The Mystery That is Human Element

"The tablet experience of Human Element will tie into the console experience."

 

 

Developer: Robotoki
Publisher: N/A
Release Date: 2015
Platform(s): Next Gen-Consoles, PC, Tablets, Mobile
Genre: Zombie Survival, Open-World Survival

 

 

Last month (7/19) developer Robotoki announced they will release the game Human Element to the OUYA. This includes some number of prequel episodes exclusive to the console. No exact date has been announced for the prequel episodes however a safe assumption would be sometime after the release of the OUYA. This episodic content will eventually tie into the full game release in 2015.

Human Element remains more of a mystery than the OUYA itself. With three years until its release little has been unveiled on the Human Element website but images and twitter updates. Luckily Robert Bowling, founder of Robotoki, has talked with several sources revealing  some details about the gameplay.

What we do know is that Human Element is a zombie-survival game. It is not going to be your typical hack and slash zombie game; quite the opposite of Dead Island or Dead Rising. In fact, Robert Bowling has given the game its name because the focus will not be on dead, weak, infectious zombies but on the things that humans will do to survive such a threat. It's more about how we interact as human beings; our morals, emotions, and intelligence surrounding an apocalypse. It is well put on the Human Element website (and image), "Define yourself. Define survival."

 

Define yourself. Define survival.

 

This view of humanity in a zombie apocalypse gives Human Element a nice RPG touch. The decisions you make at the beginning of the game influence how you engage with the world throughout the game. The first decisions you make are your characters class, identity, and persona.

Game Informer spoke with Robert Bowling and laid out these decisions for us. Your class will be one of three options: action, intelligence, or stealth. In a sense this is how your character interacts with the world. Choosing an action based character allows for more fighting and physical skills; intelligence includes bartering, fortification, and alliances, where as stealth allows for new quest options and evasion of basic defenses.

Choosing your identity is similar to choosing a difficulty level: Easy, medium, or hard. You can choose to play as a singular adult (easy), two adults (medium), or as an adult with a child (hard). Your characters persona is simply their gender and race. Decisions, decisions... 

 

 

The tablet experience of Human Element will tie into the console experience. Essentially the same game but different. GamesIndustry easily explains that the tablet/smartphone experience is all about strategy and the gathering of resources.  The game will tap into Google maps and Foursquare allowing you to visit real world places and integrate them into the game. Say you're out grocery shopping (in the real world); you can pull out your tablet and scavenge for supplies (in the game world). These supplies can then be used at home with your console experience.

As Human Element will have prequel episodes released to the OUYA many other systems may also have other prequel episodes. Bowling told GamesIndustry, "We can engage you in that universe a week, a month, a year after that event. Maybe through mobile, maybe through titles on the arcade, maybe through PSN, handheld titles." As the 2015 console game takes place 30 years after the event it is safe to assume that other prequels or episodes will be released prior to the 2015 date.

 

Megan Bethke, NoobFeed.
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