It has been available on all media since December 4, 2018, we are talking about the adaptation of the Mutant paper game by the sweet name of Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden. A game developed by "The Bearded Ladies Consulting" (we'll spare you the translation), a team of Swedish developers who were inspired by a successful board game (at least in Sweden) Mutant released in the 90s.
Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden takes its form by offering players a tactical adventure that is reminiscent of a certain XCOM. But make no mistake, "Road to Eden" just keeps the tactical aspect of the fighting by adding a large part of exploration and infiltration. The game having piqued our curiosity since its announcement and its first presentations, we proposed to the guys from The Bearded Ladies Consulting and in particular to Funcom which publishes the game to do a test.
We therefore had the opportunity to get our hands on the PS4 version which will be the heart of our test. After spending many hours there, it's time for us to give our verdict and offer you our vision of things.
A point on the story of Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden:
Mutant Year Zero takes place in a post-apocalyptic universe, the world as we know it has disappeared following the ravages of a serious epidemic that will have affected the entire population. Leaving room for a few rare survivors who stand in the last bastion of the world, the Ark which welcomes humans and mutants.
Because yes, this epidemic (of nuclear / environmental cause) has brought out new forms of life. As a player, you embody these new hybrid life forms by taking control of a pig and a duck, both anthropomorphic. These two characters answer to the name of Bormin (the pig) and Dux (the duck).
They are part of the "Stalkers" and both roam the "Zone" (the world surrounding the Ark) in search of scrap metal which serves as currency and primary survival resource for the last remnant of humanity. . The problem is that the "zone" is infested by the "ghouls" and the "nova" sect who only aim to eradicate the ark. One thing leading to another, our two merry fellows with sardonic humor will be led in spite of themselves to Eden, a new land of welcome for humanity... At least, according to the legends, this place exists and that is what will have to discover Bormin and Dux. They will be accompanied during their journey by new mutant personalities, such as Selma, Magnus or even Farrow.
There is a very good writing job whether in the development of the characters, the cause of the destruction of the Old World and the stakes (special mention for the dialogues when the protagonists discover a completely banal object and they try to understand its meaning). It is not rare besides while going to the ark to have long discussions with the local population which reinforces the background / Lore of Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden.
Fighting, infiltration, exploration, the onion gameplay according to Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden:
Very soon after getting to know Bormin and Dux, the player can discover all the aspects that will be used during this adventure. All combat in the game is interspersed with areas to explore freely with the aim of gathering equipment, including new weapons and armor pieces in addition to scrap metal and weapon parts that will be used as game currency. trade at the ark to buy new things and upgrade weapons.
Exploration is also an essential point of the gameplay since it will be necessary to start with this stage when arriving in an area to better understand the various clashes to come. Because that's the key to success in Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden, is to find the best in the "zone" to compete with ghouls or members of the nova cult.
If at the beginning the game leaves you thinking of an adventure without pitfalls, things very quickly become complicated when you discover new enemies like the shamans who are able to summon a horde of ghouls in a few seconds or the tanks which are real bags of PV. All your senses as players will be challenged so that you can determine the best approach and this is where the infiltration side of the title comes in, which is certainly the most important aspect to progress in the adventure, especially in the higher difficulties ( we will come back to this difficulty, do not worry).
Before each combat phase, you can determine in advance the course of the enemies, see over what distance they can detect you thanks to a red circle which surrounds each of the enemies of the game and which represents their field of vision. This field of vision can be reduced by turning off the torch of the character you control, which allows you to pass between your future opponents without being seen and determine who will be your first target. The best is always to find an isolated enemy and gradually weaken the troops, so infiltration is a more than essential mechanic for the success of the group of Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden.
When you ambush an opponent isolated from the rest of the group, you have three turns to eliminate him discreetly before alerting the rest of the enemies. It will always be necessary to determine with precision then if the damage of the three weapons of the combined heroes will be sufficient to silence your opponent. If at first it's easy to determine who to target first #lesbouchers things get complicated later with more powerful enemies who often have more life points than your weapons equipped with a silencer can inflict and with more a concept of armor points to be taken into account on the total HP of an opponent.
For this, the player can use mutations to activate for the different playable characters who each have unique skills. Mutations will stun opponents to gain a few extra turns before being alerted. And it is thanks to an experience system that allows players to increase the general level of the team that players can spend skill points in order to strengthen their mutants with mutations.
Grenades will also not be too much to stun mechanical enemies. Especially with regard to nursing robots and other mechanical monsters like the Mimirs which require players to think a little.
A difficulty that can scare, even put off the less adventurous…
Let's be honest, from the start of the game, Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden will try to make you play on "hard" difficulty mode, because it is certainly on this way of playing that the developers must have based their own game experience... Clearly, if you're unfamiliar with Stealth/Tactical RPG type games, it's best for you to run your first run on "normal" difficulty, as Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden is very much a hard "basic" game. ".
If you can't understand very quickly that it's a waste of time to start fighting against a whole army of "ghouls" + members of the "nova" sect then you won't get very far in the adventure at the risk to make you completely abandoned by telling you that the game is too difficult. Still, taking into account all aspects of the title, you should be able to overcome any test.
We ourselves made the game in "hard" and some passages are quite difficult. We can't imagine for a moment what it must be like in "extreme" difficulty mode... Especially since the game also allows you to activate a "steel mutant" function which makes the death of characters permanent during a confrontation... Suffice to say that it's suicide and that these modes are only reserved for players looking for a "challenge" and who are already very familiar with the adventure and gameplay mechanics of Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden .
→ In conclusion, Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden is it good or not?
From our general point of view, Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden offers a very beautiful adventure, with a well-written scenario and mutant characters that we end up enjoying as the writing is neat. The graphics are more than correct, the environments are teeming with details and we enjoy rummaging through these dilapidated decors and this chaotic world, all coupled with a rather interesting artistic direction and well-oiled gameplay mechanics (although interface and ergonomics can be improved).
If the guys at The Bearded Ladies Consulting didn't have any great games under their belt since their inception, we can say that Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden is an achievement that deserves the attention of gamers. The game smells of passion from miles away and you can see that the small team that worked on it really thought about the concept.
Also note that the exploration and the fights are supported by a very high quality soundtrack by Robert Lundgren who offers us here a very 80s / 90s style. hours of play in a straight line with variations depending on your difficulty chosen at the start of the game (remove 20 hours in normal difficulty for example).
★ We may regret a certain lack in the level increased in power of the characters, certain mutations do not offer any benefit commensurate with the skill points spent and the general level of the characters does not make it possible to improve the basic statistics of his mutants. When you see an isolated level 35 enemy, nothing says that you will not be able to beat it while being at level 15 since this is only a number without consequence on the statistics (allies / enemies = same fight). The level of the group is just there to determine the number of skill points earned since the beginning of the adventure. Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden should certainly satisfy XCOM players and the curious / RPG enthusiasts, but the others will certainly not find what they are looking for, especially because of a difficulty that is rather difficult to grasp by being a neophyte of the genre.
Mutant Year Zero Road to Eden
Note / 10 ?
8 
