To an extent, every game wants to be Zelda. Every game wants to be that game that taps into a gamer’s sense of adventure with a huge, sprawling world with puzzles to solve and bosses to fight. Mulaka wants to be Zelda. Mulaka, however, just misses the mark.
Mulaka, at its core, is a 3D adventure game set in the Sierra of northern Mexico where you play as the titular Mulaka and save your tribe from a corruption that is spreading across the land. Along the way, you garner the powers of the Sukurúame, a shaman of the Tarahumara tribe with powers ranging from running at incredible speeds to seeing creatures that are invisible to the naked eye to creating potions to transforming into different animals. Harnessing these powers (as well as your character’s spear), you will take on corrupted animals, like scorpions, foxes, and humanoid mantises and solve puzzles. At the end of each stage, the player fights a boss and afterward communes with a demigod. That deity will give its blessing to the player providing new powers such as the aforementioned polymorphing.
The graphics are low in polygon count, but high in color, evoking a feeling of the early days of 3D gaming, similar to Alone in the Dark or Tomb Raider. The low-poly dynamic in not distracting, however, and helps build a sense of this game being unlike many other adventure games of the past. The cutscenes play out in beautiful paintings with narration in the native language of the Tarahumara played over authentic music. The developers took their time to be as faithful as possible to the culture and it shows. This attention to detail did not necessarily translate to a perfect game.
I cannot stress enough that Mulaka is one of the most visually and aurally striking games I have played in years, but a unique art style alone does not make an immersive gaming experience. The best gameplay elements were copied from other, better games. But these elements were not necessarily improved upon or changed enough to make Mulaka stand out from the crowd. The areas you explore are large and expansive, but there is little in them beyond a few enemies and some plants to harvest for potion crafting (which itself is done automatically, taking some creativity and exploration out of the player’s hands). Few NPC’s do more than providing window dressing, with little in terms of side questing or significant world building. Even the collectibles are underwhelming, only providing lore about the tribe.
The combat also has its issues. It tries to be a hybrid of Dynasty Warriors style hack and slash, and Zelda style strategic combat with lots of rolling and waiting for openings. Its failing comes in the mixture, as the player will frequently find himself locked in a room, a trope the game falls upon ad nauseum, against several easy to kill foes but also another half-dozen that take a lot of well-thought strategies to overcome. The player often ends up having to micromanage every single enemy all at once, leading to confusion and, inevitably, death. Some players may not take issue and welcome the challenge, but I find a lot of the challenge to be cheap and unfulfilling, as many of these encounters simply open doors to new areas where the game locks the player in a room and asks them to do it all over again.
This game will find its audience, however. Indie fans looking for a 3D adventure game and Zelda fans looking for something a little different will love this game. History buffs who love mythology and the lore of Native American tribes will find plenty to enjoy as well. Beyond that, Mulaka is far too much of a niche game to recommend for general audiences.
An Xbox One copy of Mulaka was provided by Lienzo Games for the purpose of this review.