Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

Pretty solid little game, could of done a lot more with this ip. Very stealth style of gameplay and not enough options for a replay. But pretty solid and decent enough for the price it can be picked up for.

Review and Tips:

Score: 7.0

This is really a great game in many ways. The cast is interesting and very well voiced, the tactics style gameplay can be quite fun once you learn the more advanced systems, and I really enjoyed the anthropomorphic take on a post-apocalyptic world. Why score it a 7 rather than something higher you may ask? Honestly, I had only a few major gripes, because in spite of obvious budget limitations, they created a quality and thoughtful experience.

Issues:
1. The characters are great! They have interesting things to say, react to the world within the stages, and quip about items they find, which I loved. What I didn't love, is that only one character is allowed to make a comment. This means 2/3 party members say nothing, and the 2, 3 if you include Seeds of Evil, other characters get absolutely zero story time or exposure. Only Dux and Bormen ever banter or comment on the story beats, so the other characters just feel like utility units, unless you switch to one of them to hear the commentary, which really sucks because I liked all of the characters.

2. There is no stage map. You have a flashlight to find things and that is it. It makes finding collectibles, gear, and other things more challenging. There is also not in game tracker to know if you have gathered everything from a specific stage, so if you missed something, you will never find it unless you pull up a guide and go back through each stage to find what was missed. It's even more frustrating because there are several dialogue points of discovery, as discussed in my first paragraph, but there is no way to track this to know whom you used to allow you to use a different character to hear their response.

3. Verticality is great, but destructible environments such as floors with verticality, and having your vertical terrain abilities locked exclusively to combat, is awful. If you kill a robot for example, it blows up, you lose access to the second and third floor, and all collectibles, gear, scrap, etc., as a result, and unless you have a backup save, you will lose it forever.

Tips:
1. ALWAYS have Bormin and Dux on your first playthrough as they are the ONLY characters that will directly engage in the story beats or interact with one another. I think Seeds of Evil implemented more party banter, or at least I experienced it with Farrow, Bormin, and Dux. The base game doesn't though, so if you care about characters and story, don't swap them out as they are the most story focused/integral members of the team.
2. Make sure to sneak up on all enemy groups and hang out for a while before engaging, as they have a lot of dialogue that will trigger, and if you attack too soon, or alert other enemy groups, you lose all the extra story beats.
3. Return and talk to the elder after ever area, even the optional ones, as he has something new to say almost every time, and he changes drastically over the course of the game forecasting in a really neat way if you pay attention. The other characters in town will also update and say new things relative to the new enemies or areas you visit if you pay attention.
4. If you want to hear all dialogue, banter, quips, etc., you can reload switching out the lead character, then pick up the artifact, interact with the environmental trigger, or approach the story trigger, but I'll warn you this feels a bit tedious and sad to have to do this to enjoy the characters.
5. Save before a skirmish to avoid loss items.
6. Long range and critical abilities are you friend. And kill enemies in isolation using the silenced weapons as they will not alert enemies if you do. Also, the cone if 360 degrees for detection, but if they overlap only the one within the active cone will react to you if you are silent, which helps a lot when trying to whittle down the numbers.
7. Scrap is very limited, so be judicious, or add scrap yourself using things like CT like I did. It makes the game a lot more fun in my opinion, as you get more tactile options.

Here's to hoping they keep making great games, and focus more on character and story integration in their next titles, as this really undermines the experience of an otherwise great game!

A solid stealth tactical game, don't play it expecting Xcom or you'll fail. It's more about being a Stalker scavenging while figuring out how best to take down an area by clearing stragglers and using good positions.

The balance felt just right that you kept being on the challenging edge of taking moderate risk to avoid open shootouts. I liked the ambiance and presentation, the story was mostly to support the world setting, not super involved.

Much more fun than I anticipated. It's not X-COM, but it is a very similar type of game with a mutant twist and a good story. Recommended!

7/10 - XCom with a LOT of Stealth
This game really is all about stealth. You have to pick your battles extremely carefully, lest you instantly die, as your party is extremely small compared to enemy packs you face. You spend a lot of time grabbing loot just outside of vision ranges, taking out small 1-man patrols in ambushes, etc etc. If you don't vibe with that element of gameplay you will NOT enjoy this game. If you can however, then you're gonna have a lovely little tactical game about exploring the most messed up version of Stockholm yet.

I love this weird little thing. The highly innacurate descriptions of pre-apocalypse items are hilarious and by far my favorite aspect of the game. The tin foil hat was worn by highly-regarded "free thinkers." The defibrillator displays a reclining human, meaning it is a relaxation device. A barbie doll is described as a totem of the "Hunger Goddess." I think different people will react differently to the tactical mechanics, and the game is quite hard on most difficulties. I may come back and play on a harder one, which isn't common. I like the weird animal mutants. I like the unusual tactical stealth mechanics, which allow you to pick off enemies silently before engaging larger groups. It's a weird little gem, but a gem I believe it to be.

A pig and a duck? Why would I want to play that. That held me back for awhile years ago, but after seeing positive reviews, I gave it a try. The only regret being not playing it sooner.
Very little dialogue/story, but similar to a comic, what is present is surprisingly compelling.
The turn-based combat is similar to others such as the typical Xcom comparison. Range penalties, cover. Squad based, but only three members to choose from at any given time. The special skills are few but more impactful than usual - they're simple but fun.
It isn't true open world, but you can explore, with loot scattered around, but the core of the game is of course battle.
Stealth plays a heavy part in the game - weeding out stragglers before a larger fight. Overall the difficulty isn't high for experienced players who tackle the highest levels, but for average players it will be a good balance.
The expansion is short - far too short - especially when compared to the base game which has a good length. The expansion is also too easy and it has only a loose connection to the base game. If you don't play the expansion you won't miss out. If though you need just a bit more itch-scratching, it gets the job done.