Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden Overview Trailer

Funcom and The Bearded Ladies’ upcoming tactical RPG Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden should be releasing on December 4, 2018. And if ahead of that you’d like to learn a bit about the game’s tabletop roots, the team’s unique approach to turn-based tactics, and the differences between Mutant Year Zero and XCOM, you may want to watch this new trailer:

Alternatively, you can read this post on the official website that offers an overview of the game’s features that include real-time exploration and character-altering mutations. Check it out:

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a game that combines exploration, stealth, tactical combat, and finding answers. You take control of a team of mutants

The game is based on a Swedish pen-and-paper role-playing game from 2014, set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has almost gone instinct and mutants have risen up to take their place.

Starting out you meet Bormin and Dux, a duo of Stalkers. Dux is a walking, talking black duck, equipped with equal amounts of crossbow bolts and sass. Bormin, the team leader, is a big and brutal boar. He’s always ready to smack Dux on the head for insubordination while shooting a ghoul in the face with his Scattergun. Together the two Stalkers live in The Ark, a sanctuary built on an old highway overpass, and work as Stalkers, hunters, gatherers and explorers, who venture out into the irradiated Zone on missions given to them by the Elder, the leader of the Ark.

After returning to the Ark from an expedition, Bormin and Dux are tasked with finding a Stalker named Hammon by the Elder. Hammon is the Ark’s resident Gearhead, the class that fixes and builds things in the pen & paper RPG. He uses metal scrap to maintain the machines that keep the Ark alive. Without Hammon, everyone’s doomed. Bormin and Dux venture north, going further into the Zone than ever before.

REAL-TIME EXPLORATION

The story of Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is Dux and Bormin’s journey through the Zone. Travelling through the irradiated wasteland happens in real time and we encourage you to take the time to explore and search through every nook and cranny. Valuable scrap and weapon parts can be brought back to the Ark to buy items and upgrade your weapons. Artifacts left behind by the ancients will unlock new team skills and upgrades.

We recommend taking frequent trips back to the Ark. The shops will almost always have something new to sell you and any good Stalker worth their salt knows that you need every edge you can get against the nasty Zone Ghouls.

As you progress further in the game you’ll also meet other mutants who can join your party. We’ve already revealed Selma, one of Hammon’s team mates, and we have more mutants to reveal as we get closer to the release date on December 4th.

MASTER THE STEALTHY APPROACH

Journeying through the Zone is tough. If the Zone rot doesn’t set in you will undoubtedly clash with the deadly Zone Ghouls, horrific beings mutated beyond humanity. When you run into these foul creatures it’s never a good idea to go for an all-out assault. Ghouls can quickly overrun you with superior numbers. To really gain an advantage on the dangers in the Zone you need to master the stealthy approach.

You can, and should, split up your party whenever you come across a new group of enemies. Send your mutants different cover points in the environment, scope out the area, and set up devastating ambushes against unsuspecting Ghouls. This allows you to pick off stragglers before tackling a bigger group of foes.

If your ambush is successful, or if the Ghouls accidentally discover you, combat begins.

FIGHT, KILL AND MUTATE

While exploration and stealth happens in real-time, combat is classic turn-based tactical gameplay. You direct your team of mutants around on a grid, placing them behind cover or moving them into flanking positions so they can take out Ghouls quickly and efficiently.

Each mutant comes equipped with weapons and skills to give them an edge in combat. Need to get to higher ground to take out a tough Ghoul? Have Dux grow a pair of mothwings so he can hover over the battlefield and gain an advantage. Is there a wall blocking your way? Bormin’s resilient body makes him an excellent battering ram, so knock down that wall with a well-placed Hog Rush and give the nearest Ghoul a taste of Bormin’s shotgun. New skills and abilities can be unlocked as you journey through the game.

You have a number of active skills and passive bonuses to play around with, giving you a degree of customizability when setting up your team of mutants. While you can only have 3 active members of the team you can switch these out on the fly whenever you’re out of combat. We want players to be able to choose their ideal team, to fit their style of play.

You will be seeing plenty more of Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden in the next two months. We have a ton of great content to show you guys, ranging from livestreams and gameplay videos to screenshots and concept art.