Secrets of the Ooze
Miasma Chronicles is the latest tactical roleplaying game from The Bearded Ladies the developers behind Mutant Year Zero. Miasma Chronicles is set in a post-apocalyptic America; one who has been devastated by something called, you guessed it Miasma. The country is ruled by the ‘First Family’, a group of elite, self-serving people who rose to power from the ashes of big business and billionaires. This group controls what’s accessible of America with an army of high-tech robots and other advanced weapons. Whilst the little guy, the average person tries to eek out an existence in the little towns and villages that now dot the landscape.
MSRP: $49.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $39.99
Players will take control of a young mechanic named Elvis who wants to find his mother who disappeared one evening. Before leaving she left Elvis in the care of a robot that she programmed to be his older ‘brother’ named Diggs. Of course, it’s discovered that Elvis has an ability; but he must harness this power to breach the miasma and find his mother in the world beyond. Narratively speaking, Miasma Chronicles isn’t bad at all; while the main quest sounds simple, I can assure you that there is enough twist and turns involved it would make Chris Nolan’s head spin.
Miasma Chronicles offers a good mix of exploration and real time movement with X-Com like combat. If players have tried the Bearded Ladies first game; Mutant Year Zero then you know what you’re in for. Before a combat encounter Elvis and Diggs can stealthily set up an ambush or begin combat in cover, the game touts the first way as being optional but Miasma is a difficult game and I never won a battle without ambushing the enemy. The healing system is limited while in combat, so its not uncommon to finish a fight only to immediately be thrown in another and find yourself with low health and no medpods. Even though the game offers upgrading of the characters weapons and equipment it was never enough to make me feel comfortable with combat.
The graphics and art direction in Miasma Chronicles run the gamut between brown/black and black/brown. Some areas are hard to navigate due to the dull colors used, which makes sense for a post-apocalyptic world but making my way through the world just wasn’t fun at times. However, I did really love the Miasma effects, the swirling inky masses was just super cool, but overall, the world and environments feel like they aren’t too far off from the studios lasts game.
Miasma Chronicles isn’t far removed from the studios previous outing with Mutant Year Zero in neither setting or gameplay. That doesn’t mean however that it’s a bad game at all, Miasma feels more polished and nuanced than its predecessor which speaks volumes of the talent at the studio. However, for me the narrative wasn’t as strong as the world itself which wasn’t helped by the feeling of an abrupt ending to the whole affair. But Miasma Chronicles remains a good time due to the mix of tactical strategy and stealth gameplay.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
