Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

I started playing this game just a few days ago, not fully knowing what to expect.
I just finished my first play through and all I can say is that I loved the whole experience, that is apart from a few little things that I am going to mention later.
I've played turn based video games since 90's and this one goes straight to being one of my new favorites. I
Some reviewers compare Mutant Year Zero to X-COM. I can agree with them but only when it comes to the tactical part. There are a lot of differences to X-COM, like there is no base building or research in MYZ.
It's mostly the combat that feels very similar to those new X-COM games, but rest of this game is quite different actually. I can't think of any other game that I have played which was just like Mutant Year Zero. I would describe it being a combination of adventure and tactics with heavy emphasis on stealth-based gameplay.
To me the concept of this game was like a fresh breeze within this genre. I am not usually one to enjoy stealth in video games, but somehow the developers succeeded making it interesting this time around. What's next, games with enjoyable protection missions?
Games these days are often too complicated for my tired brains. In MYZ there is certain kind of simplicity that I enjoyed. It's not simple in means of being repetitive or anything like that, but it was very easy to learn and get into. I really enjoyed the whole post apocalyptic setting and dark atmosphere and the story felt like it rolled forward just the right pace without making me feel myself bored or being in a hurry. At first I thought that the main characters were a little bit silly, but then I realized that it was the whole point. This is not a game to be taken too seriously.
I actually found a lot of the humor and dialogue in this game to be pretty funny and well written. Most of the characters had a lot of personality to them and voice acting was good.
I pretty much enjoyed MYZ's storytelling from the beginning to the end, even though the ending was somewhat predictable. You guys gave too much hints during the game :D
Level design, game balance (items/enemies/difficulty/progression etc), sounds, arts & graphics and the UI were all very well made and polished. To me the soundtrack was just mediocre, but that how it is with many games and videos these days. I can't remeber when was the last time I actually enjoyed listening to videogame music.
I wish gamedevelopers would dare to have some more melodic music in their games. I find this whole "let's have everything slow/fx/ambient/ and keep it in the background" thing to be kind of boring. It's a matter of taste of course.
I really appreciate some of the design choices the developers made with this game.
For example, there was no point where I felt like I had to do endless hours of grinding in order to get new gear that was just a little bit better. A lot of games are like that these days and I don't like it one bit. If games make you feel like you are going to work, something is clearly wrong with them. Games should be fun and relaxing and this is exactly what MYZ is: fun and enjoyable old school video gaming.
Every single chest and item in MYZ had clearly been designed and placed in there by a real human being, instead of some kind of random generator. During my travels in road to Eden, every single chest that I opened, or an item that I picked had actually a lot of value for me. Some games give you so much loot that it soon becomes a problem because the player might end up spending a lot of his precious time micromanaging the inventory. Some people might like that kind of thing and it's ok, but I am not one of them. Fewer items is not a bad thing.
Mutant Year Zero is definitely not a long game by any means. This is because a lot of the annoying stuff that is plaguing modern games is missing. The content in this game is not some copy paste filler stuff.
I am sure the developers could design the game in a way to make the player look for materials for 100+ hours, in their quest to get their ultimate armor and weapon set, but how much fun would that be? In MYZ I actually managed to get some of my best gear by sneaking past enemies, who would sure had kicked my butt if I was to encounter them.
There is certain feeling of achieving something when you have to use your brains to get the gear instead of just blindly killing everyone. Turn based combat sure feels very good in every wayin MYZ, but you often have to do some scouting and careful planning beforehand. It's also important to save often because things can go terribly wrong very fast, which kind of keeps the player in his toes and adds a lot of excitement even to some of the smaller battles.
What I most appreciate about Mutant Year Zero is that it's basically a new kind of gaming experience for me, which is not something that happens often these days. It sure felt a bit difficult at first, but once I got a third team member, better gear, more health and skills, things suddenly started getting a lot easier. This said, no matter how good items you have or how many levels you have, MYZ pretty much forces the you to think about how to reach your goal the most effecient way. Often using stealth and multiple skills must be used in combination of silenced weapons with correct mods is a requirement if you want to beat the enemy without resorting to using too many items. You do not have infinite grenades or medikits in this game.
I found MYZ to be very well balanced difficulty wise. It's AI sure surprised me multiple times and more than once I really struggled to survive. I learned quickly not to underestimate my enemies. I don't usually like stealth based games so it was definitely a positive surprise for me find myself enjoying stalking my prey, patiently waiting and finding the weak spots of the enemy. Getting rid of the enemies one by one sure felt rewarding because I always knew that the main battles would be much easier then. If you manage to get rid of any units that call more enemies or heal/resurrect their buddies, it's going to be so much easier to clear each area.
The negative things I have to mention about Mutant Year Zero are the following:
- Game crashed a few times during my 22h playtime. It's nothing I couldn't get over though.
- I also had some problems using my gamepad and because of this I was basically forced to go with the KBD + Mouse combo.
- Like many others here, I was also missing a simple quick save/load feature. I've gotten so used to having it on similar games.
- Movement of the mouse cursor felt too slow and clumsy to me. More options for this is needed.
- The store in the HQ does not let you sell anything as you can only buy from there. It would have been nice if the player was able to scrap or sell any of his surplus gear. You can scrap your weapons but that's it.
I don't post reviews very often. When I do it's for the games that are mostly unknown and really deserve to have people's attention (IMO of course). I will definitely travel that road to Eden again, and it's for this that Mutant Year Zero deserves my warm recommendation.

Welll, I like it. I´m an old guy and I must say that I´m not used to this kind of games, but in order to be fare I enjoyed pretty much. At the begining everything is a little confuse, but as soon as you understand how the game works it becomes a jewel. For those who have never tried this type of game I belive this is a MUST. Not to hard, not to easy either, just give it a chance, it will be worthy. Sorry about my english as it is not my native language. I wish you all the same good times that I spent playing this beauty.

There's a duck, he has a crossbow, but don't let that fool you, later on he's gonna get his... legs? wings! on a figgin' shotgun.
There's a boar, he's a bit of a glutton, constantly looks for scrap
At one point I got another creature into the squad, first impression: "It's a fox!" but no; turns out to be a lady dog, bit of a narcissist that one, kept tooting her own horn right before poppin' one critical bullet into some enemy's melon at point blank. So yeah... a bitch.
the music is very good, it changes with the scene and the intensity of the action.
The characters models exude creativity
the scenery is detailed
if you plan ahead a little bit and go into the "cheapskate" mentality, you can pwn most encounters.
The BEST part about this game is the unexpected humor. The item descriptions are humorous, to be sure, but the way the boar randomly says nonsense as he explores the map and then the duck replies in a jaded tone... yeah, it's good stuff. Gimme stuff like that in all the games I play and I'll be happy. This game makes me happy.

A stylish blend of XCOM combat with free roam stealth mechanics that allow you much more freedom in setting up ambushes than your typical turn-based tactical game. A touch of RPG elements and a silly fantasy story round out a relatively fun if somewhat repetitive game.
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It's not-quite open world, but you do have free roam within each combat zone, up until you trigger a direct attack (or get spotted) at which point it converts to the expected turn-based tactical format. The ambush and stealth mechanics are enjoyable even if the combat afterwards isn't anything special.
The bulk of the game is free roam exploration within each combat zone. This is both good and bad, its a detail missing from games like XCOM, but it's also lacking the succinct satisfaction of completion. By that I mean in XCOM if you succeed in killing all the enemies in a combat zone the mission (zone) "ends" and you collect all loot in the area before taking off for home, job done, get your goods and let's go. Mutant on the other hand leaves you wondering if you missed anything and you can find yourself wandering tediously through areas you've been through just sifting for that last shred of something you may have missed.
This abnormally pads the play time as well. Mutant only really has 10 to 20 hours of content compared to XCOM's 50 to 100 and much of it will be fannying about in the same zones repeatedly. This bleeds over into the replay value as well. Where as XCOM is designed for endless replay with a wide variety of missions; Mutant has defined zones that will never change, and they don't respawn. (neither enemies or loots, so they just remain empty).
If you're an XCOM veteran, imagine just a string of 20 missions in a row that never change and then, the end. You also have comparably fewer choices to make. Mutant has exactly 5 characters, you'll get them automatically as the story unfolds and you can only bring 3 with you at a time (which feels like a very artificial limitation in context when they all talk and act as if they are always there and part of the team, and even all appear in the cut scenes between zones even if you left them behind). Equipment and loot are all limited and preplaced, you'll get them from the same places every time.
Many of these complaints will be meaningless if you're just going to play the game once; it's definitely fun, but these issues stifle the replay value in comparison to larger more robust games where each play through can be unique, have mission variety and a plethora of custom characters to enjoy.
In a direct comparison XCOM simply exceeds Mutant in every category but one. and that's the ambush design. Entering a mission/zone in free roam is much more intuitive in Mutant than XCOM, exploring the zone, collecting some things without the enemy noticing you and then setting up your ambush to enter combat is a gem of a mechanic that Mutant does very well. It's just once the dust settles and the enemy is dead you're left roaming these empty shells of a mission/zone just hoping you didn't miss anything before walking to the next one. Quick travel to old zones alleviates some of the worst of it, but it doesn't negate the need to meticulously search for scrap and items everywhere through areas you've already seen.
Beyond that the story is fun but requires some forgiveness over some gaping plot holes and while the game is filled with jokes and humor, it's more than just subjective, it's often unfortunately just juvenile (and worse, repetitive). I won't spoil it by giving examples; if you don't notice the errors you'll probably enjoy it more and if you do notice them you'll probably just cringe while still continuing on since there's enough other fun elements to push past it.
I could probably make a rather long list of things that would greatly enhance the game in terms of quality of life and replay value but I think I'll save that up and send it in as a suggestions list for a sequel, because in the end this game is still fun despite any flaws I could complain about.
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In summary: This is XCOM light with mutants vs sub-humans instead of humans vs aliens. In a direct comparison with XCOM Enemy Unknown or XCOM 2, XCOM wins with more robust customization and many more hours of replay value. But judged entirely on it's own, this is a fun and entertaining diversion despite the fact that there's room for improvement.
If you enjoy turn based tactical games or if the mutant theme looks fun to you, don't let my complaints turn you off, just buy the game and have fun.
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Let's Start From the End
I couldn't believe the anticlimactic, abrupt, and unsatisfying cliffhanger that is this game's ending! I had to google to make sure that what I got was it. I didn't even realize that I was fighting with the last boss, thought it was just another squad of loser thugs. No big speech, no super-abilities, nothing - the boss was just another mob with slightly higher HP.
I knocked her on the ground with Bormin's Hog Rush ability and she never got the chance to get back on her feet again. But it wasn't the greatest disappointment. The twist also turned out to be kinda lame and predictable. It's as if the game is missing the real final fight and at least one more cutscene that would give the player a proper resolution. Was it done on purpose? I can't say for sure.
Yet, I don't see anything on the store page that would clue me in beforehand that this game is just chapter one or a prologue, which is utterly misleading. It feels like receiving a vapid handout instead of a proper reward. Now I must buy the DLC to see what's next, right? I was going to, but after these shenanigans - no deal.
This is about as much punishment as I feel like administering right now. I don't want to give the game a negative review, it wouldn't be fair. Yeah, the ending sucks, but I also can't deny that I had a lot of fun on my road to it, which is more important in the grand scheme of things. Also, as far as I know, the sequel went to Epic? It doesn't mean that the original should suffer for it, however.
Go Hard, Very Hard
I wouldn't be so kind to any other game, I think, but this one gets a bunch of bonus points with me by simply being a semi-hardcore turn-based tactical game - my greatest weakness. So, if you still feel like you'll be able to get over the flaws as I did, enter the Mutant. Just not Iron Mutant (a local variation of Ironman), forget about it for the time being - there aren't enough characters to replace the fallen ones or adequate RNG to start the game over.
But I do recommend playing on Very Hard if you want to experience every aspect of this game to the fullest. Because otherwise essential elements like health and cooldown management kinda crumble. They do that anyway, but much later on. The lower settings allow anyone to brute-force their way through and come out unscathed from every fight. Besides, you can always change the difficulty with no repercussions.
Ruinenlust
I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was given the freedom to explore the Zone at my leisure. The player decides when to go back to the Ark (basically hub) or which location to do first. There's plenty of optional places, all of which are worth visiting, if only for the lovely post-apocalyptic views, which are this game's strongest feature. No wonder why our heroes are called Stalkers and their world - the Zone.
Each location is meticulously detailed, gorgeously lit, drenched in atmosphere, and, however banal it may sound, tells its own story to ponder. I admired all of them, yet my personal favorites are the one with the overgrown trains (Iron Serpent) and the one with the road covered in autumn leaves (Spear of Heaven). They hit just the right spot, kudos to the artists.
Ruinenlust is the feeling of pleasure taken from spending time amidst ruins. I don't know if this term is an exact fit, but I can't find another word for the special sentimental feeling that Mutant's environments are there to evoke. It's a very slow-paced game, yet I didn't mind it for a minute. Crawling through the lush landscapes looking for loot, I was too engrossed in the process to get annoyed.
Items & Skills
The 'ka-ching' sound when collecting stuff, little cutscenes that play when you open a chest, well-drawn icons, and cohesive UI make looting a highly satisfying endeavor. You'll be looking for scrap (mostly to buy medkits), weapon parts and mods to upgrade your weapons, weapons themselves, armor with different situational properties (all kinds of immunities, higher crit when hidden, etc), and five types of grenades of which I only ever used two - ordinary ones and EMP.
Also, artifacts, a reasonably rare find that is used to trade for skills that affect your whole squad. Plus ten percent crit against living targets, higher grenade damage, lower shop prices, etc. It's a neat little reward for being a thorough stalker on top of the individual character progression system.
Speaking of characters, there are five of them in the whole game, but you can play with only three at a time. They get XP and level-up by killing enemies. Each one has a skill tree full of active and passive abilities to fill in. It looks like you should get a load of options from it, but I ended up only using three or four abilities throughout the game.
All in all, I found character builds and weapon upgrades limited, but solid enough to carry the short campaign on their feeble backs. Don't hesitate to upgrade your weapons (silent first), there aren't that many guns in the game. There's no need to save up your resources religiously - you'll have more than enough for everything, don't be too stingy. I was left with tons of unused grenades and medkits after finishing the game.
Stealth & Combat
I can't believe that I'm saying this, but this game has great stealth. I haven't seen it realized so well in a tactical game before, typically it just blows. Not here! They kept it simple: every enemy has a hearing range that keeps you guessing and a visibility radius that you can see, which shrinks when you turn off your flashlights, is all. There's much fun to be had with this, especially when going to a high-level area and snatching high-level loot behind enemies' backs.
You can hide by sticking to cover out of combat. It makes your characters absolutely undetectable. Enemies won’t notice anything even if they literally step on you. Very exploitable, just saying. Yet ultimately, it all leads to setting up an ambush. Spot a group of enemies, clean out the area around them by silently killing every patrolling thug. Then take advantageous positions, slay, repeat.
With minimum deviations. Yes, the game lacks variety. I saw no reason to move at all during combat, and there aren't that many skills or accessories to spice things up sufficiently. There's but one tactic - get behind cover (or be a decoy), hold your ground and focus one enemy with all three of your stalkers. But at the same time, I wouldn't call the game boring. Setting up that perfect ambush and executing it precisely while enjoying great animation and punchy hits felt good.
I don't know how people get 20-25 hours out of this game on average. I've searched every location, found all artifacts, strongest weapons, and only left maybe a couple of useless enemy squads alive. Whatever. Personally, I think that Mutant Year Zero's shortness works in its favor since its systems weren't designed to last. To conclude, the game is pretty decent for what it is, but I won't be asking for more any time soon.
My curator Big Bad Mutuh

Introduction
Big Xcom series fan after bought Golden 1st one 25y ago. Waited with big expectations a while before this released. Wasn't let down after half a year wait Have mostly posit. feels about this & some cons, but nothing that would've stopped me from adventuring. I was happy to support also via dlc purchase here in Steam when it's price was good around ten eur. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is actually based on a tabletop role-playing game that's played with P&P. Set in a post-apocalyptic univ. humanity has wreck the places with ignorance. Every last shred of resources having been ripped from planet Tellus.
You control half-animal beings known as mutants & plunder goodies as you travel around the zone. There's plenty of good belly rubbing giggidy moments while you adv. in the zone & some in the Ark :) They come in text & voice form. Couple mutants you’ll be spending most of your time with are Bormin & Dux. Sure you can switch perm. to new mutants after found more allies. Dream of Eden looms in minds of every Ark Citizen. The settlement believed to be one where all can live in peace without having to worry about scavenging for resources each day.

Wordies about Combat
Both you & the enemies take your turns to move, attack & perform other actions with two act. points per turn. If you move to attack, the turn will end even with additional Ap available. Following a battle, you’re granted exp. points so you can level up & earn Mutation Points. Mutation Points unlock Combat Mutations, which can drastically change the flow of battle once applied to characters. You can pick off enemy patrols to reduce their strength before you go loud & fight the remaining bogeys. Stealth takedown with success won't alert others. Of course you can go in with big boom by sending Bormin first to absorb the pain & show em why he's the funny tanky mutant. Or boom time can work without Bormin depending on what allies you have.
+Pros
Beauty rustic style built for the Zone.
Likeable characters & good voice acting.
Approach to stealth mech.
Seamless integration to exploring & tac combat.
Solid Ear & Eye massage artwork
Free cam control.
-Cons
Some frustrating encounters cause of bad Rng.
Some characters lacked the final touch that i wanted to see.
Story that felt recycled, but it's still entertaining so this is on edge for both.
Summary & few words about Seeds of Evil Dlc
Overall, Mutant Year Zero offers engaging & challenging adv. that’s well worth the time you put into it. If you enjoy adventures like Wasteland or XCOM, you’ll find plenty to love in this fine adv. made by Funcom. About Seeds of Evil Dlc: It's a solid expansion to nice base client. It builds on the original without ruining the base client's formula. If you’re looking for more of that sweet tac gameplay that the base game offered, you won't be disappointed.
It's not lengthy as in if would compare to something like Lotr movies extended cut, but gives good lore cont. & new bogeyz & mechanics that's worth of support :) Norm. pricing for it on steam is like five eur higher than it should when know the length. Personally i recom. to get it on Steam when has at least twenty five percent discount. I was happy to support Funcom & give H.School rating 8.3/10 to M.Year Zero: Road to New Eden <3

The game is enjoyable, tactical, and has a good story. I highly recommend it if you like single-player tactical games.
There was very little in terms of tutorial/instructions. I stumbled for quite a bit trying to figure out how things worked.
The game has 3 levels of difficulty - I started playing at the middle level, because I have familiarity with tactical games like X-Com and such. I got my ass handed to me and had to restart after playing through about 5 levels. It then switched to "Easy" and played about 20 levels, getting the hang of the game and figuring things out I had been missing earlier. This quickly became too easy, so I switch to the hard mode (but not "Iron Mutant"). This was excellent and I played through the whole game. I am tempted to go back and do it again on Iron-Mutant (Iron Man) mode.
All said and done, I have played about 90 hours. It is a short but satisfying game. There is no random loot drops or maps, so the replay value is very limited.