Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden
A tactical adventure game combining the turn-based combat of XCOM with story, exploration, stealth, and strategy. Take control of a team of Mutants navigating a post-human Earth. Created by a team including former HITMAN leads and the designer of PAYDAY. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is the ultimate fix for your tactical strategy addiction. Dive into a deep, turn-based, tactical combat system inspired by the XCOM games Journey through a post-human world of abandoned cities, crumbling highways, and overgrown countryside. Check back at the Ark, a neon-bathed oasis of ill repute and questionable characters, to restock your supplies and plan out your next adventure. A duck with an attitude problem and a boar with anger issues; these aren’t your typical heroes. Get to know Dux, Bormin, Selma, and many other characters each with their own unique personality and deranged perspective on the world and their situation.
Steam User 22
Some may find a high barrier to entry though that high bar shouldn't prohibit tactical strategy enthusiasts from enjoying MYZ, an excellently produced game within the tactical genre.
Interestingly once the game's systems are understood and progression reaches a certain point the high entry barrier drops significantly, reloads are far less than at the beginning and the game becomes very enjoyable.
Attention to detail from environment perspective and the environment are very high. Every stage has fully destructible immersive environments.
The game is a perfect length and the recommended dlc Seed of Evil continues with a well written and playable story.
MYZ starts with two playable characters. Three additional characters are added throughout the main campaign and one during the dlc. Characters are exchangeable out of battle and all come with their own mutations or skills.
Given the number of characters and variances in difficulty the game is highly re-playable.
Controller support is perfectly implemented though kb/m support is available if preferred.
Having completed the game and dlc I can comment on some of the complaints I've read about the game-play whether in reviews or forum posts.
Enemies can shoot across the map. Depends on the map size but the larger the map size the less probability and the larger maps just not true so I'll rate this false. Enemies like the player controlled characters have weapons with a defined range. The farther the shot the less probability of a hit. I've found this behavior very consistent.
Firing at enemies can alert the entire map to move against you.
I'll rate this complaint false though with a caveat. NYZ has three types of weapons. Some may say two but allow me to pontificate. This is where I believe much of player frustration emanates, especially in the beginning of the game when you are just learning the game's idiosyncrasies.
MYZ does very well at demarcation. That is to say movement both horizontal and vertical (*dpad on a controller) is very precise. The developers did an excellent job at illustrating action points used, enemy hit range and hit percentages for every potential square the player may move to.
The issue for some is that *after starting battle* non engaged enemy alert levels for the various types of weapons are hidden from the user. Silent weapons if used too close to a non engaged enemy may alert that enemy who will in turn alert all enemies in a specific vicinity or range. What is this vicinity? I can only speculate. Same for weapons that are not marked as excessively loud (type 2). These weapons can be used without alerting enemies though again you must speculate alert distance.
The third weapon type, excessively loud weapons have large alert distances, more understandable as the developer labeled them as such. Clearly alert distances are Type 1 < Type 2 < Type 3 however alert distances are not specifically disclosed or defined. Obviously intentional design by the developer and looking back at my play-through I can agree with this design but there will be many who don't. I will say that the behavior is consistent throughout the game so I don't believe it's an RNG issue.
Frequently I'm overwhelmed this game is ridiculous.
I've spoken of alerting too many enemies. The main premise of the game is stealth and managing your battles appropriately. MYZ also shares an enemy mechanic with Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Certain enemies just let's say need to managed. If you don't, yes you will get overwhelmed. You may be able to handle the rush but the odds are, especially early in the game, you won't and you'll probably uninstall, rage quit, blame the game and write a negative review or forum post.
In summary, in the beginning the game can be difficult but not everything in life is handed to you on a silver platter. Learn the game's systems and you'll be rewarded.
Steam User 14
At first glance, it might seem similar to XCOM with its tactical combat and strategic elements. However, upon closer inspection, it falls short in several critical aspects, such as the depth of gameplay and narrative. The mechanics come across as simplified, and the overall experience lacks the polish and complexity that fans of the genre might expect. That said, if you approach it with lower expectations and aren’t seeking something too challenging, it can still serve as a reasonable choice for casual, light entertainment. It offers just enough to keep you engaged without becoming too overwhelming.
동물농장.
Steam User 9
This was a game I started playing like 5 years ago and forgot about, I restarted it and am having a blast. Edit: I beat the game, I am really glad I went back and picked this up again.
Plot
Good enough to be a lil CG movie, it's supposed to get one but who knows. It's a simple story where the player will figure things out much quicker than the characters but the the protags are so well written and voice acted that you enjoy the slow burn investigation from their perspective.
Gameplay
It's like X-Com 2016 but an adventure game with lite collecathon elements that encourage exploration which is tied to finding new items and the upgrade system. A lot of players encourage pure stealth but by the third act of the game you're so powerful you can rambo a lot of situations, at least on Normal difficulty. Anything you can buy you can find, but don't let that stop you from spending your currency. Some fights will feel incredibly unfair but they are far and few between and usually the unfairness comes from player misplays. I think it's a fantastic combat strategy game but man the only portion of the gameplay I did not enjoy was the final boss. It was a little too easy with my party build.
Graphics and Setting
Great game for those who enjoy exploring the remnants of society set in post-apocalyptic world in the same lush vibrant stylization you'd find in other same-decade games like Nier Automata or The Last of Us.
Steam User 4
There is not a lot of variety in which to beat the enemies. characters have fixed skills and some of those skills show up on different characters. less variety in that sense. XCOM had variety and you got to choose from many useful skills. Killing all enemies seems mandatory along with picking them off one by one and using silent weapons. Not much room to get creative but overall decent. Aside from those deficits, I love the game, 15 hours in. Only one game surpassed my expectations when relating it to XCOM, shoutout to Othercide!
Steam User 4
Super underrated gem. It is amazing. The world and vibes are my favorite I have ever seen from a post apocalypse. And the gameplay is super fun, especially in the late game where you have an established kit and synergy. It has a few flaws, like being a bit buggy, but its strengths more than make up for it.
I would also highly recommend the dlc, it adds good post game content and the final encounter of the dlc is one of the most fun encounters in the game.
Steam User 4
It's a great game overall. You can go full stealth or boom-boom mode, your choice. The game has an interesting lore, but it's kind of short. That being said, it's a 10/10.
Steam User 5
This fun and engaging game makes you lose track of time, I highly recommend it, I'm looking forward to the second game and co-op play.