Mutant Year Zero Trailer Showcases Gameplay Details

Publisher Funcom and developer The Bearded Ladies have released a new Mutant Year Zero trailer earlier today. The new trailer, titled “What is Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden?,” features game director Lee Varley and co-director David Skarin revealing gameplay details from the upcoming game. It is slated to release for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC on December 4, 2018.

The new Mutant Year Zero trailer begins with Varley and Skarin describing the game as a “tactical adventure,” with gameplay mainly comprising of “real-time stealth that seamlessly moves into turn-based tactical combat.” If anything, that sounds like a mix of Hitman and XCOM, which would be appealing to fans of both franchises. A reason for that is because part of the Mutant Year Zero development team includes former Hitman developers.

Additionally, the Mutant Year Zero trailer gives us a glimpse of the Ark, which will function as the player’s hub of operations throughout the game. This location will be where players upgrade their weapons and meet the Elder, a mysterious figure from before the apocalypse. The upcoming game will also follow a meta-plot of the original pen-and-paper RPG on which it was adapted from. Progressing through the game will reveal more information on what really happened to the world before the apocalypse.

Varley mentions that the developers focused on the “getting in and out of tactical combat,” as well as incorporating and applying the stealth experience that they have gained from developing Hitman games. Skarin later adds that what makes Mutant Year Zero unique is that the part in tactical combat games like XCOM, where players usually take time to set up and plan, has been changed into real-time. Last but not least, gaining experience unlocks new mutations similar to a skill tree of sorts, the combinations of which can be switched to obtain different benefits.