E3 2002Day of the Mutants impressions

Polish developer Techland gave us a quick demonstration of Day of the Mutants, its action game prototype set in a sci-fi postapocalyptic world. According to Pawel Zawodny, Techland's development manager, the game is best described as a cross between Take-Two's fast-paced shooter Serious Sam and Blizzard's action role-playing game Diablo, and it is built on the Chrome 3D engine.

The description seems accurate from what we were shown. Although the game is still very early in development, Zawodny was able to show us some Serious Sam-style action, with the main character running around feverishly mowing down mutant zombies. The Diablo-style elements come into play in the game's inventory. The goal of the game is to merely survive in the hostile world filled with bloodthirsty mutants and radioactive rain. To this end, players will have to find food, fuel, ammunition, and weapons, but they won't be able to carry everything they find due to the limited space in their backpack. To survive, they will have to find the right balance of equipment, weapons, and supplies.

Day of the Mutants is currently in prototype stage and no official North American publisher or release date has been announced. We'll post more information about the game as it becomes available.