At a cursory glance, Biomutant, with its anthropomorphic protagonist and comic book-style exclamations during battle, may look rather cute, but it's a serious open-world action RPG that draws inspiration from a range of sources. Described as a "post-apocalyptic kung fu fable" by developer Experiment 101, Biomutant places players in the role of a mutated animal, who embarks on a quest to save the Tree of Life from a plague that's poisoning the land.
We got a chance to play Biomutant at Gamescom 2018 and speak with the game's creative director, Stefan Ljungqvist, who told us a little bit more about the title and explained some of the influences behind it. The demo begins with a look at the character creation system. Players will be able to customize their protagonist's appearance (down to the size of their fangs and fur color) and attributes at the start of the adventure, which will determine how their stats grow.
Soon after, we got to try out the combat system, which mixes melee attacks and long-range gunplay into a blend that looks and feels surprisingly reminiscent of Devil May Cry. This isn't a coincidence; Ljungqvist says Capcom's action series--as well as Ratchet & Clank--were a big influence on Biomutant's combat. Later in the demo, we got to pilot mechsuit and take on a hulking mutated boss, which swallowed us whole and needed to be defeated from the inside.
Publisher THQ Nordic hasn't announced a release date for Biomutant, but the game is slated to hit PS4, Xbox One, and PC sometime next summer.