play station official magazine

087

REVIEW

INFO
FORMATPS4
ETAOUT NOW
PUBFUNCOM
DEVTHE BEARDED
LADIES CONSULTING

MUTANT YEAR ZERO:

ROAD TO EDEN

Allanimalsareequal...lyabletowieldshotguns

A

nyone familiar with the Mutant: Year

Zero tabletop RPG may not have

been filled with confidence by the

promotional materials for this game.

The series is known for its share of mutated

bears, but... a duck and a warthog? Thankfully,

instead of hakuna matata and “duck voice

acting”, you get the oppressive atmosphere of

fighting for your life at the end of times.

The look is familiar: rusting cars, dilapidated

ruins taken over by trees. Games certainly

haven’t lost their fascination with the end of

civilisation. Ostensibly a turn-based strategy

game in the vein of XCOM, Mutant: Year Zero

makes clever use of this setting in order to add

storytelling and exploration to the mix.

As mutants, Dux and Bormin are immune

to the radioactivity that turned most humans

into ghouls. They scour ruins for anything the

remaining ones can use. When the mechanic at

their settlement disappears in search of mythical

safe haven Eden, they set out to find him.

MYZ has desperation written

into its DNA. It’s vital to comb

each of the beautiful maps for

money and equipment, and

even then there’s never enough

to go around. Your party is

small and, thanks to surprising

spikes in difficulty, constantly

overpowered by ghouls, so

sneaking and silent takedowns

are vital. This blend of stealth

and strategy makes the game

exhilarating: every success is

hard-won. Downing enemies

with a critical hit before they

can call for backup will have

you and your team whooping.

OUTFOXED

Sometimes you need to sneak

past foes entirely. Chances are

you will have to come back, as

the experience points and gear

they drop will be vital down

the line. Each map needs you to

make use of cover in a different

way, so backtracking never feels

like grinding. You can spend

XP on ability upgrades as well

as special mutations, including

wings, stone skin, or magic that

bends nature to your will. Each

of these is crafted to help you

turn the tide at the last second

• a common occurrence.
  MYZ stumbles on its
  storytelling as much as from
  being a PC port with a clunky
  control scheme and tiny text.
  Instead of a gripping narrative,
  you get jokes misconstruing
  the meaning of artefacts of our
  bygone civilisation, like the
  “Tale of (P)Izza and Fala(fel)’s
  Magical Palace”. The setup feels
  like a tabletop RPG one-shot,
  yanking you into and out of its
  world with nary a conclusion. It
  knows well where its strengths
  lie, however – as the old saying
  goes: come for the duck in a
  top hat, stay for the combat.

DUCK AND RUN @yourkyotowife

VERDICT

All encounters have two

things in common: cover is

sparse and large groups

overwhelm you easily.

Slightly overambitious in trying

to add unique elements to

round-based strategy, MYZ is

a romp when it sticks to its

silenced guns. A must for genre

lovers. Malindy Hetfeld

“THANKS TO SURPRISING

SPIKES IN DIFFICULTY, SILENT

TA KEDOWNS A RE VITA L.”