What happens when you get the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the movie Kung Fu Panda… No, this is not the answer to some inane trivia question. Well, the answer would be the video game Bio Mutant! Honestly that’s what I thought I was playing, some weird version of the movie Kung Fu Panda that was meant to look like breath of the wild! This game has been on our radar for the last couple of years and it’s another one of those games that should have come out last year, but got delayed during the pandemic. And to say the least, this game is not at all what I expected. Now I’m not going to say that it’s an absolutely horrible game, it’s not, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily great and you should run out and buy it especially a full price. I honestly feel that this is a game that would be perfect for PlayStation Now or the Xbox Game Pass, Something that you can download on a subscription service for free on day one. Sometimes you get really great games that you can do that with but most of them are just okay or average at best. Biomutant is something perfect for that.
I really hate when the expectations for a video game is a lot better than the game itself and unfortunately Biomutant. as fun as it is, just feels very underwhelming. It’s a fun open world game with genetically engineered animals set in a feudal Japan type of setting where you have mythic creatures and Samurai. It’s a cool idea, but I can’t say the game really delivers on the concept. The more that I played, the more that I felt like it’d be a lot better of a game if there was a multiplayer aspect to it and you could “squad up” with three to four players. The gaming mechanics are fairly simple. It’s basically a hack and slash game where you have to complete little missions to open up the rest of the world. You can say it’s a lot like Immortals: Fenyx Rising, the open world animated game that came out last winter. But I would say that’s a much better game. Biomutant almost feels like a B version of Immortals. There are a lot of things to like about this game, it will definitely keep you playing for hours so when a lot of ways you do get your money’s worth. As we always place value on a game, it seems these days that only true open world games can really be worth the full retail price. And they’re definitely is an escapism in this game. If you’re just looking for a fun little adventure where you can hack and slash your way through a vibrant world, then this might be okay. But there isn’t anything really special about Biomutant that we haven’t really seen before. The story is not even that interesting.
But I don’t want to rag on this game too much… we’ve played worst games that never should have been put out. This isn’t one of them, but it’s a good example of having too many expectations for a fun open world game and being let down. Those kinds of games aren’t the ones you buy at full price. These are the kind of games that should be on a Game Pass. With so many games becoming available on day one with the Xbox Game Pass, some I would have gladly paid full price for like The Outer Worlds… Biomutant is one that I feel like I wasted my money on because it didn’t give me anything more than some of the other games that I’ve played over the last few years that were great discoveries on a Game Pass service. And while I do make the comparison to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and I certainly have my problems with that game being more about nostalgia than anything else, at least that one is worth getting a whole new gaming system like the Nintendo Switch just to play it. But maybe with Biomutant, it’s really about finding the perfect audience… kid gamers who aren’t ready for huge violent open worlds like it in Assassin’s Creed game or a Far Cry game. The mechanics aren’t hard to pick up in Biomutant and the puzzles that you kind of have to solve along the way or fun. However, if you are going to buy this game get it at a discount because you really shouldn’t spend any more than $20 for it. I may go back and play this game, but I’ll do it when it’s available on Game Pass or PlayStation now. And as I said before, the developers missed a golden opportunity to take what seems like a great concept and make a fantastic multiplayer squad game because I would totally play this game with my gaming squad. It’s a little too boring to play alone!
