You’ve got to admire any game that has an intellectual agenda, and that is certainly true of Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone aware of its provenance: developer Panache is headed by Patrice Désilets, who was creative director of the first Assassin’s Creed game and two of its successors.
Ancestors is nothing less than a human evolution simulator, backed up by impressively rigorous (or at least very convincing) scientific underpinnings. So there’s no way anyone could accuse the 35-strong indie studio Panache of lacking ambition. Frankly, you can see why: the word ‘compromise’ clearly isn’t in Désilets’ vocabulary. Ancestors kicks off with a bravura opening cutscene in which a fish is scooped up by various predators, before being picked up by a primitive ape (your raw material for eventually breeding humans) with a baby on its back. The pair are then attacked by a giant bird, and the baby ape falls to the rainforest floor.
You are then given control of that infant, and told to find somewhere it can hide. In the spirit of rigour, you’re met with an interface which offers very little by way of assistance. You can activate the baby ape’s senses of smell and hearing (which produce pretty abstract visual effects), and via standing still and looking around, you can use its innate intelligence to identify objects of interest.
Monkey business
This story is from the February 2020 edition of Xbox: The Official Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 2020 edition of Xbox: The Official Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Outriders
The makers of Bulletstorm are back with a shared-world, (slightly) less sweary shooter Dave Meikleham
Journey To The Savage Planet
In space, no one can hear you laugh
The Evolution Of Xbox Pads
From the original big-boned ‘Duke’ to the elegant extravagance of the Elite Series 2, OXM charts the history of Xbox controllers to date
Aery - Little Bird Adventure
Take a trip skywards in this colourful and relaxing flying sim
THE PROMISED 'LANDS
With so many great games competing for our time, how do you keep gamers locking and loading? Gearbox’s looter-shooter, Borderlands 3, knows how…
Untitled Goose Game
INDIE PRANKSTER EARNS ALL THE LAUGHS THROUGH WATERFOWL PLAY
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
IT LOOKS LIKE THE BEST IS NOT QUITE GOOD ENOUGH.
Preview - Halo Infinite
The chief takes aim at series x
Matt Booty - Age of Booty
As Xbox enters its most important year for a decade, we sit down with head of microsoft studios matt booty to chat about the nextgen xbox, how much life the Xbox one still has left and why game pass is changing the industry
The History Of Horror Games On Xbox
Horror games and Team Green consoles make the best of (petrified) bedfellows. Be it Manhunt’s demented stalking, FEAR’s horrifying little girl, or the forthcoming Resident Evil 3 remake’s newly terrifying Nemesis, we run you through Xbox’s history with survival horror