Overview of the expansion
The continuation of Mutant Year Zero instantly addressed all the issues that I had in the original game.
They added a new character in right away that I liked a lot. Not that their abilities were any different than the other characters. Their personality definitely was. It was nice to add in that new dialogue.
The enemies started requiring a lot more strategy to take out. It was a lot more difficult to pick them off one by one without alerting the others around them. Not only that but their attacks were a little smarter than before. Not a lot but they did seem to try more to take advantageous spots. That coupled with the fact that a lot of the new areas had multi level buildings really made combat a lot more fun.
Speaking of areas on the map, the old areas were used again. As you go through the game there are clues that you can find around giving hints to weapons or gear that might be at previous areas you’ve visited. Just walking through those areas searching again would just feel annoying if it wasn’t for the fact that they also had enemies! Not only that but the new “elder” would randomly contact you while playing to let you know of enemies moving into a previously cleared area. You would get a little intel about who is there and how difficult the interaction would be. It really helped break up the slow grind forward towards the one goal like the initial game had.
Another thing that I really appreciated about Seed of Evil is that you could continue to upgrade things. Whether that was your characters mutant abilities or using artifacts to further upgrade group abilities. I was able to upgrade the health packs and grenade damage, both of which were highly needed.
What’s the Story
Now concept behind the story was very interesting. A former member of the Ark was banished in the past and swore to get their revenge. Their mutant ability? Control of plants to a degree much more intense than anything any of the other mutants could do.
Now the old “elder” that you deal with in the original game has fled since being found out as a member of a scientific team which created the mutants. You may fault hi for creating the mutant but he did save them in the end. Between the turmoil of him leaving and the Ark being taken over by vines, demise seems immanent.
As you’re on the hunt for the mutant responsible for all the growth around the Ark you discover a lot of surprising things. One being that there is another “ark” or community living in the wastelands. Another being that nearly all of the enemies that you face are “pod gouls”. An enemy that seems nearly identical to the enemies of the previous game but they have been taken over by plants.
Without giving too much away, the enemy that you thought you had wasn’t really the enemy you were after. In fact your true enemy evolved from another Lab just like the one that created the Mutants in the first place. Another experiment.
Is it worth it?
The answer to this seems pretty cut and dry. Did you enjoy the original game?
If you did than obviously yes you’ll enjoy this one too. It takes the same basic game and simply tweaks the parts of it that were frustrating. Coupled with all the new abilities and weapons it just feels like a perfect evolution of Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden.
If you didn’t enjoy the original than don’t bother. It truly is just a continuation of the first game. There isn’t enough changed to change some ones opinion on it vs the original.
Personally? I’m glad I played through it. It really helped flush out the world more and gave me enough extra game time in the world to feel satisfied. Will I replay it anytime soon? doubtful but I will be recommending it to any friends who play the Switch.
