The upcoming open-world, post-apocalyptic, kung-fu action game from developers Experiment 101 called BioMutant has received nothing but tons of praise from the community. Well, the developers finally revealed what inspired the game and some of its features.
According to IGN, Experiment 101's studio head Sefan Ljungqvist explained that titles like Ratchet & Clank, Devil May Cry, and Breath of the Wild worked as inspiration for the game. It's quite obvious really, given that the designs of the characters definitely look similar to the likes of Ratchet & Clank with the mixture of cute animals fused with futuristic robotic monstrosities. The game still manages to retain its own visual identity, though and has a much darker aesthetic edge to it than Insomniac Games' Ratchet & Clank series.
The Devil May Cry bits come into play with the game's fast-paced melee and projectile-based combat systems. The game rewards players for being able to string together combos, unleash devastating attacks on foes and generally looking cool while doing so.
The open-world aspects were inspired somewhat by the open-air concept that Nintendo infused into The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, one of the more celebrated games in recent times. The world isn't quite as large as Breath of the Wild, but it will offer gamers 16 square kilometers to explore within the realm of BioMutant. The areas will expand from small towns and villages, to the forested areas, some deserts, and even underworld areas.
One of the more obvious inspirations also came from outside the realm of video games, specifically Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda. I don't think I need to explain much how the anthropomorphic martial arts panda played a role in inspiring a game about anthropomorphic animals using kung fu in a post-apocalyptic world inspired by Asian mythology.
The story of the game is a bit unlike anything else out there, though. It's its own thing. Players will create their furry animal creature and enter into the game world. The object is to seek out five behemoth creatures who are each part of their own faction. The creatures are working their way through the roots of the Tree of Life -- the tree provides the world with life and if it dies then so does the rest of the world. Players can attempt to infiltrate and join the factions to find out why they're attempting to destroy the tree, or players can seek out each of these factions and attempt to take out each of the behemoths in order to save the tree.
Alternatively, BioMutant will allow you to pursue a less violent route by seeking out a remedy to save the tree from the behemoths without having to face them directly.
Depending on the choices you make in the game will determine what sort of ending you'll get. This definitely creates an interesting twist for the game and separates it from the other games that helped inspire it. So far gamers are highly thrilled with the prospects of the game and are looking forward to its release on the Xbox One, PS4 and on PC at some point in 2018.
