Mutant Year Zero: The Road to Eden |OT| DuX-Com

RumbleHumble · Dec 8, 2018

Booga said:
I cant go anywhere without reading tons of hype and buzz for this game. Every outlet that has reviewed it seems to walk away crazy impressed. It seems the biggest surprises for reviewers was how much they would love the real time exploration and stealth mechanic, and how great, yet subtle the world building was.

Most seem to have not been expecting a lot from this game. Walking in expecting an average indie strategy with slightly above average graphics, and walked out lamenting that there simply wasn't more of the game.

So I am not sure which version of the internet you are looking at, but a quick google shows mew a lot of folk are over the moon for this title. And rightly so, it is way better than it has any right to be. Here is hoping the great feedback and praise result in good sales that entice the developer to produce some updates and DLC. Extra story, new characters, and perhaps some form of rebalanced New Game Plus would help this game's shelf life and replayability.

This one, albeit without the high Gamespot score to buoy at the time of the original post:

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/mutant-year-zero-road-to-eden

Don't get me wrong, I think an 8 is a great score, but anything less feels like it's being undersold (critically speaking). That all said, I love the game and am glad it's getting such great word of mouth.

Booga · Dec 8, 2018

RumbleHumble said:
This one, albeit without the high Gamespot score to buoy at the time of the original post:

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/mutant-year-zero-road-to-eden

Don't get me wrong, I think an 8 is a great score, but anything less feels like it's being undersold (critically speaking). That all said, I love the game and am glad it's getting such great word of mouth.

Just looking at Metacritic, there are ONLY 4 critic reviews under 70%, and one 50% with the other 3 being 60-65, the remaining 25 reviews being between 75%-90%. If you tossed that single 50% review the average would be 85% which is phenomenal by ANY standard. The user score is 84% already. So even by your own bloated standards that a game needs to be over 80%, this game still satisfies with % to spare.

But lets take a moment to address your bizarre idea that anything less than 8 being undersold, man, that would include like every Grasshopper Manufacture game ever made.

The problem with metacritic is that though you have an average, it doesn't tell you why. Some games are quite divisive, and half of the scores will be in the 90s and the other half in the 30s, sadly this blows their average, but that is a poor indication that half of gamers will absolutely love the game.

Metacritic is also broken in situations like this, where a clear 85%-90% like this gets bogged down by having 4 out of 30 reviews being under 70%. And a single anomaly score that is 15% lower than ALL OTHER SCORES. as opposed to the top end where there are multiple 90s and 85s

You need to look past the number at the top of the page to get the whole story pal. Cause this game is getting lots of hype and lots of exposure. Even outside of reviews, the generally positive articles and hands on videos on youtube/twitch etc are ridiculously positive. Again I can only say that me and you must be looking at different versions of the internet. But your 8 or bust rule also is quite telling.

Edge · Dec 8, 2018

Booga said:
I cant go anywhere without reading tons of hype and buzz for this game. Every outlet that has reviewed it seems to walk away crazy impressed. It seems the biggest surprises for reviewers was how much they would love the real time exploration and stealth mechanic, and how great, yet subtle the world building was.

Most seem to have not been expecting a lot from this game. Walking in expecting an average indie strategy with slightly above average graphics, and walked out lamenting that there simply wasn't more of the game.

So I am not sure which version of the internet you are looking at, but a quick google shows mew a lot of folk are over the moon for this title. And rightly so, it is way better than it has any right to be. Here is hoping the great feedback and praise result in good sales that entice the developer to produce some updates and DLC. Extra story, new characters, and perhaps some form of rebalanced New Game Plus would help this game's shelf life and replayability.

I mean, I know what he meant. If you search and look, it get praised everywhere. But it's kinda hard to see people talking about it because it came out in the same week as Smash Bros, Ashen, Game Awards, DMC Demo, Katamari and Just Cause 4. We're getting flooded with games at the moment, so much that games like Hitman 2 and BFV and Darksiders 3 are mega flops that got price reduced even before they got released.

Booga · Dec 8, 2018

Edge said:
I mean, I know what he meant. If you search and look, it get praised everywhere. But it's kinda hard to see people talking about it because it came out in the same week as Smash Bros, Ashen, Game Awards, DMC Demo, Katamari and Just Cause 4. We're getting flooded with games at the moment, so much that games like Hitman 2 and BFV and Darksiders 3 are mega flops that got price reduced even before they got released.

Hitman 2 came out on November 9th, so it mega flopped all on its own merit :p

RumbleHumble · Dec 8, 2018

Booga said:
Just looking at Metacritic, there are ONLY 4 critic reviews under 70%, and one 50% with the other 3 being 60-65, the remaining 25 reviews being between 75%-90%. If you tossed that single 50% review the average would be 85% which is phenomenal by ANY standard. The user score is 84% already. So even by your own bloated standards that a game needs to be over 80%, this game still satisfies with % to spare.

But lets take a moment to address your bizarre idea that anything less than 8 being undersold, man, that would include like every Grasshopper Manufacture game ever made.

The problem with metacritic is that though you have an average, it doesn't tell you why. Some games are quite divisive, and half of the scores will be in the 90s and the other half in the 30s, sadly this blows their average, but that is a poor indication that half of gamers will absolutely love the game.

Metacritic is also broken in situations like this, where a clear 85%-90% like this gets bogged down by having 4 out of 30 reviews being under 70%. And a single anomaly score that is 15% lower than ALL OTHER SCORES. as opposed to the top end where there are multiple 90s and 85s

You need to look past the number at the top of the page to get the whole story pal. Cause this game is getting lots of hype and lots of exposure. Even outside of reviews, the generally positive articles and hands on videos on youtube/twitch etc are ridiculously positive. Again I can only say that me and you must be looking at different versions of the internet. But your 8 or bust rule also is quite telling.

I'm not saying all games should be reviewing over an 8 or else, I'm saying reviewers going lower than 8 are selling the game short. My first post was about how media outlets reviewing the game are giving scores that aren't that impressive. Below 8 is not that impressive of a review score. (Its also not a death knell either) And yes, I do think most grasshopper games were underrated by review outlets, there's a reason those are mostly carried by word of mouth. Obviously review outlets aren't the be-all-end-all, but I do wish the game was getting better scores and I don't understand what's so wrong with thinking some review outlets going less than 8 on this one sucks, given how good the actual product is. Also not getting the weird hostility here, but internet and all that I guess.

Moff · Dec 8, 2018

Moff · Dec 8, 2018

finished it, very good game.
excellent mechanics, but it's not meaty and a bit repetitive. I am glad it was only 12 hours, that worked out well.

I hope it's successful and the sequel will be a full blown rpg with more diverse locations, more characters, quests, more weapons and skills.

Joffy · Dec 8, 2018

Moff said:
finished it, very good game.
excellent mechanics, but it's not meaty and a bit repetitive. I am glad it was only 12 hours, that worked out well.

I hope it's successful and the sequel will be a full blown rpg with more diverse locations, more characters, quests, more weapons and skills.

What difficulty did you play on, out of interest? I'm on the middle one and my progress has slowed to a crawl in the northern areas so wondering if I'm just being slow/bad or not. It feels like I have a lot of game left too?

Moff · Dec 8, 2018

Joffy said:
What difficulty did you play on, out of interest? I'm on the middle one and my progress has slowed to a crawl in the northern areas so wondering if I'm just being slow/bad or not. It feels like I have a lot of game left too?

I played on the easiest difficulty (normal), because I am not good at tactical games although I enjoy them a lot.

getting full health and all skills after every encounter made the game really easy, though. I don't think I ever lost a fight after the early crashed helicopter fight. But I always played the game how it wants you to, picking off single enemies stealthily first all around the map.

Joffy · Dec 8, 2018

Moff said:
I played on the easiest difficulty (normal), because I am not good at tactical games although I enjoy them a lot.

getting full health and all skills after every encounter made the game really easy, though. I don't think I ever lost a fight after the early crashed helicopter fight. But I always played the game how it wants you to, picking off single enemies stealthily first all around the map.

Damn that must make such a difference, I'm basically going into every fight with 50% health and saving a few meds for downed members

grmlin · Dec 8, 2018

Joffy said:
Damn that must make such a difference, I'm basically going into every fight with 50% health and saving a few meds for downed members

I enjoy it a lot on normal, too. I don't see myself playing it again without the health regen after a battle... yet. I just want to have a good time, and I'm glad the developers made it possible with that difficulty :)

Afro · Dec 8, 2018

This is my GOTY so far, srs. 10 hours in. Just got that nasty 1-shot sniper in a crate and that silenced nail gun thing. So now I have a silenced weapon for all three party members.

One neat tip I found is that if you smoke yourself BEFORE a pyro throws a molotov at you, when it hits you, it'll instantly extinguish and do no damage to you. I'm wrecking pyros.

I love assigning roles to your crew based upon their strengths and mutations. The duck guy is my stealth/flank/distraction guy. The boar is my main tank w/ tons of HP and armor. And the chick is my main sniper with insane range and DPS. Loving this so much.

Definitely spread your party out before you engage with a group of enemies. They get flustered when one of your party members is behind them and your other two members are in front. Also dont underestimate the smoke and marker 'nades. Extremely useful.

GMM · Dec 8, 2018

Finished the game on the hardest difficulty(the intended way by the devs) and did the few side quests there were, i absolutely loved it.

The game was really hard in the first few hours due to a severe lack of silenced weapons for my crew, but slowly that changed and my crew turned into a murder squad that could take on multiple enemies at once.

I would call it my game of the year if it just had more content and generally was a little more fleshed out, but what is there is absolutely fantastic and lays a super strong foundation for them to build a really amazing sequel.

I hope the game is a success and we get a fully fleshed out RPG with more replayability.

nillapuddin · Dec 8, 2018

I LOVED this game

Are there other silenced weapons besides crossbow, ancient pistol and futuristic looking pistol?

I played the entire game in ultimate stealth, only had ' loud' encounters with Like three enemies, the strategy was so much fun min/maxing

Afro · Dec 8, 2018

GMM said:
I would call it my game of the year if it just had more content and generally was a little more fleshed out, but what is there is absolutely fantastic and lays a super strong foundation for them to build a really amazing sequel.

I hope the game is a success and we get a fully fleshed out RPG with more replayability.

YES! GIVE US MUTANT 2!!! TAKE MY MONEY!

Afro · Dec 8, 2018

nillapuddin said:
I LOVED this game

Are there other silenced weapons besides crossbow, ancient pistol and futuristic looking pistol?

There is that little nailgun looking SMG thing, I forget its name. I got it near that crashed plane/chopper with a bunch of dogs chilling around a campfire.

edit: double post sry.

Booga · Dec 8, 2018

RumbleHumble said:
I'm not saying all games should be reviewing over an 8 or else, I'm saying reviewers going lower than 8 are selling the game short. My first post was about how media outlets reviewing the game are giving scores that aren't that impressive. Below 8 is not that impressive of a review score. (Its also not a death knell either) And yes, I do think most grasshopper games were underrated by review outlets, there's a reason those are mostly carried by word of mouth. Obviously review outlets aren't the be-all-end-all, but I do wish the game was getting better scores and I don't understand what's so wrong with thinking some review outlets going less than 8 on this one sucks, given how good the actual product is. Also not getting the weird hostility here, but internet and all that I guess.

No hostility at all. I am saying that the game is averaging 8.5. Not sure how you are reading me any other way. I was just pointing out that when you looked at Metacritic, you didn't notice that the only reason the critic reviews were 7.9 is because of a single anomalous 50% review.

If you remove that one stand out review, and heck, even if you remove one of the top reviews as well, the average is 8.5-8.6

So your assessment that it is being undersold it incorrect, it really isn't being undersold at all by critics because of one shitty review in a pile of good to glowing reviews. Does that make sense to you?

The only aggression you may notice is me pointing out that you only gave metacritic a brief glance, or you would have noticed this yourself.

Booga · Dec 8, 2018

GMM said:
Finished the game on the hardest difficulty(the intended way by the devs) and did the few side quests there were, i absolutely loved it.

The game was really hard in the first few hours due to a severe lack of silenced weapons for my crew, but slowly that changed and my crew turned into a murder squad that could take on multiple enemies at once.

I would call it my game of the year if it just had more content and generally was a little more fleshed out, but what is there is absolutely fantastic and lays a super strong foundation for them to build a really amazing sequel.

I hope the game is a success and we get a fully fleshed out RPG with more replayability.

How many hours did it take you on hard and completing all side quests? I find the game to be around the 15 mark when taking your time. Is it a lot more involved on the hardest difficulty?

Afro · Dec 8, 2018

Booga said:
How many hours did it take you on hard and completing all side quests? I find the game to be around the 15 mark when taking your time. Is it a lot more involved on the hardest difficulty?

I'm on the middle difficulty (Hard) and after 10 hours I'm not even lvl 20 yet.

GMM · Dec 8, 2018

Booga said:
How many hours did it take you on hard and completing all side quests? I find the game to be around the 15 mark when taking your time. Is it a lot more involved on the hardest difficulty?

According to Steam it took me 17 hours, so it probably took me a little over 15 hours when oh deduct the time the game was launched but I wasn't actively playing.

Afro · Dec 8, 2018

DLC would be amazing for this.

GUNDAM STARDUST · Dec 8, 2018

Why does the game keep crashing? Ugh.

Booga · Dec 8, 2018

GMM said:
According to Steam it took me 17 hours, so it probably took me a little over 15 hours when oh deduct the time the game was launched but I wasn't actively playing.

Yeah that is my clocked time.

Afro said:
DLC would be amazing for this.

I am hoping they sell well and support the game with some expansions and new game plus options. A game this fun deserves added replay value.

Afro · Dec 8, 2018

This is my little crew right now. Thought it was a cool pic. 4K res.

Booga · Dec 8, 2018

Afro said:
This is my little crew right now. Thought it was a cool pic. 4K res.

I prefer Farrow to the horned lady. Fucking badass fox.

Afro · Dec 8, 2018

Booga said:
I prefer Farrow to the horned lady. Fucking badass fox.

Haven't met him yet! Can't wait.

GymWolf86 · Dec 8, 2018

i'm loving this game soo much.
the mind control of magnus is really OP if you use it wisely.

Afro · Dec 8, 2018

GymWolf86 said:
i'm loving this game soo much.
the mind control of magnus is really OP if you use it wisely.

Sleeper hit of the year.

Ushay · Dec 8, 2018

Shit I really wanna play this but Red Dead is taking all my time. Then there's Hellblade coming next week..

Cerealmaterial · Dec 8, 2018

Is the game a bit framey on a one x? Only played around with it for 15 min but the frame rate seemed to be below 30 when moving around.

Dancrane212 · Dec 8, 2018

Cerealmaterial said:
Is the game a bit framey on a one x? Only played around with it for 15 min but the frame rate seemed to be below 30 when moving around.

There is a consistent stuttering problem on, at least, the XB1X. The company responsible for the console ports is looking into it.

SickBoy · Dec 8, 2018

The Xbox port seems largely fine, but I have noticed as I get closer to the end, the game is crashing out a lot more (always while loading an area). It's a bit frustrating, but it's an issue that's mitigated by the fact that the autosave is smartly implemented -- I can always load up the game and I'll be at my destination... rather than having to cross my fingers that that transition won't screw up again.

cognizant · Dec 8, 2018

Hmm, shall I get this on PC or PS4 Pro? Looks like my jam.

Booga · Dec 8, 2018

cognizant said:
Hmm, shall I get this on PC or PS4 Pro? Looks like my jam.

I'd say either. Personally I am sticking to just the one playthrough ( on PC) until it releases for Switch and then I will double dip.

Dannerz · Dec 8, 2018

Just finished the game on Normal. Should have realized that Normal is actually easy mode. Found the early game a good challenge, but towards the end it becomes trivial as I outleveled the enemy quite a bit. The game is fun but gets a bit repetitive, the loot and store goods stop being useful after a time, and the character abilities overlap a bit which is a shame. The story wasn't terribly good but the world is very interesting. I would love to see a sequel improve on the game as the core is solid. Focus on writing and storytelling and more varied environments to explore (and better loot to find instead of just grabbing scrap + weapon parts). I really hope this game sells enough to warrant a sequel because this game had a lot of unfulfilled potential. I'd give it a 7/10.

Derrick01 · Dec 8, 2018

I haven't read through the thread but is there an anti-save scumming measure in this game? I'm pretty early on still and trying to pick off some enemies that are in my way for a story objective but every time I use the duck to snipe quietly with the bow I miss the guy (at 75% chance). Reloaded like 7 times and missed every time. Even tried to use him 2nd after using the girl with her silenced pistol and he still missed.

Normally I'd roll with the punches but since I have no other silenced weapon it's not enough to kill the enemy and it alerts everyone else, 1 being a shaman who screams and makes like 4 other enemies come out. There's really no way for me to win in this combat scenario.

Dannerz · Dec 8, 2018

Derrick01 said:
I haven't read through the thread but is there an anti-save scumming measure in this game?

No anti save scum. But early game is hard because you gotta save up for another crossbow to get stealth kills. Start with med bots or shamans because they are extra annoying. Bormin has a tackling ability which takes people out for an extra turn to stealth kill.

Dannerz · Dec 8, 2018

Double post.

SickBoy · Dec 8, 2018

So I just wrapped this up. I really enjoyed it, but the Xbox port got worse the deeper I went. In the last area, I had to turn ambient sound all the way down, because all it wound up being was intermittent bursts of loud static. Nothing gamebreaking, but it's a bit disappointing.

The game does get easier as you go, but whether by design or just by recklessness, I had a couple of late battles that involved lethal numbers of enemies.

I haven't played a massive number of games this year, but this would definitely slot into the top half of the titles I've completed.

Derrick01 · Dec 8, 2018

Dannerz said:
No anti save scum. But early game is hard because you gotta save up for another crossbow to get stealth kills. Start with med bots or shamans because they are extra annoying. Bormin has a tackling ability which takes people out for an extra turn to stealth kill.

I don't even think I'm that far because I haven't seen another crossbow for sale yet and I'm still saving up skill points for Bormin's 2nd tier ability. It's weird if there's no save scum measure because it seemed like I was set up to miss on that shot each time no matter how I handled it.

SickBoy · Dec 8, 2018

Derrick01 said:
I don't even think I'm that far because I haven't seen another crossbow for sale yet and I'm still saving up skill points for Bormin's 2nd tier ability. It's weird if there's no save scum measure because it seemed like I was set up to miss on that shot each time no matter how I handled it.

I'm pretty sure I know which encounter you're talking about -- I snuck past it and went back later to clear those guys out because I felt the odds were a bit overwhelming. I'm sure it must be beatable with your squad the way it is at that point, but once I realized I was able to make it to the next zone, that became my short-term solution to htat problem.

Joffy · Dec 9, 2018

I have bormins

corpse eating

mutation but how do I actually use it?

TheIlliterati · Dec 9, 2018

Joffy said:
I have bormins

corpse eating

mutation but how do I actually use it?

Make sure you actually have it "equipped". You can only have a certain number of mutations equipped and some overlap and you have to choose.

Joffy · Dec 9, 2018

TheIlliterati said:
Make sure you actually have it "equipped". You can only have a certain number of mutations equipped and some overlap and you have to choose.

Ah dammit you're right, I'd assumed it was passive for some reason. Well I don't wanna lose Hog Rush :/

eddy · Dec 10, 2018

There's a 275MiB patch out on Steam. No changelog that I can find yet.

EDIT: AMD pre-Ryzen patch. Seems a bit large for only that, but ok. These are the same people who has packaged a 50MiB 't4240t180.tmp' file (an alternative intro movie) and a 'ConsoleSplashScreenFinal.mp4' for no good reason. There's also a High Voltage splash I assume is only used on the console version.

We have a fix for most users affected by the pre-Ryzen AMD Inventory and Cutscene freezes. An interim patch was posted on Friday which seems to fix the issues for 95% of affected users. As this has been well received we shall also patch today for everybody on the 'Default' branch.

Ricker · Dec 10, 2018

eddy said:
There's a 275MiB patch out on Steam. No changelog that I can find yet.

Hoping for the XBox patch soon so I can keep(or try)playing....everything is explored and fights done if I go back to the regions I discovered but the only fight I need to do is impossible,even on normal.(unless I get real lucky or keep at it)...I dont think I can sneek pass those guys and come back later.(Brother Bodin fight)

Neuromancer · Dec 10, 2018

Ricker said:
Hoping for the XBox patch soon so I can keep(or try)playing....everything is explored and fights done if I go back to the regions I discovered but the only fight I need to do is impossible,even on normal.(unless I get real lucky or keep at it)...I dont think I can sneek pass those guys and come back later.(Brother Bodin fight)

I don't remember that fight in particular but have you tried whittling down their numbers a little using stealth? I just finished the game on Normal, some fights are tricky and I had to retry them but they should be doable.

Also there is a helmet that resists mind control and electric damage, I can't remember where I found it. But I put it on Bormin and always send him out to be closest to the Brothers. They try mind controlling him and it never works.

OneBadMutha · Dec 10, 2018

I'm about halfway. Give it a solid 7.5-8.0 right now. Solid foundation for an IP that could grow into something great. I like the blend of real time and turn based, the stealth, the characters and the world. Just needs more content and variety.

I hope this team gets additional funding and grows for a sequel. Make the sequel open world with the same basic foundation. Have more variety of combat scenarios. More choices. More side missions. Maybe alternate endings based on choices.

Think this series has a chance to be near the top of the genre with more resources in development. Team punched above their weight class.

Mini-Me · Dec 10, 2018

The difficulty just jumped up a lot and I don't know what to do. House of Bones, everyone is level 20, I'm only 18, there are like 10 of them all standing very close to each other, and everyone has what feels like 2 times the health then my squad. I'm in normal and it feels like I've missed stuff and fallen behind on levels for where I should be, but I've played through everything I can so far.

Yerffej · Dec 10, 2018

I'm so ducking bad at this particular game but I love the world. I'm at the place where the first medbot is and with all the dudes, the dogs, and the medbot I'm just not beating it. Feels like a wall I can't surmount. I've tried every angle.

Mutant Year Zero: The Road to Eden |OT| DuX-Com

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