Earl Vs The Mutants Review: Pest Control For The Future
It's the end of the world and only one person can save us...
When we look back at Earl’s legacy, the pinnacle has to be his time on the road in pest control and that particular chapter in his life, when it was Earl vs. the Mutants. It was never about diplomacy—his boss, Edna, sent him out to clean up aisle Earth in the most destructive manner possible.
That’s right, folks – it’s post-apocalypse time. Instead of mohawk-sporting thugs, we have mutants (also run by punk mutant leaders) intent on scratching up your paintwork by hurling themselves at your wheels or even shooting at a distance. It’s like The Walking Dead, though the enemies are lucid, and there’s far less drama.
After the world ‘ends’, Edna changes her business model of pest control and adapts to the times by sending out her best (only?) employee, Earl. In Earl Vs the Mutants, there are three biomes: a hilly, grassy terrain, a desert, and, snow joke – an icy one. You have ten minutes until the boss shows, so it’s about survival and boosting your arsenal. Ha – ‘arse’.
At the start of the stage, the boss will attempt to goad you, teasing you with their arrival in ten, complemented by a timer in the corner of the screen. Initially, the swarms will be manageable; you can plough through them or shoot with your gun. Additional power-ups, such as machine guns, grenade launchers, and drones, appear along the way.
The real star of Earl Vs the Mutants is the levelling system – it’s a rogue-like. With each kill, an orb drop will level up Earl and unlock one of three random stats. These range from nitro boosts to defence (melee, bullet and explosive prevention), fire rate, damage, health leeching and legendary drops like shrinking your vehicle to reduce incoming attacks.
All these boosts are for the current run only, though there are coin drops as well, and permanent upgrades relating to the above can be unlocked from Edna’s shop. However, expect a lot of repeat plays to unlock gear unless you’re lucky enough to get the coin drops and modifiers. What makes Earl Vs the Mutants enjoyable is the accessibility through these buffs, plus the difficulty/control settings.
Playing this exclusively on the Steam Deck was great. Visually, Falling State’s rogue-like is low-key, so there’s zero slowdown – essential when you consider how many enemies are on-screen all at once. There are two main control options – mouse and keyboard, or as a twin-stick shooter – the latter was used.
If that’s still too hard, an auto-fire detects enemies and can be left on while you ram through the hordes or escape to find a drone crate or health. Once you remove the stabilisers, there are three difficulty levels to choose from, including plenty of challenges such as killing x number of enemies with a drone or reversing for x long. These challenges are the hardest part of Earl Vs the Mutants and will add to the longevity.
Besides the challenges and the lengthy upgrade system (a positive notion – you don’t want to max out the stats from the outset), there aren’t any additional modes, nor are there leaderboard options to view, so once you’ve completed the challenges, that’s about it. Repeat plays will inevitably be for completionists, and considering that finishing the same stage will unlock a new vehicle with a new colourway and gun (shotgun for the win), there’s a good amount of life in this, even though playtime is typically no longer than 10 minutes or so, for obvious reasons.
All rogue-likes should be pick-up-and-play from the beginning and have enough of a loop to encourage revisits. Naturally, Earl Vs the Mutants is mildly challenging before the permanent upgrades, and despite only having three stages, it’s a game you’ll likely play on repeat until you unlock everything. With decent mechanics, addictive gameplay, and full of rewards, the post-apocalypse isn’t looking all that bad.
