Later this month, Biomutant will finally be released by Experiment 101 and THQ Nordic. The game has undergone a large number of delays over the past few years, and at one point there was a long enough silence that supporters feared the game had been quietly cancelled. Fortunately, that was not the case, and the promising open world action RPG has returned to the public eye with a fresh coat of polish and a firm release date. Being the first game from the developer, it’s hard to say exactly how Biomutant will turn out, but there’s a lot of hope that the game will end up being something special.
Biomutant looks to learn from the open-world games from the past and build on them. Its character creator looks quite impressive, as does the amount of stat customization. There has been a clear effort to ensure that a lot of varied gameplay options are available, and that they look a lot more stylish than some other open-world games. It remains to be seen how fleshed-out the world is when the player is actually exploring it, but the many different transportation methods shown in trailers do inspire hope on that front. Above all else, according to a recent developer interview, the game won’t overstay its welcome.
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From an interview with GamingBolt, developer Experiment 101 was asked about how long the game would be. This is an interesting question that many open-world games have different answers for. More narrative-driven games like The Witcher 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2 demand a lot of commitment from the player, and frequently see them spending over 50 hours travelling through those worlds, taking in the sights and happenings.
Other games like Skyrim have a more compact story, in which a veteran player can run from event to event in 10-20 hours. Breath of the Wild is probably the most interesting example of all, as it allows very skilled players to run straight to Ganon after its tutorial, with speedruns lasting less than an hour.
Biomutant won’t be going that far, but it will be committed to supporting whatever playstyle players prefer. For those who want to experience the main story, Experiment 101 has said that the game will last 12-15 hours. This was specifically referred to as a “rushed” playthrough, so a more typical main story run will probably be closer to 20 hours. Still, this is a much appreciated consideration for those who do not have a lot of time, and it recalls the winning structure of the open world classic Skyrim. An open world game doesn't need to take long if it's still a good experience. And of course, a structure like Skyrim wouldn’t be complete without tens of hours of optional content.
Experiment 101 was quick to note that a “rushed” playthrough would specifically involve ignoring some mechanics and all exploration, as well as skipping cutscenes and dialogue. The estimated playtime for that seems typical enough, and speedrunners will probably optimize it much more. However, for players who want the opposite, Biomutant is ready to provide. In the same response, Experiment 101 referred to a member of its team that was currently playing through Biomutant. This developer was described as a methodical player, and as of that interview had spent over 65 hours on the game without completing it. That’s a far cry from the previously suggested 15.
From this, it seems like Biomutant has taken the Skyrim and Breath of the Wild approach to its length. Those who want to get through it quickly can do so in a fairly standard amount of time compared to the average AAA release. However, players who want to explore the world and do plenty of sidequests will be met with over 60 hours of potential content, with plenty of things shown off in the trailers that could be done along the way. It sounds like Biomutant has hit the sweet spot with its length, and could end up being something special because of it.
Biomutant releases on May 25, 2021, for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.