Once Human Preview – Looks amazing but has some identity issues to work through

thesixthaxis.com:

The early images for Starry Studio’s Once Human, featuring weird fusions of everyday objects and pulsating alien flesh, were certainly striking and my interest was piqued without knowing anything about what kind of game it was set to be. I was a little disappointed to discover that it was to be an online rather than single-player affair, but when a demo became available during Steam’s NextFest I grabbed the opportunity to try it out – even roping in some friends to try out the multiplayer aspects. My overall impression is still one of intrigued confusion as the game emulates many other successful titles but still needs to find an identity of its own.

Once Human throws you straight into a tutorial mission that plays out like a lost quest from Remedy’s Control. The uncanny surroundings and even the graphical style feel very familiar and this opening left me excited to play out a more narrative and single-player-focused version of the title. That being said, my co-op friends who switched servers to join me were less enamoured once they had to complete the tutorial each time they did so. This is hopefully a demo-only issue and you would hope will be skippable in the full release.

Once into the main game you’re required to find a patch of land to stake your claim and begin building a base. The shared nature of the space means that it can take an unfortunate amount of time to actually find somewhere, however, which doesn’t make for the most impactful early impression. There are multiple servers to play in but the aforementioned tutorial issues will put off players if not remedied. When choosing a server the game will warn you if it is busy so hopefully this is another aspect that will be smoother at release.

Building a base is simple and the construction mechanics are fairly intuitive. I initially went for a barebones approach and just built parts as and when the progress required it. It was clear that others had put a lot of time and thought into their homes though and it’s