7 Most Disappointing Video Games Of 2021 (So Far)
1. Biomutant
Biomutant is the strangest game to fully analyse.
It's far from a bad title you should avoid - far from something where creatives were denied the opportunity to fulfil a vision or where a project got sliced to ribbons to make a release date.
Instead, there's just something "off" about the feel of gameplay itself, and the various gameplay loops it wants you to engage with.
Combat, while on paper having ranged spells, firearms, slow-motion dodges and martial arts - feels far too aimless and lacking in any tactile feedback. Exploration and world-building boils down to arbitrarily wandering in whichever direction you like, until hopefully you stumble upon a character or loot item worth your time.
Even the main story that has a nice thematic underpinning of conservationism and looking after our planet, is largely undone by a tonally misplaced narrator and a set of creatures who speak in Banjo Kazooie soundbites.
Biomutant absolutely looks the part - and a June patch tweaked loot drops while adding a lock-on - it's just impossible to fully ditch the feeling that it underwhelms in every key area.