5 Things That Let Biomutant Down

It's only been a few weeks since Biomutant hit the shelves, and yet, we've already resorted to nitpicking the nooks and crannies of THQ‘s newest hack and slash. And don't get me wrong — Biomutant, for what it's worth, is a fantastic concept, and in many ways, it does deliver what it says on the tin. But are the ingredients embedded within enough to live up to the genre and THQ's admirable history of well-polished video games? Well, that's definitely open for debate. In my honest opinion, though — there's plenty of pieces that ultimately capsize this visually stunning little ship.

Shoving spoilers aside, it is worth talking about a few key factors that do frustratingly tarnish the overall Biomutant experience. And while there are plenty of positives to keep the scales in motion, there are a few negatives that keep it somewhat lopsided. But let's talk about it. Let's delve into THQ's latest addition and touch base on the things that sadly haul the game into the firing line. From details even we'd consider petty to the errors that THQ should look to address as a matter of urgency — here are the five things that let Biomutant down.

5. Loading Times

It's 2021, which means loading times don't really exist anymore. At least nowhere near as much, anyway. And when they do pop up, it's never usually for more than a few seconds before throwing us back into the game. Biomutant, on the other hand, well — let's just say I was able to brew several cups of coffee in the times I had to reload a checkpoint over my fifteen-hour playthrough. But that was on an Xbox One. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, however — allow the game to run a little faster, though not by leaps and bounds. In fact, open any discussion and you'll see that the loading times are, annoyingly enough — one of the biggest problems with Biomutant. So, to that, we say — sort it out, THQ. Please.

4. Choppy Combat

For a game that practically shovels ancient fighting styles and seriously fast-paced warfare down your throat — the combat is, weirdly enough, really not all that great. In fact, it's choppy. So incredibly choppy. And let's be honest here — that's not something you'd come to expect from a game that revolves around a boatload hack and slash influences. But the truth is, Biomutant does struggle when it comes to stringing together any form of fluidity in combat. And that's not great, considering ninety percent of your journey is fueled by the battlefield.

3. Unskippable Dialogue

Let's face it — most RPGs (if not all) contain the simple choice of skipping a dialogue section. It's not uncommon. In fact, it's far from it. Sometimes, we don't want to interact with a character or follow a story arc that tears us away from our priorities. Sometimes, we just want to skip it and return to our personal agendas. However, Biomutant doesn't like that idea. Instead, what you're left with is lengthy talks with gibberish-speaking characters that urge you to respond to every question. But is there an option to close the discussion and walk away altogether? Well, you'd like to think so. But no, no there isn't.

2. Mounts

I don't know about you, but whenever I saddled up to traverse the luscious landscapes Biomutant put on display, I couldn't help but notice the glitchy animatronics that sent me spiralling before taking the reins. Like taking on the role of a baseball skewing at eight hundred miles per hour, my silent Ronin hero just sort of adapted to it every time. Only, I never really did. And it wasn't just that, either. In fact, a lot of things that revolved around travelling by mount just didn't really feel all too satisfying. It all felt somewhat clunky and tedious — and having to endure the grunting sound every time you jumped just didn't do any favors to my ears — especially when the narrator had already sanded them down to a butchering headache. And that, sadly, is what leads to our fifth and final point.

Don't get me wrong — Biomutant is a visually stunning game.

1. 99.9% Narration

Ah yes — the narration. There really is only so much one can take of it before resorting to the mute button to see the rest of the game through in complete silence. And to be fair, a lot of players have openly said that this was the method they themselves used to power through the bulk of the Biomutant chapters. But that isn't to say that the Stephen Fry clone that reports on everything you do is a bad thing. If anything, it's a quirky way of telling a story without having to spend a pretty penny on an entire voice cast. However, after having it relay your every move back to you for fifteen hours straight — you just learn to hate every spoken word. And that's, you know — not great.

Did you enjoy your journey with the Tree of Life? What do you think THQ could implement to improve Biomutant? Let us know over on our socials here.

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