Overview
Biomutant is an open-world action RPG developed by Experiment 101 and published by THQ Nordic. Its post-apocalyptic setting takes the form of a kung-fu fable, with character development extending from the protagonist's genetic makeup to the individual parts used to build weapons.
The game is available on Windows PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. Steam and the Epic Games Store carry the PC version.
How does Biomutant's combat work?
Biomutant's third-person combat combines martial arts, shooting, and mutation powers with agile movement. The system supports fighting at different distances, bringing firearms and close-range attacks into the same toolkit instead of separating them into distinct styles.
- Agile third-person movement
- Melee and ranged attacks
- Mutation-powered combat abilities
- Unlockable Wung-Fu forms
Weapon categories include revolvers, rifles, and shotguns, alongside one-handed and two-handed melee options built for slashing or crushing. Progression and training with masters expand the Wung-Fu move set, adding techniques as the protagonist develops.
Mutations and modular weapon crafting
Genetic customization changes both appearance and attributes. The protagonist's physical design therefore has a role in character building, connecting visual changes to the underlying RPG statistics. Biology becomes another part of the build alongside equipped weapons and clothing.
Environmental exposure supplies distinct routes to mutant abilities. Bio-contamination produces powers such as Turtleform and Mucus Bubble, while radiation found in old-world bunkers unlocks psi-mutations. Telekinesis and levitation sit among these mental powers, giving character progression a stranger direction than conventional weapon upgrades alone.
Weapon crafting uses interchangeable components and modifications, including corkscrews, battery-powered chainsaw modules, and contaminated sludge vials. Specialist characters also create equipment such as bionic wings and a jump-pack, and offer modifications for the Automaton, the protagonist's scrap-toy companion. Crafting consequently reaches beyond the arsenal into travel equipment and companion customization.
Exploring a world on the brink
Exploration spans mountains, an archipelago, underground tunnels, and bunker networks. Travel options include walking, mechs, jet-skis, air balloons, and mounts associated with particular areas. The range of transport puts machines and creatures alongside movement on foot as tools for crossing the open world.
Equipment also serves a practical survival role. Dead Zones call for a gas mask and oxygen tank, while cryonic regions require cold-resistant clothing. Protective gear helps the protagonist face bio-contaminated creatures, making preparation part of exploration as well as combat.
A plague threatens the land, the Tree-of-Life is failing, and the Tribes remain divided. The protagonist can work to unite them or bring them down, placing decisions about the world's future within the action RPG's story. A Storyteller narrates the journey, but the character's actions and choices determine how that struggle ends.
