Beyond Mankind: The Awakening

TL;DR World building is nice, story is hard to follow and multiple game mechanics are broken at the moment. The devs are the only thing that keeps me interested, as I like their previous work. Running on Ryzen 9 5950X and RTX 3090 and the game doesn't run as well as it does in the preview videos. Edit: Almost everything in the preview images and videos is taken from the first hour-two of the game, as if they were aware of issues with the game after that point. I want to say that is just paranoia, but I'm not 100% sure it is. After seeing Brytenwalda is the dev I bought the game. With more hours than most reviews I can say that, like others, this game is not ready. Character progression is lost frequently between loading, simply unable to invest in skills once that happens. The game also frequently fails to trigger events that should happen, reloading will sometimes fix this. The auto save screwed me over, making me loose an hour of progress because I forgot to save manually for a bit. The janky combat doesn't help when, on normal, you can only take about 3-4 shots at most and they usually come quickly in groups of more than one or two enemies. The story is also all over the place, but the actual world and world building are done well for what I could get to play. Don't really want to play until at least the progression and event triggers are fixed, and the combat either needs to be overhauled or the difficulty needs to be tweaked.

despite the bugs i enjoyed this game. It is similar to divine Cybermancy in the games design. The world was cool as well. The reason im giving this a no is because the game is extremely short. I beat it in around 7 hours including many deaths. The leveling up makes no sense because before you can even buy more than 1 level up the game is over. Not sure if thats a bug. Extremely sad as i love fps games like this. The ending just comes at you fast and its over. I assumed i was at the 1/3 mark when it ended. Would have really enjoyed this if the game was 3x bigger for a 20 dollar price range...

It isn't bad but very very short. I beat it in three hours and you can tell at the end it is setting up for an episodic type format. With the reception it got at launch not sure if episode two will come out. The game is functional, I encountered no bugs and no crashes. Autosaving (Heard complaints of that not working) works, quick save works, and when I shoot my gun it shoots unlike battlefield 2042. Just go in knowing it is about 3-5 hours depending on what you do and not a fully complete story. Its an above average attempt by a very small studio that got its start from a suped up mod of a janky game. I'd purchase it again I played after the 1.1 patch came out.

This is not an RPG. This is a worthless shooter with an atrocious inventory system, a save system that is all kinds of broken, and a whole lot of bells and whistles in the form of gauges (i.e. hunger, thirst, loyalty, etc.) that don't amount to any meaningful impact on the gameplay. The writing is subpar, the voice acting is terrible, and every single person that gives this a good review either hasn't played it for more than a few hours, or is lying straight through their teeth.

It looks like something from 2005 and runs like absolute garbage. It has some charm, but the frame rate and absolutely ridiculous mouse acceleration completely killed it for me.

So far I’m enjoying the game. Admittedly very very early on in it. The comparison to games from 2008 is actually what drew me to it. It’s certainly not as visual as most modern day AAA games. I haven’t had any issues with frames. I have a Ryzen 7 and a 1080 TI. The dialogue is obviously budget. Not everyone can afford a full cast of voice actors. But the game is endearing. If you’re looking for a AAA block buster this ain’t it, to be sure, but it’s not as bad as all that either. I’ll update this after more time in game.

This. Game. Is. Trash. The studio shouldn't be allowed to use the name Brytenwalda, in case it tarnishes that fantastic Mount & Blade overhaul by proximity. Nonsense cutscenes entirely lacking context, story depth as deep as a spit puddle on a hot day, with all the narrative coherence of a tweaker trying to explain the Fast & Furious saga. You crash cut from one random situation to the next, the frenetic pace only slowed by minute+ long sequences of doing nothing and waiting for the game to push ahead to the next frantic crash cut. The gameplay is rough and outdated, and the graphics make it look like a bad custom map on Half Life. In the starting area, there's even blatant clipping - assets that probably shouldn't even be there, much less so blatantly poorly assembled. A game is supposed to try and hook you in the first few minutes; this game did the exact opposite. I have never been so repelled in my life. The rest of the game may be the greatest storyline since Half Life 2 and the best gameplay since the first Modern Warfare, but no one will ever make it past the introduction to find out.

Having played this game i must say it was less than what i was expecting pros -Nice First person shooter -RPG elements -Interesting Story Concept Negatives - I dot think it deserves the "Rich Story" Tag - Very very short mission / story wise ( so far 14/12/2021 ) - Not very much choice in weapons / armor - Mot much choice in crafting system - It felt as a very short demo of a game rather than a game - no Map of the Area player was in , only mini-map top right of screen - No item shopping from npcs - Not balance in some issues

Man this game looks and plays like something from 15 years ago. I have a lot of respect for the Brytenwalda team for their amazing work on Mount & Blade modding so I was interested in them making their own game, even though I'm not a fan of this genre, but this game is seriously janky. Having to punch boxes into submission so they open up to a can of food or a beer is just weird, the gunplay in general is incredibly lacking, voice acting is awkward and stiff, graphics look a decade out of date... There's a lot not to like. I'm sure there's an interesting game somewhere in here for those more attuned to this style of game, but I don't have the patience to slog through it. I don't mean to be so harsh on a small indie team but this just doesn't look good.

played on ryzen 5 3600 and rtx 2060. no graphic/performance issues. i like the game it has potential. i look forward to seeing what they do with it over the next few months and look forward to where they go in their next game. its not AAA although after so many disappointments over the last few years from AAA thats not a bad thing. Graphics are what you expect for £15, better even. RPG/Survival elements and game mechanics are all quite good and interesting too. it is worth the price it is paid for and has and interesting story. looking forward more.

My first play through took 4 hours. That was me taking my time and exploring every nook and cranny, the game doesn't really reward exploring though, if I rushed through the game I probably could have finished it in 2 and half hours. It's just way too short. It felt like Episode 1 to a much longer series. Everything about the game was fine except for brain-dead AI. The crafting was almost identical to The Forest but it felt unnecessary and I barely crafted anything in my play through because I didn't need too. You can cook meat from monsters you kill but the game has so many food items scattered around the world that it defeats the purpose of cooking. Performance was fine. The game ran much smoother in buildings but chugged a little in large open areas. Graphics were decent, looked like a 360 game and I'm okay with that. The world building and lore is very interesting and has a lot of potential but it's never given time to breathe due to the games length. The characters and dialogue were awful. 281 and 282 were the only likeable characters but again, because the game is so short, you never grow attached to them. A lot of interesting ideas that were half baked. I enjoyed the game, it's janky but fun. Despite giving it a thumbs down I would be interested in seeing another title from this team. Hopefully next time they can get more development time and a bigger budget.

This game is, alas, just plain bad. It's got some major issues with railroading, a really bad inventory system, a minimal skill system that just doesn't work, and survival mechanics that are nothing but annoying. It's cheap, but I'd have rather bought a cheeseburger. Also, a series of really ugly bugs - stuck behind an npc in a deadend corridor with no way out, issues with key assets not loading when a game is loaded... just not a good game, sadly.

I heard of this game when it got Linux supported and that made me buy this. I really wanted to like this, but I just can't deal with the overall jank. The graphics are almost good, the survival and inventory management is kind of bad. Very annoying that the currently equipped weapon / flashlight gets unequipped when going to the inventory and back. The inventory screen is a nice concept but really terrible for actually seeing what you have. The last nail in the coffin was the first (or second?) cave level where I reached the end boss with absolutely no ammo, and fighting with a melee weapon in the dark is impossible as you can't see anything. Also I picked things for my character to specialize in ranged combat, but apparently that is a beginner trap as there's not enough ammo in the game. So getting stuck there with enemies on all dark paths and no ammo was the last straw. Also seems like the developers have abandoned this game that is so close to being playable with just a little bit of focused effort from a fresh set of eyes who could see everything wrong with the game.

I'm really on the fence with this game and wished there was a neutral option. I had a decent time with it, however I really did not understand the need for the survival gameplay elements in such a linear type game. If it were open world, maybe, but in a linear storytelling context, it only served to be an annoyance, drinking and eating constantly for no particular reason. Also, your body temperature only matters in a single mission, so why even bother with that?? The inventory weight limit made all of this even more of a pain - hated it. It would've been a better experience without these elements. The story is also pretty short and is clearly intended to be a prologue to a larger game, which may never happen, so that's a bit of a bummer. In any case, I would only recommend this game if on sale, and if you can tolerate the previously mentioned elements and some jankiness.

[h1] A personal project money grab[/h1] Awful, an obvious cheap money grab, the worst mini story game i've ever played. if the developer ever cared they could of turned it into a full fledged game, they didn't. Save your money and get something worth it.

For the price tag of $13.99, I felt the game was fun jaunt into a very janky world that aspires for the stars but falls short. I think the developers should have marketed the game as Early Access, as the storyline runs about 4 hours in length, and it's full of bugs throughout (some common bugs as of writing this review): accessing inventories vaults your character forward when you exit, reloading saves and quicksaves often glitch, causing previously killed enemies to respawn or items to respawn in some instances. Even with all these problems, I do think the developers are passionate about the game, and they really tried to create a compelling world and characters, but it's really hard to buy into the lore with such a short run time. I hope they can iron out the wrinkles in this game and hopefully continue onto new projects. 6/10 Jank, but fun jank

I really really wanted to like this game I love the personality based kinship, loyalty, and romance mechanics and I actually really liked the graphics reminded me of the stalker games and that's about all the positives I can think of. The inventory is a pain to go through, instead of a 2d inventory like most games the developers went with a 3d style that is hard to click on items. The hit boxes are weird and extremely janky. Don't get me started on A.I the enemies rush in a massive group zombie hoard style even though they are supposed to be highly trained soldiers they don't find cover just rush and gun at you, and your allies do the same thing. The story started out really good then got so confusing by jumping back and forth so often I got a headache trying to keep up with it. The voice acting is so bad that emotional moments are ruined by poor actors reading a script in a deadpan voice. It would have been better to have not even had voice actors and just made everything text based. The crafting is a joke and seams like it was put in as a after thought to just market their game as a survival game I mean you craft a bonfire in your inventory and you cant place it in the real world it just stays in your inventory and you cook from your inventory so you basically walk around with a bonfire in your backpack! I hope the developers can fix these issues and or at least the worst ones like inventory and A.I and I will change my negative to positive because for all the problems there is a real gem of a game hiding deep down waiting to come out.

Undercooked. Plays like something from 2005, feels like it should have been delayed for 6 months to a year; at least. Had a game breaking crash in the very first scene where a time delayed door failed to open which required a restart of the whole game. Graphics are sufficient for the price range, UI is not terrible but could be much better and clearer. The skill-check system seems like it is well balanced. The inventory system is functionally a copy of the one in "The Forest" and works well but the UI for it could be clearer. The world building is decent and the dialogue is serviceable but the voice acting could be better; though it is no worse than many other indie games in the same price range the quality is more noticeable with it being a RPG.

As of this date, there is no support for Y axis mouse inversion immediately available to the player. Apparently there are rumblings of this option being hidden within the "controller" settings, but the Devs. can't be bothered to offer it upfront, so I can't be bothered to check. Broken before start. Y axis mouse inversion is a deal breaker, Devs. Refund is in the works.

I don't know what else to say than give this game a chance. I'm a ways in and am recurringly surprised by what it has to offer. This feels like it's from the mid-2000's and I say that as an extreme positive. Like the return of pixel games, or horror games emulating the PS1 aesthetic, this game is a delightful return to a strange hybrid FPS/RPG era, and I'm loving every minute of it. To those that have complained that the UI is confusing, the story poor, etc, I am reminded of a phrase a good friend once said to me when describing esoteric or eccentric games... "It had to be this way." - This game feels like it had to be this way. It may not be for everyone, but consider allowing yourself to sink in to the charms of a bygone era.

So after playing it for a decent amount of time 3h (I hope I will get it refunded) I have come to the conclusion such the setting is actually interesting and it could be far more enjoyable if the game didn't suffer from hit detection, wall-clipping and incrediable stiff combat. It is a shame because the setting is interesting but these issues will bog the game down.

Having Finished my first play through I find myself wanting more. I enjoyed the story, Although I see some other reviewers said they found it confusing, I did not have that trouble. As others have pointed out the game mechanics and combat is janky and can be difficult as a result. I feel for a first full game from the studio and the price I paid I am Content. I look forward to seeing what they do in the future.

Honestly, I cannot recommend this game in its current state. I hope they can fix all the issues this game has, but until then I recommend avoiding this game like you would avoid the local crack head

The game has potential to be a very good game but at this point in time it is only worth the $4.99 it is on sale. Sure glad I didnt pay full price for it. The game has to much bla bla bla conversations and dialogues to be any fun atm. It is not at all what I expected after playing the DEMO game. Will keep checking back on the game to see if it gets any better.

Fun game I would recommend for the sale price. It is rather short though just when you have completed what seems like the first chapter it ends.

Granted this game looks pretty old but plays good and runs well. Will update the further i get into the game but enjoying it so far.

If this game were in the typical $60 category that we are accustomed to these days I would absolutely be furious about this purchase. Not only is it graphically devolved from a half-life game, it also doesn't play nearly as good as one. The skill system or perks in my opinion are extremely convoluted and confusing to say the least. The controls need alot of attention as well, for example, why am i having to reach the 8 and 9 key for my weapons and not pressing the expected 1-3 keys. Sure I could use the mouse wheel but that takes way to long when it has to go through every equip animation for everything else in between the weapon you want/need. I understand that this is and indie title but it just feels like the wrong genre for this developer to attempt. It definitely shows promise through the story telling aspect though it ultimately falls short with the unbearable visuals and infuriating controls.

This game is actually so bad its kinda good. The voice acting and story are SUPER ham fisted and it feels like an early 2000s style RPG. I am really enjoying it because I only spent 5 dollars on it. If had spent 20 I wouldnt be happy with it.,

Hard to review this game. Usually I post the positives then the negatives but here ill start with the negatives. *The game is way too short (only 6 hours and I’m done) *There are many game breaking bugs, who you will need to somehow go around by asking help in the forum. *There’s not really any meaning to raising skills or any of the characters traits whatever you chose you will have the same or mostly the same paths making this also very short and pointless journey.(tbh it doesn’t feel like a journey, more like a short window to one) *Graphics are awfull.it feels like it was made back in the 90s. *The price for such a short game is way high. Now for the good part: *This game was quite fun to play, it has this unexplained addicting quality. *The voice acting I felt was quite good and enjoyable. *Devs are active and reply to gamer’s issues and problems. Conclusion: lots of potential maybe it will be better in the future or maybe next game from this company if will happen will have improved on past mistakes. Im uping this game due to the fact I did enjoy it as short as it was.

[h1] Unengaging [/h1] Refunded. It's a shame as this game looked promising and I've been following its development for a while. The part that made me refund: I couldn't see myself playing this game longer than a couple of hours. It felt unengaging, I feel like that's a deeper issue than the bad graphics and janky controls. [u] It isn't terrible [/u] There are parts of Beyond Mankind which are unique and made the experience interesting; such as the character creation, the world-building and some of the survival mechanics. The bad graphics don't really bother me, I actually enjoyed the atmosphere of the levels. The characters are well voice-acted, the dialogue options are funny and relatable. [u] But this is where it goes down hill... [/u] The issues start with the combat and controls. The overall state of the combat is incredibly bad and it's a major part of the game. Combat and AI isn't like graphics, it can't be ignored or nostalgic. It takes a lot of fun out of the game when the AI is this under-developed, to a point where it's 'stand in one place, shoot' or 'run in a line and attack'. The story isn't great. It's very basic and the pacing is off. There isn't enough time to learn the characters in the introduction; you're thrown into a situation and they feel like generic NPCs. Fallout 3 came to mind in the sense that you see yourself grow up with the characters, it's a much softer introduction and you get familiar with their personalities. For Beyond Mankind, you can instantly tell the pacing is off, even when not comparing it to a AAA title. [u] Conclusion [/u] The final straw is hiding somewhere in the game's design; it just feels unengaging. I'm coming to this conclusion from how I feel and asking myself 'Do I want to boot up Beyond Mankind?'. The answer is naturally no and I find another game to play. I really really wish I was engaged, I believe the devs have tried hard. It's just in a state which I can't enjoy. I hope the studio see the feedback and work on it, it has room to grow.

If I was stranded on an island with a PC and only had this game I would become an expert sand castle builder. The only saving grace to this game is you get to eat suckling rat, and it left a better taste in my mouth.

Sadly, cannot recommend It's difficult to believe the same company that made the excellent Viking Conquest DLC for Mount & Blade released this. We would have requested a refund had I not purchased it back in SEP 2021 Definitely not worth the $16 CAD spent Others have gone into detail re the multiple bugs, clipping issues, hard cut scene edits, poor outdoor environmental textures, janky movement controls, and even jankier combat controls. Most examples are not exaggerations, and many reported @ release have yet to be addressed. Some we did not see mentioned: Enemy attacks connect through locked doors or walls Enemy corpses block doorways requiring jump>> crouch>> crawl gymnastics to pass through. Melee combat: attacks will often not connect with targets shorter than you unless you crouch or go prone, even with swords The inventory/crafting system does not pause while open: a very poor decision considering you often have to navigate through different full screens (INVENTORY VIEW on open for some [food, water bottles, weapon] items, CHANGE VIEW/Zoom View(?) for other [first aid, bandages, water [b]again[/b] ] items, and CRAFTING VIEW to actually create something) to access or use items. The only reason we continued playing was the belief it HAD to get better... Viking Conquest right? The voice acting's passable to good so far, even if the voice editing makes the computer talk like a single run on sentence. Also, how can they get such good facial textures and animations on some characters, while also making others look like stick figure beggars? See Vishpala @ tutorial vs training room characters The same with some interior areas looking so fantastic vs shockingly bad foliage, cave interiors, and building facades. The story itself does get more interesting as you proceed, especially the faction interplay; but the cut-scene jumps and hard edits are jarring. I've gifted multiple copies of Viking Conquest to friends, and would still do so gladly. I can't say the same of Beyond Mankind.

For me the game lasted approximately 7 hours, which is the legth I would expect for a DLC not the main game. The game has lots of potential but in it's present state it is not worth purchasing. I bought it on special and will never play it again.

Sadly I cannot recommend this game at this time to anybody. It feels like you are playing a alpha of the game. Story is interesting but come on the stuff like if your near anything or the enemy is you just keep hitting invisible objects but they can sure as heck shoot you through them. Your restriction on weight is horrid come on Fallout you can carry more. enemy fire really hurts more than you do and the medic kits are far and few in the beginning. I can say if the Dev's keep working on this game and fix the issues we players are bringing up this game will be excellent but at this time don't waste your money. there is way better games out there for the same price that don't have even a 1/4th of issues.

I feel tricked, game is ultra short and hard to follow, there're some nice features that don't affect gameplay, and lots of bugs...

This is no AAA game, lets be realistic here. However, I think the majority of negative comments are wrong. I'm enjoying this game. I like the story, so far. I've not encountered anything game breaker or anything that impacts performance (running Ryzen 5 3600X, RTX 2060 SUPER and 32 GB Ram). I like how it reminds me to Autosave/Autoload every so often. The maps are well designed, plenty of exploration to be had. Plenty of NPCs to talk to. I hope they add more content, improve certain aspects etc etc The only issue I have is I can't seem to perk up my character. If someone could explain to me how I add perks then that would be golden. Cheers!

In its current state, I cannot recommend it given several bugs that prevent progression

finished in a few hours while taking my time good story but lacking content

Worth $20? Absolutely not. Worth $5 on sale? You'll either love it or hate it... "Classic RPG" is the best way to put it. Did you ever play Skyrim and think... 'wow this would be better if it was set in the future?' That's this game. Story is muddled but ambitious with an immersive amount of lore. But unfortunately, the game plays like the devs had some grand ambitious vision then wrapped the game up once they ran out of time to make it or something. It plays more like a proof-of-concept. That said, the campaign 3 hours of fun and I don't regret playing it. A creative breath of fresh air... not another banal or mediocre experience. You don't see too many FPS games this unique... You'll love it or hate it.

I love the idea that Mankind: The Awakening is trying to achieve and I really was hoping for this one, but the choice of graphics engine or design (either I guess?) makes this rather unplayable. If the developer had gone for a graphics window that only filled half of the screen area and made the rest the UI, this would have been more successful. Any other approach would do, but trying to make the graphics "realistic" vs. cartoonish or similar to Fallout New Vegas (for example) really failed this game. I apologize, I usually can ignore graphics presentation failures and enjoy gameplay, especially when I start the game close to where I grew up... but it feels that every graphics design decision was wrong :( It feel exactly like "Boiling Point" that I played in 2005 (?) or 2006. XBOX 1 Kotor looks better than this. :(

Outstanding. There are a few bugs to fiMbut this will soon be one of the best in the genre.

jesus christ, were to begin. this games premise i like..... what you expected me to heap praise on this broken thing? it take LITERALLY 5-10 mins TO LOAD A SAVE IF YOU DIE. on top of this the enemies are aim bots, some enemies are brain dead. and its just so FUCKING BROKEN. i literally stuck in a railway where i have to trigger to soldier to exit. seems fine ya? well they instantly start shooting at you, pin point accuracy. and your in the open. hardly any armor, little health, and it kills you in 2-3 shots. EVEN HEADSHOTS WHICH SHOULD BE INSTA KILL ISNT, THEIR BULLET SPONGES! sorry about the rant. TLDR: games fucked, buy something else, might update if it ever gets fixed. update: found an even better bug! i died after exiting the sewer caves! seems fine? but the gear that was given to me by the AI, disappeared! the bag, the guns, ammo, food, water. and it isnt back in the sewer exit! all my other gear (the stuff it let me keep) is still there, but all the new stuff *POOF*. i swear this game just gets worse and worse the more i play it. i have a headache from it........ i cant keep playing! someone else must record the FAILURE of a game in this thing.

bought it with discount, still not worth the money. super short story, less than 4 hours campaign. game ruining bugs, and level design errors. not worth it, at all.

TW: racism, misogynist I loved the idea, the aesthetic even if a bit old school, but it's intended and well made (from what I've seen) so I don't really care. I was really looking forward to play the game, but I couldn't bring myself to finish the character creations. For a game released in 2021, there is a lot of problems from what the game state. - european "race" is "graceful and tall" and the most "evolved" of the 3. - other "races" are depicted as more basic and less evolved than european, maybe it's a poor choice of word, but it's still a problem - female characters get a bonus on intell and social when male get a bonus on strengh and constitution :/ etc etc Too bad :/

Weak...did they make this game around 2009...?...but just realeased it? game is garbage, very confusing, not sure if I was playing one, 2 or three different character, that'd just ridiculous, absurd. I paid $4.99 and I'm upset about it.

So, this game is the classic eurojank. The team is inexperienced - this is like E.Y.E. - a mod teams first venture into writing their own game. The graphics are not great, animations are cheesy, voice acting is 110% painful. That said, it has something going for it so far. Lots of bugs, I would not recommend getting too into it so close to release but I think it's worth playing if you like the concept of 1st person RPGs with story elements. Linear narratives. i'm not ready to assign stars yet, this thing is a buggy mess. I think the team will sort it out though. Time will tell.

Definately an intersting RPG. Different sci-Fi style I like it very much sofar

Great game. Looked interesting, was interesting!

it was nice but a bit short

I refuse to keep playing this crap...