Earl Vs The Mutants Review (Steam)

Earl Vs The Mutants offers a visually appealing experience with its decent cartoon-like graphics and a manageable download size of 1.34GB. The game supports full controller functionality and provides a variety of graphics settings, including resolution, frame rate, screen mode, camera shake, graphics preset, and v-sync. Players can choose between two controller presets: traditional driving controls and twin-stick controls. The game features in-game art cutscenes and character interactions, adding depth to the narrative. It spans three distinct locations: Dead Forest, Moab Dry Desert, and Frozen Salt Flats, and offers three difficulty levels: Casual, Gnarly, and Insane.

The gameplay includes a shooter mode with an initial tutorial area to help players get started. Enemies drop EXP orbs randomly, and there’s a handy auto-aim and shoot option activated with a button press. Players can either shoot or run over the mutants, with a kill streak counter tracking their progress. As players level up, they can choose one of three upgrades for their vehicle. Health and timed power-ups and pickups can appear randomly on the map, and the controls are tight and responsive. The game is set in a 3D world with an isometric view, and as players kill enemies and drive over them, they leave bloody tire marks behind. The game is very easy to get into, with drone crates randomly appearing to grant three random drone partners. Markers pop up to help show pickups, power-ups, and crates, and environmental hazards like blowing up barrels can be used strategically. Damage numbers pop up as enemies are killed, and there are great upgrades for the car, such as leaving fire behind, more health, and increased damage. Players can find coins in the game, which they keep upon death, and these coins can be used to buy permanent upgrades.

However, the game has its drawbacks. Players cannot remap controls, and there is no voice work or mini-map. It can be hard to see pickups and orbs as the colors tend to blend together. There are no Steam achievements, and when many drops appear, the markers can overlap, making it hard to see. Negating damage is challenging, and the gameplay can become very repetitive, with the atmosphere feeling flat at times. Despite these issues, players get small EXP boosts when achieving high combos, and there are many objectives displayed at the bottom of the screen. The main goal is to survive ten minutes and then kill the boss. Picking the same upgrade again will level it up and increase its effectiveness. The game is a roguelike, with coins being the only thing players keep each run. There are big boss encounters and massive areas to play in, with all drops like power-ups, pickups, weapons, and health having timers until they disappear. The game features an impressive on-screen mutant count, and players can pick up and use new weapons that all fire differently. New vehicles can be unlocked, each with its own upgrades and unique stats.

Overall, Earl Vs The Mutants is a visually engaging game with tight controls and a variety of upgrades and power-ups. While it offers a lot of content and replayability, it suffers from some repetitive gameplay and a lack of certain features like control remapping and voice work. Despite these shortcomings, it provides a fun and easy-to-pick-up experience for players looking for a roguelike shooter with plenty of action and customization options.