The games that come out of Avalanche Studios tend to be bombastic and filled with action — as we have seen with Just Cause 3 and the Mad Max video games — but some of the studio’s employees decided to leave in order to develop a slightly goofier action-role-playing game. That title, called BioMutant, is due to release in 2018 and its character designs have us intrigued.
Developed by Experiment 101 and published by THQ Nordic, BioMutant is a customization-heavy action game that allows you to use “mutations, bionic prosthetics, and weapons” to create your own unique character. The game’s post-apocalyptic world can be explored using everything from para-gliders to mechs, and it makes use of a combat system inspired by martial arts — the game’s aesthetic bears some resemblance to Ninja Theory’s cult hit Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, as well as Ubisoft’s Beyond Good & Evil.
According to IGN, the game will also feature consequences for your customization choices that affect how you perform in combat. The game’s trailer shows a raccoon character attempting to fire a pistol, which appears to either jam or malfunction, and an enormous ogre-like monster tries to crush him with a club. On the raccoon’s back is a sword that looks like Cloud’s Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII, only with an electric ability that allows him to slice through the other creature’s club like it was butter.
But before the raccoon can get the upper hand, the ogre throws an enormous ball and chain at him that is packed with explosives. Trapped in a dark cavern and surrounded by what appear to be bats, the raccoon’s fate is left unknown.
A brief gameplay demonstration has also been released, courtesy of Gematsu. In the short clip, we get a glimpse of the game’s gorgeous, lush open world, as well as its combat system, which makes use of numbers above enemies’ heads. We also see some of the vehicles and mounts, including a glider and a steampunk flying machine.
The game’s reveal leaked a few days ago in the German magazine GamesMarkt and the article confirmed many of the details IGN reported on Monday, August 21. It is the latest AAA project THQ Nordic is publishing. The publisher is also working with Gunfire Games to release the long-awaited Darksiders 3, developed by members of the original two games’ now-defunct Vigil Games studio.
BioMutant will be shown at THQ Nordic’s Gamescom booth this week, so stay tuned for the latest information on the project. The game launches in 2018 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
