in the stellar program!
Our full review will be with you soon.
Game Description:
From a team including former designers of HITMAN and PAYDAY comes Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, a tactical adventure game that combines the turn-based combat of XCOM with a real-time stealth and exploration of a post-human world reclaimed by nature… and Mutants. Of course the world ends. It was just a question of time. Extreme climate change, global economic crisis, a lethal pandemic, and increasing tension between old and new superpowers. For the first time since 1945 nuclear weapons were used in armed conflict. Mushroom clouds rose from east to west before the dust settled. Now it’s over and the Earth is still. Nature has invaded ruined cities. Wind sweeps through empty streets, turned into graveyards. The humans are all gone. Scavenging through the remains of civilization are the Mutants, deformed humanoids and animals alike, searching for salvation or just something to eat. To survive, you and your companions must venture out to explore the Zone. Maybe one day you will find the Eden of legends, the ancients’ haven in the middle of hell. That’s where truth awaits, the stories say. Maybe you will find your answers there.
