Once Human is another free-to-play live service game, adding a new title to a sea of such games. It is a sci-fi, open-world, post-apocalyptic survival shooter with some strange things going on and some horror thrown in the mix. In a lot of aspects, it reminds me of The Day Before. When I saw its first gameplay trailer that was the first thing in my mind. Think of it as a game that the Day Before was promising to be which turned out to be a scam.
It is a post-apocalyptic MMO that shares elements with The Division. Even though the game works well in a lot of the concepts that it presents there is still a lot that it needs to do to make it better. I spent quite a bit of time with the game. Well, there are a lot of elements that I liked it still falls short in others. The way it is designed, it is not going to interest some players.
There is unfinished content, some server crashes, and a lot of live service stuff like microtransactions. There is the battle pass, different currencies to buy, buy different stuff from the store like emotes, skins, and stuff. All of it become intertwines easily and just want you to spend more money. The ultimate aim of the game is to get you something to buy from the store. It has some moments but there isn’t much to see in the game. All this makes you wonder, Is Once Human worth it? Let’s find out.
The Background
Once Human starts from the point of picking a server with the default being the PVE server. Then, you get to make a character, and character creation options are pretty extensive. Soon after, you get into a small area that acts as a tutorial area. That’s when the basics of the story are explained along with basic gameplay mechanics. The game has a post-apocalyptic setting and the world is ravaged by Star Dust as well as otherworldly creatures. The world has been destroyed by interdimensional monsters and there is a rift in time.
Considering the game’s setting and story, there is a Death Stranding kind of vibe in the game. When all of it comes together it is really fun. There are groups of survival scattered around the world left behind. A certain group has magical or sci-fi abilities and you are one of those people. You will be teaming up with creatures that are tied to the origin of this world-ending phenomenon.
Players are on a quest to find rifts, close them down, and find the special spire. So basically you are saving the world.
Once Human puts too much lore on you, it can be overloading. All the lore that the game dumps on you has some throughline. After playing the game for a few hours I had a basic idea of what the developers were trying to convey. None of it really matters because gameplay and grind are what really matters for a game like this.
Gameplay
There are main mission objectives, side quests, random world events, and some other stuff. The progression system is similar to other survival games. Earlier objectives are simple tasks like cutting down trees, forging a pick axe, building a furnace, making ore, crafting clothes, making a gun, making an updated version of the furnace for more advanced stuff, and things like that. Building stuff works well and is pretty smooth. You can find other player houses. The campsites are everywhere you have a lot of options to set your base.
The progression is pretty interesting. There is a skill tree that you can progress in which you unlock abilities to craft new stuff and get access to new things in Once Human. The skill treat is extensive and detailed. You will also be unlocking another form of perks and specialization for the character.
Crafting
Weapons and gear are solid. There are different blueprints to track and find. Finding these blueprints allows players to craft weapons and stuff. There are a lot of different melee and ranged weapons to craft. You can get scopes and silencers with guns. Weapons and gear have a perk slot where you can slot things like improved shotgun damage, melee damage, and stuff like that.
Combat
Combat of the game is good and does not drag down the game. It takes a while for Once Human to become difficult. For a long time, you will be just taking down zombies. Once deep in the game, you will find fun stuff along with some challenges. Melee is simple and the animation of melee is satisfying. You have the option to dodge, shoot, and roll. Aiming can be both FPS and over the shoulder. All of this combines with good weapon sound and decent hit feedback to make it a fun experience.
Controls are responsive and help you feel like you are good at the game. Along with all that you have special abilities to use in the field. One of those things is a small creature that resides in your backpack. When you get these creatures you can store them at the base and then choose which one to bring along.
They have different use cases and abilities. They can do a direct attack that damages enemies, they can provide passive buffs or create stuff in the environment to help you out. It is a creative mechanic but it’s explained and dragged complicated way. This could have been simple and was limited to getting the creatures. It is another thing that the Once Human just throws at you. Just like Leveling up, building base, crafting, customization of weapons, vehicles, customizing vehicles, and stuff like that.
The Free-to-Play Game
It is a game structured like a free-to-play live-service game and has all the things that you would expect from such a game. There are a lot of microtransactions but I didn’t spend any real money while playing the game. However, Once Human will tempt you a lot to do so. This is a live service game so changes through updates in the future can turn it into a completely different game.
The Soulless At Times
One of the major things that will hit you when you start playing the game is how soulless the world of the game is. In a lot of ways, it feels like a PUBG-style battle royal map with not much life. You will be doing small tasks in an empty and sometimes downright bad environment. These tasks are designed to keep you busy in this boring-looking world. The same formula is followed in other games but Once Human just doesn’t do it well in making it feel worthwhile. In this game, you are just talking to generic NPCs and grinding in a soulless world.
Once Human feels lifeless like it has an identity crisis but at times it shows how good the game could have been. The cinematics show a game that has elements of The Division and Death Stranding along with cool sci-fi stuff and big monsters. That stuff is there even if mildly but it takes a while for you to get there. In the early hours, you will come across this from time to time.
The Good and The Bad
Clearing out an abandoned house with an assault rifle and fleshlight, finding a town covered in fog, strange things floating in the sky, and then a rift open and a big enemy coming out of it that’s when the game is at its best. There are boss battles where you can unleash all your firepower on the enemies. There is good stuff in there and one can see the potential that the game has.
It all drained out by lifeless and bland surroundings and bad looking player houses. Once Human has a lot of menus and explanations that does not lead to anything interesting. At times, it feels like formalities that the game is completing.
Verdict (Is Once Human Worth It?)
Once Human has good and bad so when the game does spooky stuff it stands out but everything else just doesn’t support it. It can almost look like a mobile game. It is coming to mobile so that angle might be at play. The game is an early access so it needs more stuff to be better. It needs bug fixes, more vehicles more content, more crafting addition, balancing, and stuff like that.
The game does give the foundation to improve upon the stuff that it offers. Whether these bland moments will improve or not is known. I think it all comes down to the game approach of quantity or quality. High quality less content and sticking to the basics is what’s going to make the game better.
In the end, the game is all about making money which is especially the case with free-to-play games. You can check it out and see if you like it or not since it is free. There are a lot of live service games like these so a new game has to do something to stand out which isn’t the case with the game at the present stage. Once Human can become better since the game is in early access.
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