

Additionally, there are a bunch of available character classes that will define your avatar’s initial appearance. The clever character creation system is a bit like a genetic dartboard, automatically adjusting your hero’s appearance depending on what core stats you want to bolster before diving in. The first several hours are probably the worst offenders, even though it’s engaging at first. The key disappointment is that the structure of the actual game that all these ingredients have been injected into is anything but unique, with objectives and tasks overtly recycled or riffed upon mission after mission. It’s certainly the only open-world post-post-apocalyptic kung fu action RPG starring anthropomorphic animals I’ve ever played. To its credit, the way Biomutant fuses all its components together has resulted in something that is actually unique, at least broadly speaking.

That last one is probably fairly self-explanatory.

Horizon is far from the only influence on Biomutant, though, because it appears to scrape inspiration from a wide assortment of sources, from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s extreme temperature zones to the seemingly infinite array of weapon combinations of Borderlands, and from Devil May Cry’s cocktail of gun combat and hack ’n slash to… Kung Fu Panda. If you’re thinking that trekking around a vibrant and varied open world filled with strange creatures and primitive civilisations trying to stave off a second Armageddon sounds a little similar to Sony’s esteemed Horizon: Zero Dawn, you’re on the right track Horizon: Zero Dawn with rodents isn’t exactly the worst description for Biomutant.
