Biomutant Reviews
As satisfying its exploration is, the most striking take-away from Biomutant is just how astonishingly well it pulls off its intended tone.
There's a lot to do in Biomutant on Nintendo Switch, and if you can get past the shoddy appearance, there's a decent open world game in here.
Biomutant is a game that overreaches early, and spends the rest of its run time trying, mostly successfully, to regain its balance. It's lovely to look at and its world is a joy to explore, boots on the ground, but the combat lacks impact and precision, and technical issues mar the experience.
Playing Biomutant made me think of simpler times, when I just turned my game console on and started playing without a care in this world, or in any world at all. It was me, my old-school 30" TV and the game in front of me, nothing more, nothing less. While it for sure has some flaws like a slow start, some combat junkiness at first and a couple of cut-scenes that look low budget-ish, by no means they hinder the end result of this great action-RPG. If these weren't present, a perfect score could have been very possible.
Biomutant has a solid core. Unique enemy designs, a wide variety of weapons to use in combat, and flexible, fun combat are all highlights, but an arduous narrator and a monotone story filled with repetitive quests and tasks weigh the experience down. Pair all of this with the unpleasant visuals and low-quality textures, and we have to wonder if the game should have waited for Nintendo's next console. The actual gameplay experience is great, but instead of feeling like a polished handheld version of the game, Biomutant feels like it has been rushed out the door and left standing on the porch a bit dishevelled.
If the DNA of Biomutant sparks a re-evolution of some of the genre's dull spots, perhaps we can forgive the dull spots present here.
Biomutant's current-gen release boosts its visual presentation and technical performance, but the new coat of polish doesn't do much to elevate the title's average gameplay.
Overall, there’s nothing inherently wrong with Biomutant, except for maybe the narration and item names. The game will definitely find a fanbase but it just doesn’t do enough to stand out, especially with the pre-launch promise the game showed.
There are so many borrowed ideas that you’re bound to find something you like about this game.
Despite biting off more than it can chew, Biomutant is a creative labor of love with strong RPG hooks.
While this review may well make it sound like Biomutant is full of bugs, the one thing I might not have made clear is just how easy it is to lose hours to this game. With so much to do, time can fly by without you noticing. Yes, the graphics may not be the best with stuttering and pop-in in places, and there were occasional game crashes, but nothing is game breaking and it's a lot of fun. The humor will especially appeal to children, while the game is complex enough for adults to enjoy too.
The next generation edition of Biomutant may not have been necessary, but it doesn't hurt anything either. Overall, the game is very smooth, never dropping a frame no matter how crowded it may become, and the world is as beautiful and colorful as ever. My biggest gripe with the game is pretty universally mentioned: there was a lot more going on in the game than could be given proper attention, such as the upgrade and crafting systems, but it makes up for it in my opinion with a story and a world that is fun to explore.
Riddled with repetition, Biomutant is as grand in ambition as it is bland in execution. Where it shines in character creation and choice, it fumbles in its narrative and empty morality system. Where building your powers, weapons, and toys is great, finding all the parts to do so is simply a chore. Odd to say, but in this case, less might have been more, but what is here is fun. Just not as fun as it could have been.
Biomutant’s feature list seems to include everything a successful open-world action RPG needs. But journey through its towns, fields and bunkers, and there’s no intrigue in its exploration or weight in its relationship building. Not even a worthy combat challenge to hold everything together. With so many ideas left under-developed, it wastes a setting that had far more potential.
Biomutant has an interesting setting and world but is held back by technical issues, an unintuitive combat system, lack of proper characterization, and very repetitive missions.
Overall, Biomutant on the Switch is a decent port of a decent game. There is a new learning curve with Nintendo Switch controls, especially in handheld mode, and the graphics are not much to write home about. The difference is really noticeable especially if you’re coming from PC. However, Biomutant performs and still offers a good time for those that loved it the first go around.
Biomutant on the PS5 is, for better and for worse, the same game published a year ago on other platforms. Its enhanced graphics are a nice addition, but the flaws of this action RPG still reside in its outdated gameplay formula.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Biomutant has ambition but at the end of the day, it just isn’t all that fun. Experiment 101 put together a strange chimera of ideas in their game that never quite connects in meaningful ways. Finding fun was hard because the story isn’t great, exploration is a chore, and combat is serviceable. I did like the puzzle-like nature of the Worldeater boss fights because they break the monotony of quests. Technologically speaking, the game looks and performs well enough. However, I encountered a few bugs that required dying or hopping to the title screen to fix. All in all, Biomutant had the potential to be a frolicking Zelda-like but everything about this ecologically-minded adventure falls short of its ambition.
Certainly representing the definitive version of the flawed but ultimately enjoyable Biomutant on PlayStation consoles, Biomutant's PS5 debut largely erases the performance issues and instability that plagued the PS4 version of the game, delivering a handsomely made open-world adventure that can be enjoyed by gamers of all ages.