MutantYearZero:RoadToEden
XCOMMEETSSTEALTHMEETS,ER,MUTANTDUCKANDBOAR-HUMANSSTEVE BOXER
PUBLISHERFUNCOM/DEVELOPERTHE BEARDED LADIES/RELEASE DATEOUT NOW/COST £29.99
enemies to thin out the large and
challenging group that you will
eventually have to battle is a vital one.
Story-wise, Mutant Year Zero
presents a fairly standard post-
apocalyptic scenario, but it’s nicely
related and manages to avoid
descending into the over-familiar.
Initially, you control Dux and Bormin,
mutant humans with, respectively, the
head of a duck and the head of a boar.
Dux majors on stealth, whereas Bormin
is a tank. Soon, your party is extended
to its full complement of three.
Dux, Bormin and the other (human
and mutant) playable characters
are Stalkers. Based in a makeshift
above-ground mini-city called the Ark,
their job is to scavenge surrounding
areas (populated by ghouls and all
manner of hostiles) for the scrap and
resources that keep the Ark ticking.
Sent to find the most fearless of all
Stalkers, Hammon, they embark on a
quest involving going further into the
Badlands than they have ever been,
and maybe even finding the mythical
safe-zone Eden.On the list of
elements you would
most expect to find
in an indie game,
turn-based gameplay
derived from a
tabletop RPG would surely feature
highly. On that criterion, it would
appear easy to dismiss Mutant Year
Zero: Road To Eden as a clichéd indie
game. But that would be unfair.
Yes, it was inspired by the cult
Swedish tabletop RPG Mutant,
which first appeared in the 1980s
and has since endured in various
iterations. But as far as its gameplay
is concerned, Swedish developer The
Bearded Ladies has drawn the vast
majority of its inspiration from the
mighty XCOM.
Even more impressively, it manages
to find a new spin on XCOM’s familiar
mechanics, via the addition of stealth.
Which proves to be a necessary
tweak, since Mutant Year Zero is pretty
hard and thoroughly uncompromising.
But the ability to stealth around,
meticulously taking out straggling
You swiftly discover that, in order
to progress, you must employ every
possible advantage you can cobble
together. A number of systems
help you to do that, which sound
complicated, but in reality, one of the
game’s best attributes is that it keeps
things simple and understandable.Silent but deadly
As you win battles you level up,
earning Mutation points that you can
spend on skills which prove vital in
battle, and on improving attributes
like health. You occasionally find
Artifacts, which can be cashed in for
perks that affect your entire party.
You accumulate various guns and
grenades which can be upgraded in
the Ark, and you can exchange scrap
there for useful items like first-aid kits.
Silent weapons are invaluable.
When you encounter an isolated
enemy, you have a chance to take
them out silently, but if they are still
alive after your first attack-round,
they will alert their mates, at which
point you will find yourself besiegedshort
cutWHAT IS IT?
A turn-based
action-strategy game
combining XCOM
battling with stealth
and exploration.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
Surprisingly polished,
amusing and a
considerable but
satisfying test for
your tactical abilities.
WHO’S IT FOR?
Any gamer with
above-average
patience who has
ever enjoyed XCOM or
a game like it.082 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE