Biomutant Review (PS5) - A More Polished, Refined Take On An Entertaining And Charming But Flawed Open World Odyssey - PlayStation Universe (original) (raw)
Biomutant PS5 review. When we reviewed Biomutant all the way back in May 2021 last year (which honestly just seems like eons ago now), it was clear that developer Experiment 101 had turned in a charming and accessible open-world RPG that would appeal to PlayStation gamers both young and old. Despite the broadly evident calibre of Biomutant it was also equally clear that last year’s game wasn’t quite as polished as we perhaps would have liked, with frequent crashes, an array of bugs and less than ideal technical performance blighting what was otherwise observed to be one of the hits of the year.
Biomutant PS5 Review
The Best That Biomutant Has Looked Or Played On PlayStation, But Still Needs Additional Polish
Now taking a second bite at the apple with an apparently all-singing, all-dancing PS5 edition of the game, Biomutant has re-emerged with a range of improvements that aim to shore up many of the surface flaws that were evident when the game released on PS4 last year. Unsurprisingly, the single biggest leap that the PS5 version of Biomutant brings over the last-gen edition of the game is a sizable uptick in technical performance.
As you might expect this manifests itself in three different visual presets that the player can choose from. Equally expectedly, these presets fall into the categories that have been pretty much established since the start of this current console generation. This means players get a choice of a fidelity mode that has native 4K visuals locked in at 30 frames per second, performance mode which locks in 60 frames per second at 1440p resolution and then finally, a ‘quality unleashed mode’ which promises 40 to 60 frames per second at dynamic 4K resolution.
Additionally, if you’re lucky enough to own a HDMI 2.1 compatible display and have the good sense to have that ‘allow VRR for unsupported games’ toggle activated in your PS5 display settings menu, you end up getting the best of both worlds with the quality unleashed mode, as not only does Biomutant push hard for that 4K resolution but the framerate is much smoother and much more stable too. Official VRR support for Biomutant is set to be confirmed via an update that will be released soon.
Given the unstable framerate of Biomutant when running on PS4 and PS4 Pro, I can happily report that playing Biomutant at a rock solid 60 frames per second is an absolute game changer in every sense. Though the exploration and traversal that is so prevalent throughout Biomutant feels so much more satisfying now on PS5, it’s really the combat side of things that benefits the most, as encounters are now played out with the sort of liquid smoothness and ultra-responsive controls that just weren’t able to be accommodated by Biomutant when running on PS4 and PS4 Pro hardware.
The improvements that the PS5 version of Biomutant bring also extend beyond the visuals, with adaptive trigger and haptic feedback support adding a layer of palpable immersion to the proceedings that just wasn’t there before, as the rattle of guns being fired, swords slashing through the air and leaping from one surface to the next are all conveyed through the DualSense controller with due aplomb. Though you could well argue that both the haptic feedback and adaptive trigger technology that defines the DualSense controller is starting to a feel a little shop-worn thanks to a varying degree of successful implementations, it still feels *just right* in the context of Biomutant and arguably enhances the experience – albeit incrementally.
A nice little feature that Biomutant also boasts is cross-save support with the PS4 version of the game, meaning that you can pick up right where you left off as soon as you update to the PS5 version of Biomutant, a fact that it is sweetened further still by the fact that upgrading to the PS5 version of Biomutant is free to anyone who owns the PS4 version of the game.
As to the game itself, Biomutant remains structurally unchanged from its previous PS4 release. An open-world adventure that beautifully combines a hybrid melee and ranged combat system with a far Eastern influenced setting that is itself blended into a unique take on the post-apocalyptic yarn, Biomutant certainly provides one of the fresher takes on that well-worn setting in quite sometime.
In particular, the leveraging of an in-depth character creation suite which not only allows players to embrace a breathtaking degree of creative latitude to adjust the cosmetics of the central protagonist, while a range of class, stat and mutation types allow players to minutely tune their post-apocalyptic furry hero/villain almost infinitely. It’s great stuff that legitimately makes you feel like Biomutant’s main protagonist is every bit your own creation. In regards to the mutations side of things, Biomutant allows players to tailor their chosen yet further still, meaningfully augmenting them with a fresh set of abilities, resistances and more besides.
Despite all of that, I can’t say that I necessarily enjoyed Biomutant quite as much as our previous reviewer. Primarily, while Biomutant is a perfectly competent and unusually charming open world effort, there are still a number of baked-in flaws that haven’t been (and I suppose were never intended to be) addressed by this PS5 release.
While the exploration that Biomutant boasts is perfectly enjoyable and certainly rewards the player for undertaking it frequently, the combat is something of a let down. Though nobody was expecting God of War levels of complexity and polish, using either blade or firearms in any of Biomutant’s many violent encounters simply feels flat on account of oddly muted sound effects where attacks just don’t sound like they land at all, while occasionally disjointed animation where our furry protagonist can jerkily shift from one series of attacks to another further highlights the need for additional polish here. Certainly, it’s not terrible at all and will certainly still appeal to younger folks nonetheless, but older gamers who have long been weened on the likes of Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon Forbidden West and others, will likely find themselves less than impressed.
Further Reading – PS5 Enhanced Games List – Every PS4, PS5 Game With Enhanced Graphics Modes In 2022
Elsewhere, the non-linear design that Biomutant seemingly prides itself on is based entirely on a very on-the-nose morality meter that is quite literally manifested into physical existence by a light and dark imp that chastises/cheers you on depending on which choices you make, which are also in turn largely binary in terms of the agency that is made available to the player. Again, while this feels perfectly fine for younger players, PlayStation gamers of a certain vintage will quite likely find this system a touch too simplistic.
Despite these flaws, Biomutant nonetheless cements its place as a broadly entertaining open-world action RPG thanks to its commendably unique setting, surprisingly in-depth multi-class creation system and relaxing explorative beats that help to separate it from other open-world offerings. Certainly representing the definitive version of the flawed but still ultimately enjoyable Biomutant on PlayStation consoles, Biomutant’s PS5 debut largely erases the performance issues and instability that plagued the PS4 version of the game, delivering a handsomely made open-world adventure that can be enjoyed by gamers of all ages.
Biomutant is out now on PS4 and PS5. Players who own the PS4 version of Biomutant will get a PS5 upgrade for free.
PS5 review code kindly provided by PR.