Review: Human Within – A Thrilling VR Experience that Narrows the Boundary Between a Video Game and a Movie

Human Within Review

As VR headsets are becoming better and more powerful, we are starting to see some solid releases that are making full use of these powerful virtual reality headsets. Human Within is one such VR video game that looks more like a movie and less like a video game and if those pixelated puzzle sequences are not there, you will forget that you are inside a VR game. Published by Signal Space Lab and developed by Actrio Studio along with Signal Space Lab, Human Within is a brand-new interactive VR experience that narrows the boundary between a video game and a movie. This is our review of Human Within on Meta Quest 3 in which we try to rescue ourselves and solve some pixelated cube puzzles to remove software glitches.

Human Within follows the story of two sisters Nyla and Linh who have successfully managed to control the power of a human brain and use it to power an AI-powered supercomputer, called the Pasithea technology. However, things go awry when the trials do not run according to plan, and the project backer forces both sisters to continue working on the project despite the consequences. Linh is stuck in a coma and Nyla is stuck with her sister inside a protective facility as she is instructed to continue work on the project. The game begins with you working from Linh’s consciousness as you try to help your sister Nyla, a cyber engineer, try to find a way to escape from the facility. From this point onwards, you are treated with multiple types of cutscenes and a unique progression method for the story.

Human Within Review

There are three main aspects of Human Within that require a different approach. The main cutscenes are proper and you cannot interact with them in any way. These happen only at key points in the story, and they are just normal cutscenes. Most of the time, the story sequences are presented in the form of 3D graphics and 2D film, giving you an immersive feel of the game’s world. During these sequences, you can move your head around and the whole space is filled with different types of information. Depending on the current scenario, it could be video feeds of the same scenario but from different angles or it could be multiple video feeds, a few data feeds, and some information cards that can be picked, moved around, or interacted with to progress the story further.

These sections are scripted, but they give you a good amount of freedom to move your head around and check out different information sources present on the screen. You do not have to stand up and play Human Within because most of the game just requires hand movements or head movements so you can just sit on a chair, relax and play the game. Movement is done via Snap or Blink based on your selection however this is only limited to a few scenes in the game and even in these sections, the gameplay feels more of a chore and is not very optimized. On the other hand, during the puzzles, the hand movements and overall movements are exceptionally smooth. You can move your head to see the blocks from different angles and see how they fit by matching the node points.

Human Within Review

At key points in the story, you are to make different choices that determine which ending you will unlock in the game. Based on your choices throughout the game, you can unlock one of the five possible endings which gives you a lot of room to play the game again. However, to experience different endings, you do not have to replay the entire game again because the game features a scene selection option that allows you to pick the story at any point that you have cleared and play it from that particular point to make different choices and reach a different ending. Apart from the main choices, you also get some smaller options, but they do not affect the story as much as the main choices. The puzzle sequences and other gameplay sequences are fairly straightforward where you simply have to complete the puzzle and progress in the game. The puzzles tend to become progressively harder but they are nothing that could hinder your gameplay.

Human Within feels at home while playing with Meta Quest. The loading times are decent, however there was one issue when the game froze during the very first puzzle for us. It was an oddball for us as well because after quitting and restarting, we never encountered any similar issue throughout the game. The game registers your movements precisely which is why the puzzles were our favorite aspect of the game. Even during the interactive cutscene sections, we would often need to pick something up, revolve it, or move it around. These sections are silky smooth and just baffle your mind because they make you feel like you are actually inside that world. The game is pretty subtle, and the gameplay is laid back which means that you can play it comfortably even if you get dizzy with VR titles. There are no intense action sequences here that may cause motion sickness or headaches due to continuous head movements.

Human Within Review

With multiple endings to unlock and different choices to explore during the game, Human Within offers multiple playthrough opportunities. It also offers different accessibility options to suit your gameplay style such as movement can be switched to either Snap or Blink with Snap offering further smoothness options to make it even better to suit your gameplay style. It may take some time for you to get engaged with the story and some important bits of the story are left out as well for example we get to know how the sisters meet Blake but we never get to know how the sisters developed the technology and some other critical details about the story as well. The whole gameplay takes around 3 and a half hours if you really take it slow which is not much, but it justifies its price point.

Final Verdict:

Human Within starts a little slow but it quickly builds up the pace with its puzzle-based gameplay and immersive cutscenes which makes you feel like you are actually part of the game. Thanks to strategic camera placement during these cutscenes and interactive moments between these sections, you feel like you are living the game itself. High-definition videos and mind-tickling puzzles keep the flow of the game going but some bits of the story do not make sense and sometimes the acting of characters do not match the scene’s intensity. The gameplay bits are not that frequent so if you want something a little more with gameplay, you might want to steer clear of this game. If you are looking for something that offers fancy cutscenes and an interactive movie experience, look no further than Human Within.

Final Score: 7.5/10

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About the Author: Umair Khalid

Founder of GamesHedge, Umair enjoys a wide variety of video games ranging from RPGs to racing games. Currently busy with The Crew Motorfest and Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance.

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