The Humanity review embargo has lifted, and it’s time to see what everybody thought.
Humanity is a new puzzle game from THA Limited, published by Enhance. It’s both a surrealist work and a mechanical throwback to puzzle games like Lemmings. In Humanity, players are cast as a Shiba-Inu — you know, the doge meme dog — trying to guide a large, heaving mass of people to safety through ever more challenging obstacle courses. People have lost their sense of purpose. You are here to give them something to work towards. You have but one firm directive: “Woof.” This is a game where you literally bark orders at people.
The broad consensus right now appears to be, “Yeah, it’s a bit weird, but it’s my kind of weird, so it all works out in the end.”
Gather round and let’s see what the critics thought from here at home and around the world.
The Aussies
At the time of writing, there is just one (1) Australian review of Humanity, and it comes from our mates at Checkpoint Gaming. Critic Elliot Attard gave it a 9 out of 10, saying: “Humanity greatly succeeds across audio, visuals, puzzle design and more. It’s an unusual game at heart but one that uses its abnormalities to its benefit. Practically unforgettable, this experience will test you as much as it inspires awe through delightful sensory stimulation. This beautifully complete and polished game may lose a touch of its precision in its later stages, though it still captivates through a wild ride of absurdist depictions and satisfying design.” You can read Elliot’s full review right here.
We’ll update this yarn as other Australian Humanity reviews come through.
The Rest Of The World
There was a similar feeling from other outlets around the world, though the pool of coverage was similarly small.
IGN also gave it a 9, saying, “Humanity is a beautiful, modern reimagining of Lemmings that feels as esoteric and artsy as Enhance’s previous games, while ambitiously stepping onto new terrain for the action puzzle genre with the pitter-patter of countless little feet.”
An 8.5 from Game Informer, which said, “Humanity strikes a delicate balance between challenging me at every turn and allowing me to feel like the god its narrative props me up to be. It’s an imaginative experience that provides a rush I imagine computer programmers feel when dozens of commands and lines of code finally work together to create a desired outcome. Its puzzles come wrapped in a beautiful package, from its minimalist visuals to its excellent clicky electronic beats. And best of all, these elements work together to emphasize a simple but effective message about what it means to be human and why life’s most intricate puzzles are easiest to solve when we work together.”
Push Square gave it an 8, saying, “Humanity is a wonderfully different puzzle game brimming with ideas. It takes a few simple building blocks and combines them to create some surprisingly complex levels and challenges, keeping you on your toes as it constantly throws in new concepts. While the story mode has some inconsistencies in terms of difficulty, it still manages to keep you hooked all the way. And when you’re done, there’s an intuitive level editor and browser, in theory giving you all the puzzles you could want. If you’re after something a little different, give this a shot — they don’t often make them like this anymore.”
So, broadly, it seems pretty good! So far, anyway. We’ll watch how the scores evolve over the coming days as more outlets get their hands on the game.
It’s out today on PlayStation platforms and PC.
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