PAX West 2018: What We Learned about Biomutant

In the back of the Expo hall on the 4th floor, next to the SEGA booth you find quite an interesting sight: A crowded line waiting for their chance at 20 minutes of demoing of THQ Nordic’s upcoming RPG Biomutant.  Lines at PAX aren’t anything abnormal at all but when they leave stations empty at booths like Darksiders 3, a series with a usual cult following, you know something is up.  We’ve included a video of the demo I played for you guys to check out but I was able to catch up with one of the developers working on Biomutant and grab a bit more information.

You Dirty Trash Panda

Interestingly enough it seems like, as of now, the protagonist doesn’t have a name.  Described as he/she/it the developers have no idea what the name is or if s/he/it will even be named.  I’m actually okay with this because it frees me up to say what we all are thinking: it’s a trash panda and in my head, I’m playing the origin story for Guardians of the Galaxy’s Rocket.

While playing the demo a lot of people seemed to be curious if the level design in the demo was indicative of the style we’ll find in the final game, which is to say linear in fashion.  Lucky for all of us we are going to be treated to another open world game, and a beautiful one at that.  I was told that among titles like Devil May Cry, Jack and Dexter and Ratchet and Clank the biggest inspiration for the overall design of Biomutant is Nintendo’s Breath of the Wild.  Given the wild acclaim and pure amazingness of the title if Biomutant manages to capture just some of that magic we are in for a treat.

Story-wise we are looking a minimum of 10 hours of main story-line but they are shooting to have more in at launch.  It was made clear to me in no uncertain terms that this 10 hours of gameplay was if you rushed just the story and ignored every piece of optional content.  I couldn’t get much information about how side quests will play out but I hoping they’re their own little mini-stories rather than fetch or kill one-off missions.

The demo I played showed off a multitude of different systems when it came to combat and interacting with the world.  I was shooting for ranged, swinging for melee (and performing hilarious combos), as well as using abilities later on in the demo that were equally entertaining.  As you level up you’ll be unlocking combos using your level up points as well as gaining access to mutations and bionics.  The first weapon you see in the demo playthrough is an example of a bionic while the mucus bubble is an example of a skill you’ll have access to.

No RPG is really an RPG without some type of crafting and gear system, at least in my opinion.  As of now the only thing they would confirm is that weapon crafting will be in the game and really wouldn’t give much information on how it works.  Gear dropping was disabled for the demo but will drop from creatures and chests, as well as crafting items, while you’re out and about wreaking havoc in the world.

So… When’s the Beta?

The question on everyone’s mind – when is the beta?  Well, there won’t be one as of right now.  Yes, you read that correctly.  As of right now, there are no plans for a beta test phase and only plans for a full release sometime in the Summer 2019 time block.  If the polish of their demo is any indication it’s completely possible that Biomutant will be just fine without one.  Are you excited for Biomutant – why or why not? Let us know what you think in the comments!