ANNO: Mutationem
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for ANNO: Mutationem
Punchy, side-scrolling combat and a richly realized, anime-inspired world make Anno: Mutationem a blast, but the script is a bit rusty.
ANNO: Muatationem tells a strong tale with its core mystery, strengthened by beautiful visuals and satisfying combat. While its inspirations are a little on-the-nose, developer ThinkingStars manages to carve out its own space in the Cyberpunk genre. Some long loads and minor balancing issues take the shine off a little, but it's still an incredibly impressive effort from a small indie team who has created a world that feels as immersive as any £60 AAA RPG.
ANNO: Mutationem is an enjoyable cyberpunk adventure with enough confident swagger to distract from its shortcomings.
ANNO: Mutationem's sublime blending of 2D and 3D visuals is a delight to behold and a joy to experience. Fast-paced combat and competent RPG systems all deliver so, as long as you can accept the incomprehensible plot and naff dialogue, there's a lot to enjoy.
ANNO: Mutationem is an audacious title that successfully merges genres. While the 3D segments aren’t as tight as its 2D counterpart, the originality shines through making this a fresh adventure. The gorgeous environment is full of character and is a joy to inhabit. However, the delivery of the narrative lacks the nuances to fully immerse. With its solid action gameplay and exciting bosses, fans of the genre will have a blast in this futuristic, cyberpunk escapade.
There's surprising scope in the game — you can dismantle items to get materials, which you can then combine into new weapon modules. There are side missions and mini-games, like serving cocktails to earn money. It's also kind-of open world, albeit a very small one. While the ambition is admirable, overall we feel the game comes across as quite unfocused. It's an enjoyable experience, and everything here is reasonably good, but the result is a game that doesn't really shine, save for its rainy, neon-infused aesthetic.
ANNO: Mutationem is an extremely fascinating project, divided between the freedom of its open map structure and the direct simplicity of its 2D action sections.
Review in Italian | Read full review
As it stands, this is a tough one to recommend as long as the bugs persist, but it may be worth checking out after a patch or two to resolve the more blatant issues.
