A monolith stands at the top of a mountain, a monstrous creature with a television for a head lumbers across a sleepy little suburb and a pair of human limbs sprout from the side of a bus. The latest trailer for Once Human graced Summer Game Fest, but it was vague in what the game was outside of being an online shooter of some kind. MMORPG was invited to play Once Human, which I ended up doing. While my session was relatively short, as I did not have the time to check out the base-building mechanics, I was given some time to get a feel for the gameplay loop of the online shooter.
Once Human, which launches next month on PC and mobile, allows players to equip a total of three weapons, which can range from a fire ax to an SMG. There are some powers you can harness thanks to the interference from the “beyond” that has bled into the world. This includes assistance from a companion you can assign at your base, which are generally cute mascot-like characters, or the ability to lift and throw enemies with the power of telekinesis. After testing out some controls, I was immediately given a directive by the developer sitting next to me. We were going to fight some monsters.
As I navigated the map, the developer sitting beside me asked me how long it would take to cross from one end to another. Based on my experience with open-world games, I took a shot in the dark and guessed around ten hours. He informed me that I was the closest any press member had gotten before telling me that the answer was somewhere closer to around fifty. I laughed, zooming out to take in just how expansive the map was. Without a vehicle, I could imagine it taking that long, given that you would need to fight your way through eldritch abominations.
I was then instructed to head to a world event that took place in something that closely resembled a concert venue. To get there I manifested a motorcycle from thin air and clumsily weaved my way between houses and down a set of stairs where a boss awaited me. It was a large, gangly thing with a swollen head and body marked with strange purple lumps that were clearly designated weak points for me to shoot at. So I did. I pulled out my assault rifle and shot at the boss, alternating between it and a more powerful sniper rifle before it eventually collapsed, dissipating into black smoke and fragments of neon purple light. I was informed that this would be more challenging to the average player, as the guns provided for me were fairly strong by comparison to what players will be starting with.
From there, I decided to tackle another boss. On the way to my destination, I was navigated to a strange creature with human arms and a bus for a torso. Shooting at its legs caused it to slump over, making it possible for me to jump inside and loot a chest near the front of the bus. The developer mentioned that enemies of this sort roam the map, which means that there is some incentive to take to the roads, even if they are more dangerous.
Summoning my motorcycle for the third time, I eventually made my way to the intended boss encounter. The controls for driving are fine, if not a bit unwieldy at times, but were not the worst I ever experienced. When I reached the area where I was meant to tackle another boss, I decided to stick with the same weapons I had started with — a surprisingly powerful assault rifle and a sniper rifle that made taking out weak points on a boss extremely easy. The arena was smaller than the one I had previously fought in and was enclosed. Scattered around the dilapidated remains of what looked to be some kind of industrial factory were barrels that I could hurl at the boss, another odd eldritch abomination haphazardly fused with stray technology to deal damage.
I chose to forgo this and instead chunked down the boss’s health with the sniper rifle, only stopping to kill waves of adds that needed to be eliminated to make the boss vulnerable. But I completed the counter so quickly that I didn’t see too many mechanics. There were some projectiles I could dodge or choose to avoid by hiding behind pillars set up around the arena, but the fight itself was uncomplicated. I imagine other boss fights will be more challenging.
Overall, Once Human is a decent-looking third-person shooter. Having the ability to create your own base is interesting, but mechanically, it seems to be relatively simple, with its difficulty relegated to how strong your weapons are. The expansive map probably holds more than a few secrets, but I can’t see myself playing the game personally. This is largely due to how the game looks and the fact that there are more interesting shooters on the market. But who knows, maybe Once Human will shape up to be something interesting or even good enough to retain a large player base that is willing to engage with its mechanics.
