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Forget The Day Before, this game is actually cool | CBT 2.0 Review - Once Human

4K View2023-12-12

Once Human

8.8

SurvivalActionStrategyAdventureShooter

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✨Overview

Once Human is an upcoming fascinating amalgamation of multiple video game themes; Death Stranding, Control, and Alan Wake, blending post-apocalyptic and sci-fi elements into a genre that I somewhat found surprising and out-of-place, ---- an open-world sandbox. The game introduces players to a world ravaged by the Stardust, an alien entity infesting everything, turning them into monstrous forms. As a Meta-Human, players harness the power of Stardust to survive, fight, build, and explore in a world where humanity is on the brink of extinction.

⭐️Score: 7/10

📖Story and Premise

The narrative kicks off with a mysterious experiment on the player's character, rescued by an unknown force in a post-apocalyptic world. The storyline is reminiscent of eldritch horrors and lab experiments gone wrong tropes, weaving a serious and cinematic tone into the gameplay, including eldtritch-like monsters like floating octopus like beings and the huge spider-like creatures. The overarching goal is to unravel the truth behind Stardust, its origin, and its intentions. The ravaged world is divided into factions, some friendly, others hostile, offering a dynamic narrative where choices shape the journey.

🎨Graphics and Art Style

Visually, Once Human looks a like a normal modern game with detailed third person shooter graphics, but still rough around the edges. The starting cutscenes display some impressive cinematic prowess but with heavy stuttering. The art style contributes to the eerie atmosphere, really embracing the eldritch horror theme. The first part of the game looks very much taken from Control, with its red light infested hallways, floating objects, horror elements, and it is by far a good start.

🎮Gameplay

After the intro though, the game’s appeal slightly dials down because it suddenly becomes a typical open-world survival game; roam around the open map, gather wood, stones, and resources; and try to build bigger stuff. This is something you’ve heard before many times already. While the game maintains the same elements thematically, the switch in gameplay style is awkwardly noticeable, it went from a full blown Control/Alan Wake experience to more of a survival crafting one, like Ark Survival or Rust. The vibe of the world is very much like Death Stranding; the expansive world is bleak and ravaged, but there are still lots of trees and grass and it’s still beautiful.

Aside from its open-world survival aspect, Once Human blends elements of third-person shooting, stealthy melee combat, puzzle-solving, and a rich cinematic narrative as the backdrop. The character customization at the start is robust, offering detailed options akin to a legit RPG game. Puzzles, hidden treasures, and platforming challenges and missions are scattered throughout the game, adding more stuff to do aside from improving your character, crafting new gear, and building your settlement.

Aside from the "Journey" tutorial to teach the basics to the player, you also have the story missions running in parallel with the tutorial missions to compel the players. However, it's still in a very obvious development state, as there are still lots of unvoiced dialogue and bugs with the game's dialogue system.

🕹Controls

The combat — gunplay wise — is actually fluid and responsive in its current state, featuring a variety of options, from stealth melee kills to sniping and tactical weapon usage. Players can also telekinetically pick up a limited number of "weird" objects that can be used as weapons: a briefcase that spews money or a red spotlight that directly kills enemies Alan-Wake style. I played on the America server, so a big of lag was expected, but it was still surprisingly playable.

The diversity of enemies, including corrupted wildlife and human “zombies”, keeps encounters engaging. Boss fights litter the zones with fun and challenging cooperative elements, although they are way harder than the normal mobs and can catch you off guard.

⏫Progression

The progression system is well-structured, with a crafting and gathering skill tree called Memetics. As said earlier, the journey chapters act as an additional tutorial, guiding players through features and rewarding experience, currency, and materials. The player's territory, created with a Territory Core, serves as a customizable base and a moveable respawn point. Crafting, gathering, cooking, and resource management contribute to the survival aspect, with elements like Sanity, Hunger, and Thirst affecting gameplay.

I also loved that they implemented a “Move territory” feature, so you’re not really stuck to one place with your settlement, and you don’t have to start over again if you’ve found a better place to settle. Just move your territory, and bam — Everything is transported. I just hope they don’t implement paywalls with this feature, or if they do, make it affordable or reasonably grindable.

📊Technical Performance

During the closed beta, I experienced significant FPS and performance issues across the entirety of the experience. There are some places where it would perform smoothly like a polished game, but more often than not the performance is not yet stable and optimized. The animations, movement, and interacts with world objects are still clunky.

⚖️Conclusion

Once Human stands as a promising and refreshing venture into the open-world survival genre with its survival horror themes, clearly surpassing the recent failures of The Day Before, even in its limited closed beta state. What's great is that it's free to test, with no paid Early Access period (for now), and you can already see the game's potential for yourself at no cost. There's already working, enjoyable proof of a game that serves as a good foundation for what’s to come. My only wish is that lean more towardsthe survival horror route (Control, Alan Wake) and that it doesn’t go a full-on survival crafting experience.

Mentioned games

Once Human

8.8

SurvivalActionStrategyAdventureShooter

Get