Steam's New Survival MMO Limits Access to Beta; Once Human Tested by Too Many People
Gamers are relentless in their search for the perfect multiplayer action game. Another candidate for this title - Once Human - was so popular that the developers had to limit access to the open beta.
It is hard to resist the impression that the fall of The Day Before contributed to some extent to the surge in popularity of another action MMO game - Once Human. The game by independent Starry Studio is only in the testing phase, but it is already enjoying a sizable following. So sizable, in fact, that the developers were forced to limit access to the open beta.
"We would like to express our sincerest gratitude for your enthusiasm and attention towards our Closed Beta Test. Within a mere five days, we successfully achieved our goal of 20,000 players and expanded the number of testers to 50,000. However, we also face certain difficulties. Under the current server testing conditions, we have found that the pressure to maintain continuous access is extremely high, which may affect the testing experience for existing players. Regrettably, we must announce the closure of the download portal on our official website from December 13th, 2023, 4:00:00 PST," reads the announcement developers.
However, this does not mean that those willing to participate in the tests can no longer take part. On the contrary, Starry Studio still allows it - those interested must fill out a survey, based on which every week (probably until January 20) the developers will add another 3000 test participants. Every Friday, the lucky group will receive a link to download Once Human and activation codes.
Once Human - a handful of information
Once Human is a multiplayer action game with survival elements. The game presents a grim vision of the future - the Earth has fallen victim to a cosmic entity called Stardust, turning people and animals into terrifying beasts. From a group of people who turned out to be immune to the dust (and even able to use it for their own purposes), factions with more or less noble motives were born.
The developers made sure that the gameplay in Once Human is as varied as possible. Special attention was paid to such elements as:
- survival - characters in the game feel not only hunger and thirst, but also the effects of contact with monsters, which negatively affect their psyche;
- gathering and building - players collect various types of resources and blueprints (there are about 100 of them), enabling them to create or upgrade weapons and equipment. In addition, there is the possibility to build and equip bases, which - and here is an interesting fact - can be moved to another place on the map;
- weapons - many types of melee weapons and firearms are at the player's disposal. Among the latter we can find light pistols and miniguns;
- extensive and varied area - in the game we will find many building complexes to discover. Waiting in them will be tasks to perform, enemies to defeat and treasures to discover;
- story - as it is not difficult to guess, during the course of the game players will be able to discover the secrets behind the appearance of Stardust;
- bosses - in the course of their journey, players will encounter all sorts of creatures to slaughter.
Below you can get acquainted with the system requirements of Once Human.
Once Human - minimum PC requirements
- Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2400
- RAM: 8 GB
- Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 2GB / AMD Radeon R9 280 or better.
- Disk space: 50 GB of available space
Once Human - recommended PC requirements
- Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit
- Processor: Intel Core i7-2600k
- RAM: 16 GB
- Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 390X or better.
- Disk space: 50 GB of available space
Once Human - player impressions
Browsing the forums dedicated to the game, it is not difficult to come across positive comments from players directed at Once Human. Those who have already had the opportunity to test the beta of the game praise, among other things, the graphics, the open world or the feature of building houses. Here are some sample reviews from Reddit:
"30+ hours in so far, this game is awesome," wrote DonutRolling in a discussion he created. "Whatever you see in the pictures is what it is in game, no photoshop no filter, this game not only has stunning graphic, it also has a meaningful open world for players to explore with lots of points of interest."
"So far I am absolutely delighted with this game. I've loved every minute of it and can't stop thinking about how many things it has accomplished," wrote christianjamess.
"I love the game, and yet it is still in development, so I am sure they will fix some elements when it is released in full version. The worst thing for me is that I have to run the game about 60 times before I can start the gameplay," notes UnionOfSouls.
A recent comment reads that the game is not free of bugs. When tracking subsequent posts and reviews (including on Steam), it's clear that the opposite is true - there are quite a few bugs (from levitating pieces of equipment to invisible floors and problems with staying in the game), but they don't affect the player experience. There are even claims that if the developers deal with the glitches by the game's official release, it will have the makings of a really big hit.
Speaking of the debut of the full version Once Human, it is expected to take place in the third quarter of 2024. The game is currently available exclusively on PC.
A competitor for Once Human may also be Nakwon: Last Paradise. The work of the creators of Dave the Diver is not expected to hit the market until 2025. In tests of the pre-alpha version, which took place in late November and early December, as much as 5,000 people participated on the first day. In turn, two days ago, the developers published a recording of the latest Q&A session, where they answered several questions about the game.
