Humankind may not have invented hot water, but it is sufficiently different from Civilization. And that results in a rock-solid game, not least because of its scale. In the game, you lead your people through the different eras of our civilization. At six different times you are presented with ten cultures that you can take over from then on. In addition, the characteristics of your previous choices are preserved, resulting in a unique melting pot of influences from a million (!) possible combinations. Each game is different, and you will spend many hours exploring only a fraction of the possibilities. That replayability alone makes Humankind more than worth its money.
HUMANKIND is as deep as you could possibly want from a 4X strategy game, but the constant addition of new things to think about never feels overwhelming because everything's explained so well, and often with a good bit of humour too. It's an excellent game, and if you've never delved into the 4X genre before, this might be your best chance to do so.
Humankind is a very interesting 4X strategy game with a wide variety of elements, most of which are very detailed - though some, like religion, can feel a little undercooked. From city building, expansion and the urban sprawl over time, so much of the development of the world is well represented here. Science, influence, war, economy, growth - there's very little you'll find covered here.
Humankind offers a fresh take on historical 4X strategy genre, with a lot of creativity thrown in, but the team sorely lacks a lead designer who could tie everything together. So even though each innovation is really cool on its own, the whole turned out to be less than the sum of its parts. [Issue#255, p.40]
Though clearly inspired by Sid Meier’s Civilization, Humankind is a very unique experience. Especially the first phase of gameplay, spent discovering and claiming land is refreshing. The game gradually loses some steam, but remains fascinating because of it’s many intricate mechanics. We hope that those mechanics will come into their own with the upcoming patches. Development wise, Humankind is still one or two turns away from being a thoroughly engaging game.
From the faint outlines of religion to the background hum of influence, from the awkward city-building to the cumbersome tactical combat, all wrapped up in a cultural system that struggles to imprint a strong identity on your empire, Humankind strains under the weight of too many complex systems that too often find themselves colliding rather than coalescing. By turns disjointed and confounding, Humankind is nonetheless fascinating, at least to this experienced 4X strategy player, even if I couldn't say I truly enjoyed it.
The best 4X game that I have played so far (I started playing Civ1 on a Macintosh probably around 1993 and have played every Civilization title since then). Anyway, talking about Humankind: The music is awesome, the artwork is so nice. The game has a very unique and awesome look and feel.
Combat and military conquest is among the best. But also peaceful expansion is possible focusing on wonders, and empire growth. Sieges work in a way that are much distinct from Civilization and combat in general is very refreshing. It's a good mix between 1upt and stack of doom. I also like the way trade and diplomacy works.
The only problem with the game is that it isn't as balanced when it was released. Snowballing is a problem, however, the early game provides a lot of challenges and is very fun to play. Especially, the addition of the neolithic era is a great addition to this genre that otherwise always starts with putting the first city down exactly where the map generation algorithms have put you. The end game can be interesting I suppose if you don't give up on a bad early start and try to recover even from lost wars.
There are some things absent, that are very much present in Civ such as the form of government (monarchy, feudalism), but it is i replaced with a set of civic choices and a 4-dimensional ideology system that provides various bonuses. I like this system very much as it is more gradual and the choices are clear. The stability system is nice in theory, but practically requires more balance in upcoming patches. Still, it does give you a challenge.
The way cities grow through districts is much more enjoyable and also the fortifications are much more omnipresent than e.g. in the civilization series where this is just a number next to the city name.
The culture per era is much more interesting than choosing one culture in the very beginning and keeping it. The different traits (scientific, economic, artistic, expansionist, militaristic, agrarian and builder) provide interesting choices. However, overall, there's probably a bit too much bonus applied. In any case, the replay-ability is awesome with so many different combinations. It's not just some 20 civilizations, but 1.000.000 combinations of cultures per era.
Also, the AI is able to provide a challenge (at least in the first game half). It does make mistakes, but so do I. One can have allies for a whole game and one can have strong opponents. Some cultures/players are really tough and hard to compete against.
Overall, this is a total win for the genre and for all players.
El juego tiene ideas interesantes pero en lineas generales es un X4 bastante mediocre. Cabe destacar que tiene unos fallos de balanceo de juego bastante importantes, y hay veces que sientes que te encuentras antes situaciones injustas por culpa de esto.
Solo lo recomendaría a gente que le encantan los X4, o a un precio muy reducido.
I tried hard to like this one, but the sheer amount of micromanagement and confusing mechanics was just too much for me. Almost as bad as Civ 6. They need to focus on fun in their games not more confusing make-work.
Dictionary definition of missed potential.
The game starts in a way most 4x games don't where you have to establish yourself from nothing which is a breath of fresh air. Sadly this was the only breath of fresh air the entire game. If you are not at war and have already built around 2-3 cities then there is literally NOTHING to do. Unlike Civilization, religion is a completely passive mechanic that is sometimes slightly influenced by minor events. Religion spreads automatically so the AIs will get angry at you for preaching to them which let me remind you again you have NO control over so be prepared to be declared war on for no reason what so ever (which isn't really that bad considering war is the only part of the game that is mildly entertaining)
SummaryHUMANKIND is a Historical Strategy game where YOU will re-write the entire narrative of humankind – a convergence of culture, history, and values that allows you to create a civilization that is as unique as you are. HOW FAR WILL YOU PUSH HUMANKIND?