GameCenter - Issue 68 - 32

cover story

PUTTING THE
'MUTANT' IN
BIOMUTANT
One of Biomutant's main gameplay elements is its Mutation System.
In addition to your normal attributes and weapon customization, the
Mutation System will let you further cater your character to fit your
playing style. These are like the superpowers of the Biomutant world,
and combining them with your melee and ranged attacks can create
devastating effects.
BIOMUTATIONS
Pretty much the name of the game, Biomutations will actually change
your character's DNA and affect their physical appearance. One of the
examples that Experiment 101 has thrown around are Crab Claws,
which give you big old crab claws where your hands once were. You
can pinch enemies or slam them on the ground.
PSI-MUTATIONS
These mutations all revolve around some sort of telekinetic abilities.
Whether that means using your brain power to toss an enemy around
like a rag doll or shooting sparks out of your fingers, investing in PSIMutations is the way to go if you want to feel like a furry Jedi.
BIONIC ENHANCEMENTS
These aren't mutations in the traditional sense, but Bionic Enhancements basically let you turn your character into a cyborg. While we
don't know much about these kinds of mutations, we do know that
playing as a half-robot, half-raccoon who knows kung fu sounds
awesome.
SNOT BUBBLE
Okay, we're not totally sure what kind of mutation it is, or if it's even
called a snot bubble, but that's what it looks like. This mutation lets
you encase yourself in a green, goopy bubble to not only deflect bullets but bounce around and get to those hard-to-reach places. It's form
and function combined.

32

"An important part
of choosing a more
fantastic approach to
the character design is
that we can get away
with crazier gameplaycentric abilities."
STEFAN LJUNGQVIST,
EXPERIMENT 101 STUDIO HEAD
crush, pierce, or slash damage. You
can add modifiers to these weapons
to give them elemental damage potential, too. Knowing which combos
to use on which enemies will be key.
"Some enemies obviously have
different behaviors, so certain approaches are better than others

against certain enemies," Ljungqvist
said. "The possibility of creating
variation to the combat gameplay
experience is in the player's hands."
The cohesiveness of these ideas
and the ability to be creative comes
from the small size of Experiment
101's studio. With only 20 developers working on such a huge game,
there are obvious challenges, but
the benefits are more freedom, more
weirdness, and more goodness.
"We've been able to iterate fast
and make quick decisions on necessary changes as the team works autonomously with both great freedom
and responsibility towards the bigger
vision," Ljungqvist said. "In essence,
everyone on the team has a better
chance to contribute to the game as
a whole."
GameCenter - Issue 68

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GameCenter - Issue 68
