Corruption 2029

It’s more a Mutant Year Zero’s cosplay of XCOM than a truly original game but it still offers somewhere between 10-20 hours of enticing tactical gameplay. [04/2020, p.62]

Instead of having a cast of lovable or unlovable animals to play as you get faceless soldiers in a divided America. None of these units ever really seem to feel anything, and as a result, neither will you. It’s just a bit barren comparatively. It’s also very hard to shake the feeling that this is a testing ground for ideas they’d like to use in the sequel to Mutant Year Zero (Mutwont Year Zero), which explains the cheaper price tag but makes it feel a little more noncommittal as well. It’s still fun, and the battles are still good, but it has a really hard time getting its hooks into you and dragging you through the story.

While it may not be narratively compelling, the game itself is rock solid. Corruption 2029 is a good pick for strategy and stealth fans. Just don’t expect to care about the characters behind the futuristic warfare.

I'd really love to know how Corruption 2029 came to be. It feels like a very stripped down, bare bones game—a space for the designers to experiment with concepts in a turn-based tactics space. The big problem with Corruption 2029 is that the same developer put out a very similar game with the same strengths and far fewer shortcomings only two years ago. Fans of Mutant Year Zero might want to check it out to get a bit more of that stealth tactics fix, but anyone else should opt for its more illustrious predecessor.

Corruption 2029 is a reduced version of Mutant Year Zero with interesting tactical battles. But that aside it misses creativity and variety.

Corruption 2029 is a competent tactical game that leaves you wishing it had spent just a little more time in development.

Despite a dry, predictable narrative, Corruption 2029 delivers a mechanically engaging, stealth tactical experience.

Corruption 2029 is a strange, underwhelming followup.

Corruption 2029 is a mix made of exploration in real time and turn based combat. It has some good ideas, but it is very repetitive due to the same maps and uninspired missions.

Corruption 2029 is a shameless clone of Mutant Year Zero minus everything that was good in the original game.

Corruption 2029 has great gameplay and graphics but the writing and lore for the game felt rushed and underutilised. Missions and maps tend to be recycled making the game feel repetitive.

Overall, Corruption 2029 will mainly appeal to the hardcore fans of Mutant Year Zero or those tactics fans desperate for a new game. This game feels like a watered-down Mutant Year Zero without the plot and charm. Depth is lacking as mission objectives, enemies, and maps are put on repeat, and the tactical stealth gameplay mechanic constantly acts to slow down completing mission objectives by slowly sneaking around and waiting to pick off enemies. There are some foundations of a good game here, but the characters could be better fleshed out, and the game could offer more incentive for the player to keep progressing in the form of a more compelling plot, more character growth, and more varied missions and mechanics.

This low-cost successor to Mutant Year Zero is still quite fun, but I can truly recommend it only to hardcore fans of its predecessor. There are many better turn-based strategies.