Let me preface this by saying I’m a massive Once Human enjoyer. From the first previews we got to try to everybody’s shock when the first scenario ended, and the community was sent reeling by how it played out, I’ve been along for this weird ride from the start. After a few hundred hours, this experience really scratches a lot of itches at once, in odd ways. Survival gameplay? Check. Solid first-person shooting and gunplay? Check. A weird-ass story of incomprehensible mumbo jumbo, weird Remedy-esque visuals, and weird shit. Big Check. So after a couple of years of the same scenarios, it was really nice to dive into a new experience, *pun all the way intended*, and spend more time in this quirky world.
I’m On a Boat Man
Now, for all my Once Human vets, I’ll get right to the nitty-gritty. Boats are naturally the centerpiece of the update. You can build your own vessel, customize it, and gradually turn it into a floating fortress that can carry much of what you need across the ocean. Constructing a base on the water was easily one of my favorite parts of the experience. There is something satisfying about looking back at your floating base of doom. It’s amusing and far more functional than building a marketplace in the back of your pickup truck, which is small potatoes by comparison.
The actual boating mechanics are a little less remarkable. Controlling a vessel works well enough, but the moment-to-moment gameplay is fairly limited and probably will not impress anyone expecting a full naval simulator. Much of your time at sea involves traveling between destinations rather than engaging with particularly deep sailing systems. Now, this is just ok for me; I’m not exactly looking for a base-on-a-boat simulator, but to each their own. The new islands and what they provide is great, and without spoiling much, the new content will absolutely take you for a ride, and given how wild older scenarios can become, that’s no small feat.
Worth a Trip Back for the Lapsed Veteran
I think the update itself succeeds at what it’s going for in two ways. If you’re a vet like me, who dreads running Manibus for the tenth time and just needs a change of pace, Isle of Abyss is easily my favorite piece of content NetEase has created since the game launched. It’s also a fairly solid spot for a new player to jump in.
The fresh scenario, even the rules and phases, are pretty straightforward, and the work done on quality of life, first-person mode, and changes to Blueprints and how they are obtained kinda collates into a really nice refined version of what Once Human was at its launch. If you are a lapsed player, it’s absolutely worth a reinstall and bringing a new player or a friend with you; it’s a really fun time, and just seeing what people will make on a live server is exciting.
