The short answer is a “yes” with qualifications. Firstly and most importantly, “Mutant Genesis” does not deviate from the formula that has made Marvel Champions: The Card Game a huge success to date. While FFG have proven to be extremely reliable in this regard, it's worth noting. It's clear time and effort went into design and development to give players a top-tier experience, just as with previous deluxe expansions.
The new heroes in “Mutant Genesis”, like heroes in all deluxe expansions to date, are a mix, depending on the player. Each will prefer one over the other, but generally speaking they fit well. Like Spectrum, Vision, and several other heroes, Shadowcat is a new hero who also plays with form, but in her own way. Colossus is the second new hero. With his thick metal skin, it's natural that the special ability he plays with is Tough cards. Whenever he flips to his hero side he gets one, which means taking on villain attacks is a little easier. His other hero cards play with this mechanic in interesting fashion.
The new heroes are solid, but the villains may be better. Sabretooth is a great first scenario. More than just 'beat the bad guy”, players must protect a senator while Sabretooth heals each round (based on boost). Project Widewake sees players needing to save a group of imprisoned allies, and Master Mold throws waves of Sentinel minions at players—perhaps the most thematic scenario in the campaign. There is the now requisite multi-villain scenario, which like previous multi-villain scenarios is more mechanical than flavorful. And the final villain Magneto, who I will comment more on later, is a challenge unlike anything players have experienced to date, with the exception of perhaps Ronan.
In summary, the new heroes and villains complement what has come before while being interestingly iterative within the design space. The tank still has something in it. On to the challenges with the campaign.
With Marvel Champions almost entirely void of narrative, “Mutant Genesis”, like the deluxe campaign expansions before it, struggles to find ways to link the five scenarios together in interesting, story-esque fashion. With such a simple format (hero vs. villain), it may be a futile effort, in fact. Once again designers try to avoid the obvious solution of giving players reward cards for achieving certain objectives and punishing them for not. “Mutant Genesis” is so desperate for fresh ideas in this area, in fact, that it punishes players for achieving campaign objectives. I will not say precisely how and leave players to discover for themselves. I will only say it takes away players' best/favorite cards. Challenging ok, but not fun.
And there are further issues, including another holdover from previous deluxe releases: inaccuracies in setup instructions. This is between the main scheme card and the instruction booklet. For example, in the Mansion Attack scenario, the instruction booklet clearly states players will lose if two main schemes advance, and yet on the main scheme cards it says players lose if three main schemes advance. This is not the first time players have had to make their own judgments how to set things up, and its a disappointment FFG continues to overlook these small but annoyingly-easy-to-correct QA glitches.
The next complaint is specific to “Mutant Genesis”: the overall lack of Professor X. Simply put, he is an ally card in Colossus' deck. If you don't play Colossus, you don't play Professor X. Before starting the campaign, I hoped that the wheelchair-bound genius would have a permanent presence given how dominant he is in other X-Men content. For example, he could be an ally that exists in the play area for everyone to use and interact with in some passive but manipulable fashion. Flip Prof. X to do +Something, add counters to build a single, powerful THW action, draw a free card or give a free resource once per round—anything that would highlight his role as leader of the X-Men or that might have the same game presence as Milano in “Galaxy's Most Wanted”. There are even opportunities with Prof. X to expand the campaign elements between scenarios. No, instead the Prof is just one of Colossus' ally cards, coming and going from the board like any other ally, nothing special beyond 3 THW base action. I can't help but feel that is a lost opportunity for theme in a game that needs more theme.
And lastly, another semi-lost opportunity: Magneto, the legendary villain and final scenario in the “Mutant Genesis” campaign. He is a massive challenge, perhaps the greatest of all Marvel Champions challenges to date. But what he has in difficulty, he lacks in identity. He throws the kitchen sink at players—surge, steady, minions, minion missiles, confused, stunned, indirect damage, reactivation, additional boost cards, stealing cards, everything. Players must endure a hailstorm of attacks and schemes that do not come from one or two sources grounded in his comic book identity. Magneto does not have the character of Thanos, for example, a big baddie who pounds you with the Infinity Gauntlet, or Ultron who keeps a steady barrage of tiny but annoying minions coming the players' way. Magneto does everything, and therefore is less unique and interesting from a thematic perspective. Again, for those looking for a challenge, he lacks nothing. But for flavor, something is. With the exception of the multi-villain scenario, all the other villains in the campaign have more theme, which is a small disappointment for such an iconic Marvel villain.
I've gone through a list of complaints and issues with “Mutant Genesis”, but I should stress that the campaign is not markedly better or worse than other deluxe campaigns. Designers still do an excellent job squeezing out new hero villain mechanics (even if they aren't always thematic). Card art remains superb. And the game's core gameplay experience remains just as fun as the beginning. Despite the issues, this is still a good, fun campaign which continues to evolve the game in worthwhile, enjoyable fashion. People who invest get their money's worth, just perhaps not to its fullest potential.
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