More than a year ago it came into our hands biomutant, an adventure that presented us with a very interesting idea: it would be an open world RPG starring anthropomorphic animals, where we would have total flexibility in many aspects, from the design and characteristics of our character to combat techniques with both weapons and martial arts. , even going through the way and the order in which we face the challenges of the game.
biomutant It is already available for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PS5.
All this attractive cocktail was accompanied by a visual section that was really beautiful, in addition to other cool options such as the possibility of choosing whether we wanted to be “bad” or “good” in the game and face or join different clans, which changed history according to our decisions.
Originally announced in 2017, all these tasty condiments, how could it be otherwise, raised the hype of the players through the roof.
The game finally came out in May 2021 and the vast majority of the specialized press, including usHe was not satisfied with the final result. Too many unfulfilled promises?
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE
16 months after that launch, which, in general, was not as spectacular as expected, the native version for PS5 arrives. And the truth is that I prefer to concentrate and make a brief review of the technical characteristics of this version, because it is really the only thing different that we are going to find.
The “soul” of the game remains the same, so we are going to find the same story, the same mechanics and the same things that were left halfway.
If you read my colleague’s review, which is linked a little above, you will understand that BIOMUTANT It’s not a bad game, but it has a lot of good ideas poorly executed.
Thousands of options and features that essentially do not change the game at all, repetitive combat, dozens of menus that are confusing and quite unfriendly to players, a story told in a rather inconspicuous way and OH, MY GOD one of the most meaningless and unpleasant artistic decisions made in a game in recent years: the narrator. This man who accompanies us all the time and who not only tells us the story but also speaks to us in such a condescending way that it seems that we are 5-year-olds watching an episode of Teletubbies. This narrator also acts as a translator, since the animals in the game each speak their own language based on growls, whistles and sounds, so that every time we have to have a conversation with another creature, we not only have We have to wait for him to finish making his little noises without understanding anything at all, but then we have to put up with the narrator throwing at us phrases like “He wants you to know such a thing”, “She is asking you to help her with this”. I really don’t know who thought this could be a good idea (even more so when it happens every 2 minutes in the 30 hours that the game lasts), but it really isn’t.
Some details of the gameplay, such as real-time combat that combines firearms with martial arts, the possibility of using different mounts, both animal and mechanical, and various (and repetitive) puzzles, try to add a bit of variety to the title, but everything the feeling that “this really could be done better” is still there. And it’s a shame.
But the novelties here come hand in hand with the visual and even the manageable. BIOMUTANT It is a game that originally looks quite good, and the truth is that the Playstation 5 version looks much better than the original. Of course, the scenes look wonderful, full of life, with very well done lighting effects. But where the difference is most noticeable is in the animal models, especially those with hairy bodies. Most bugs have hair and skin textures very much more worked. The fur looks very realistic, so in this sense it is a visual pleasure to observe the models furries.
In general, the graphic part was quite improved and the upgrade is evident in comparison to its previous counterpart, which already looked quite good.
But the improvements also reached the control of the character, and what better way to make use of the Playstation 5 DualSense to get a lot more out of the experience. The PS5 controller makes us feel each step, jump or hit of our character in our hands, even the changes in speed or the sensation that each different terrain presents at our feet, which makes each game an experience more organic. Other features of the controller have even been taken advantage of, such as the built-in speaker, where we will directly hear some of the sounds that the game emits, such as blows or shots in combat.
WILL THE MUTANT COME BACK?
I don’t have much more to add than what we could already read in the previous analysis of Bitwares. The graphic-sound improvements are, of course, welcome and it really shows that an effort was made to give the product a new and fresher face. But the soul of BIOMUTANT it’s still there, and all that it lacked at the story level, gameplay and even attractive elements for the player remain the same. Obviously the game looks much prettier, and if you want add one more point. But it is still a title that, looking at it with a lot of love, barely scratches an “approved”.
Hopefully the devs want to continue with the brand and that this is just a first step of something that can be much better, and a hypothetical BIOMUTANT 2 in the future give us the game we all expected.