Released on July 9th, 2024, Once Human is post-apocalyptic zombie open world crafting survival MMO game that shows a lot of promise for the future of the MMO genre. After several rounds of open and closed beta testing, the game has been refined into an ambitious, diverse, and potentially groundbreaking MMO that has the possibility to set a new standard for what MMOs should strive to achieve. Without further ado, let’s get into the features Once Human brings to the table and what makes them interesting.
Once Human, the post-apocalyptic open world crafting survival MMO played third person, has several features that are uncommon in the MMO genre. First, it is one of the first fully released MMOs that has a base crafting system. Players are funneled into 10 different regional servers, in which they can interact with other players on the server and build bases across the map alone or with friends. To prevent griefing other players, 9 out of the 10 servers are set to PVE mode and players can claim land so that no other players (unless given permission) are allowed to gather, build, and craft on that land. This system allows players to build anything they want to, progress at their own pace, and show off their progression to all the players on the server that come across their land.
The second notable mechanic introduced in Once Human is server-shared progression. As players progress the story on a server, other parts of the map, items crafting tiers, and additional story content are unlocked for everyone. For example, if one player/group of players defeats a hard boss or completes an intricate quest, everyone on that server can access the newly unlocked content after that first completion. This adds a sense of server pride and comradery while also providing all the players on the server with potentially new content every time they log back in. If a player joins a server late, it’s also fine because the servers reset (wipe) every six-ish weeks so all players will eventually be able to start from square one. Presumably, there may also be newly added content by the developers every few server wipes, so re-progressing the server won’t feel as bad because there may be new content that was not available on the previous wipe.
The third interesting mechanic(s) in Once Human are the crafting and building portions of the game. As the server progresses, players are able to level up more; access higher grade tools, weapons, and gear through finding/crafting; and continue upgrading their land. All of this in pursuit of clearing the harder enemies/bosses, completing difficult quests, and completing the current Once Human story.
As in any MMO, the interaction with other players is what makes this gameplay loop standout. Play with friends or playing alone and making new friends on the server is always possible in Once Human. Of course, there is the ability to play trade, team up, build, and survive together with any number of players on your server, which really sets this game apart from other MMOs. It’s a more natural way of encountering other players than in the classic MMOs where there are countless applications just to join a group to do a small piece of content.
The best part though, Once Human is a FREE game on Steam. So, if you are looking for a new game to conquer with your friends (or alone) this summer, Once Human is a great game to check out if you are looking for a unique MMO experience with the potential to sink dozens of hours into for a satisfying gameplay experience. See you in the post-apocalyptic, zombie infest land of Once Human!
