Earl vs. the Mutants

Introduction

Earl vs. the Mutants takes the survivors-like formula and puts the player in the driver's seat, literally: rather than a lone character on foot, combat centres on a weaponised car tearing through waves of post-apocalyptic mutants, mixing shooting with the specific, arcadey satisfaction of simply running enemies down. Falling State Inc., a first-time studio, developed and self-published it, releasing on 18 July 2024. Reading all 5 available English-language negative reviews alongside the top positives, out of a Very Positive corpus (roughly 95.4% across 108 reviews), finds a small, cheap game whose central hook genuinely lands, sitting alongside fair complaints about how much is actually here.

A twist that earns its comparisons

The car-based combat draws real, specific enthusiasm across the sample. One detailed review credited it as "one of the best auto shooters on Steam," placing it alongside Brotato, Deep Rock Survivor and 20 Minutes Till Dawn while noting it plays "more arcadey" than those peers. Another described the pure pleasure of the run-over mechanic directly: "there's no greater feeling than lining up a bunch of dudes and then turning around and running them all over." A third framed it as a mix of "Carmageddon and Vampire Survivors," which is about as precise a genre description as this review's sample offers. For a first release from a new studio, that's a meaningfully positive reception, and several reviewers specifically praise the build variety across vehicle upgrades and weapon combinations for keeping individual runs feeling distinct.

Thin content at a thin price

The most consistent complaint concerns how much game is actually here. One detailed reviewer reported beating the game in 29 minutes with no ending cutscene or any real sense of closure, and noted permanent upgrades between runs "do little" compared to the power gained during a single run itself. That's a real, specific gap for a genre whose replayability usually depends heavily on meta-progression giving each run a sense of building toward something. At Earl vs. the Mutants' very low asking price, several reviewers explicitly frame this as an acceptable trade rather than a dealbreaker — the value equation shifts considerably at under five dollars compared to what the same complaint would mean at a higher price point.

A design tension the game doesn't fully resolve

A more specific, mechanical complaint concerns how the car's central appeal — running enemies down — interacts with certain enemy types that explode or otherwise punish contact, often mixed into crowds of otherwise safe-to-crush targets. One detailed reviewer described this as "this weird tension in the game where you're incentivized to run over enemies, but only some enemies," creating moments where the game's core fantasy works against itself. It's a fair, specific criticism of a system that otherwise draws real praise, and it reads as an unresolved balance question rather than a fundamental flaw.

Support that appears to have stopped

Beyond the game's launch-state issues, the negative sample raises a longer-term concern: Falling State Inc.'s public update history shows one recorded patch shortly after release and Steam Deck compatibility confirmation, then nothing further. A 2026-dated review simply called it "abandoned game." For a first-time studio's debut title at a low price, that's a more forgivable trajectory than it would be for a full-price release from an established developer, but it's worth knowing before buying if ongoing support or content expansion is part of what you're hoping for.

Final Verdict

Earl vs. the Mutants delivers a genuinely fun, distinctive twist on a crowded genre for a very low price, and its Very Positive score is earned by a hook — running enemies over in a car — that this review's sample describes as consistently satisfying rather than a gimmick. Where it falls short of a stronger recommendation is content depth: a short overall experience, permanent progression that adds relatively little, and a support cadence that appears to have stopped not long after launch. At its price, that's a fair trade for a few genuinely fun sessions; going in expecting a substantial, long-term game would be the wrong expectation to set.