Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey review for PlayStation 4

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is a third-person survival game developed by Panache Digital Games and published by Private Division.

This game is a slow burner where you control a Lineage of primates in prehistoric Africa and your task is to ensure its survival and facilitate its evolution… easy, right?

Wrong!  Before I get into that, let me first say that from the moment I pressed start, I was blown away by the visual aspect of the game.  The CGI in the intro video alone was gorgeous – at least until the inhabitants of the jungle began attacking each other and enjoying their recently deceased prey for their supper.  The game begins with a baby ape being carried up a tree by its mother … as you take in the views from the top branches, a huge bird swoops in and you go spiraling to the ground.  The baby then watches in horror as the bird rips out his mothers’ internal organs and slurps them down like a fine spag bol!  Run little monkey!

Playtime – you’re now in control of the young hominid and with a quick (and very vague) tutorial of the buttons, you’re told to find a hiding spot.  That’s pretty much it – you get a few more pointers along the way but other than “look for this specific thing” you’re pretty much left alone to learn and fend for yourself… The intro to the game does declare that you won’t get much help.  Good luck!

I guess that’s part of what this game is all about though, by having to learn how to play and what to do all by yourself, you get a greater feeling of this primitive world and the lack of knowledge your clan holds.

Once you find your hiding spot, you take control of an older ape who hears the babes’ distress calls you have a new mission.  Now, using your intelligence and senses you have to find and rescue and return to your clan.

The movement in the game can be quite slow at first and you’ll find yourself crawling around the jungle for what feels like forever – climbing the trees and swinging from branch to branch can be a much quicker ‘mode of transport’, but be careful – falling from such heights can injure your character, break a few bones or even inflict instant death.

Yup, you can (and probably will) accidentally kill half your clan with a missed grab of a nearby tree.  That’s not the only thing to keep an eye out for though – you’re not in the jungle alone.  Prehistoric beasts are feeling peckish and if you’re not careful, you’re going to be their lunch!  You’re definitely near the bottom of the food chain around here.  With Pythons, Crocodiles, Saber-toothed tigers and more roaming about, it’s best to keep a lookout for company.  Even the herbivores are feeling feisty and passing too close to a warthog or buffalo will leave you broken and bruised.  If you are being attacked and aren’t skilled enough to intimidate your enemy or even if you’re exploring a new area, your primate will enter a state of fear.  At this point, you need to look around for a glowing orb and get your furry feet to it ASAP or you’ll enter a state of Hysteria which limits the control you have and eventually you’ll blackout and wake up back at your active settlement.

You’re prompted to dodge/roll out of the way of an attack but failing to do it at the right time will leave you with certain inflictions – bleeding, poisoned and fractured bones will leave you hobbling around trying to escape and unless you find a way to heal yourself quickly, your lifespan is going to decrease quickly.  Once you die, you’ll take control of another clan member, once all clan members are dead your lineage becomes extinct and you’ll be starting all over again.

Dying from old age is also an option (still doesn’t make it any less sad when you lose a clan elder) and apart from trying to not be dragged into a swamp by a giant set of jaws you also need to look after your clan by feeding, drinking and sleeping.  This game is a much more advanced Tamagotchi so getting a good night’s rest is just as important as learning how to create a weapon or start a fire.  Once you’ve worked out how to create a bed you can sleep for as long as you’d like or call your partner over for a quick roll in the hay and hopefully you’ll be rewarded with a new pregnancy to expand your clan (you can wait for 15 months to pass by or you can skip ahead and greet your newborn instantly).  Having the young around/near you is the only way you can build up your neutrons (this games version of EXP) which is a huge part of the game.  The best part about your bed is that it’s where you can upgrade your skills and even evolve.

There are so many parts to this game – finding food, learning how to create new tools, trying not to die, learning new skills, evolving, reproducing, exploring your world, creating new settlements, recruiting apes to join your clan – the list goes on and on so there’s never a dull moment, however, I did find it a little irritating when I was trying to explore and find new places then ended up falling from a high tree or being fed upon and end up back at the clans settlement miles away from where I needed to be…still, I found it impossible to just give up.

I could go on for pages trying to describe each aspect of this game and how much there is to do just to progress but like the game itself, I’ll leave that up to you to work out.  If you aren’t a patient person, I wouldn’t bother with this one.  If you like a game that gives you direction every step along the way, I definitely wouldn’t recommend it.  However, if you like a survival game where you’re free to roam and discover new foods/items/tools/etc for yourself then you’re going to have hours and hours (it’s said to usually take 40/50 hours) of playtime as you evolve your way to the future.  I’ve played for quite a few long nights already and I still have a long way to go so I don’t have all the answers (I still barely know what I’m supposed to be doing)!  Do you eventually evolve into a present-day human?  Only one way to find out…see you in 9,000,000 years!