006 BIOMUTANT
We visit Experiment 101 for a hands-on with the studio’s first game
We comb through the fur of this open-world RPG from the makers of Just Cause.
In a time when games are made of muted colour palettes and big, gruff, beardy men, Experiment 101’s first project is aiming for something a bit different. Stefan Ljungqvist, co-founder and head of developer Experiment 101, explains that after working as the art director at Avalanche Studios for the Just Cause series, he wanted to work on something colourful again.
“I just wanted to go back and make something that reminded me of the games that I played maybe 10 or 15 years ago,” he tells us. “You know, they didn’t take themselves too serious, were more about gameplay and fun, you don’t have to explain the rationale for everything. And I thought like an animal would be very suitable for that.”
Each player’s critter can be customised in a system that maps your skills to your appearance. By moving a cursor over a hex-grid between five main stats or tapping a button to randomise your attributes, you can ‘recode’ your character’s DNA. Making a character with a strong emphasis on agility will give them longer legs, for instance, whereas a character with lots of points between Charisma and Intellect will have a big old noggin.
Ljungqvist says the rationale behind this and much of the game’s design was ‘weird in a good way’ and adds, “The programmers always want to make the most ugly and strange thing that they can make. But they were laughing so hard that we said ‘that’s more important.’”
FRIENDLY FIRE
After carefully picking our fur type and some lovely pink highlights to really bring out the colour of our one good eye, we are off. In the world of Biomutant, the Tree Of Life is dying, its roots infected by a handful of powerful beasts gnawing at it. You can choose to save it or actively work towards its demise.
Before long, our wry narrator presents us with choices which
affect where we fall within the game’s Karma system. Rather than a choice between being good or evil with chunks of the game closed off to you depending on which side you allign yourself with, both sides are complementary forces that you can try to balance. Ljungqvist says that the team didn’t want to create hours of content that could be missed due to player choice, telling us, “There are six tribe leaders you are going to have a relationship with some way or another.”
Again, you have a number of choices in how you deal with each. Do you unite the leaders, defeat them all or play favourites? Complicating your decision, each tribe leader you help out will then teach you their version of kung fu.
Fighting is pretty spectacular, taking inspiration from sources as diverse as the characteristic combat of John Wu’s films to Kung Fu Panda to Ljungqvist’s own years spent practicing full-contact martial arts. Combat features a mix of moves spread between blasting bullets and spinning cuts that can send your foes skyward for a devastating finishing blow. Mutations, which you can acquire from biopools or radioactive machines scattered around the world, can offer several new strings to your battling bow, with skills including telekinesis and even aggressive moths that plague your enemies into fighting for you. (Presumably by eating their clothes.)
ADVENTURE TIME
When we ask Ljungqvist exactly how large the map is, he tells us: “The world is quite big but it’s not like Just Cause – that’s huge. For us it’s more about trying to fill it with interesting things to do.”
It’s also well worth looking out for loot and new bits you can use to customise your weapons, because there’s far more to find.
Ljungqvist explains, “The first 30 minutes, we are teaching you the ropes. After that, you are kind of free to go anywhere. But we are gating you in certain ways. For example, there’s a big dead zone that has low oxygen, so obviously you can go in there without equipment but you will suffocate after a while. So then it’s up to the player to say ‘Do I want to go in there? Do I want to investigate that zone in the game?’”
While certain places are gated by the lack of a necessary skill or item, others reward players for being
FIGHTING IS PRETTY SPECTACULAR, TAKING INSPIRATION FROM DIVERSE MARTIAL ARTS.
observant of the changing world around them.
Ljungqvist elaborates, “We have a dynamic weather system. So it can become cold at any time. Obviously it’s cold at night, et cetera. Certain areas have water and that freezes to ice. It’s like ‘Oh, now I can walk across that.’” He goes on to reveal, “Some peaks are unreachable unless you have a mount that can climb up the stone wall or you can get a bionic bow and shoot an arrow and make your own climb spot. There are so many ways, I think, to explore.”
Sometimes you need to acquire this vital equipment from a character within the world – getting by with just a little help from your friends. Even your automaton cricket plays a part beyond being an adorable sidekick.
“He’s kind of a contextual special quest giver, if you will, so he will react to places in the world,” says Ljungqvist, only to stop himself and make a rather more cryptic comment. “He also has another meaning in the game but I don’t wanna… I want to say something but I won’t spoil it!”
We look forward to discovering what tricks Biomutant has on top of quest-doling crickets tucked up its sleeve some time later this year. Follow @Biomutant and visit the team at biomutant.com for more information.