jaethos Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 Awesome, now I don't have to think about trying it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 Game Information Game Title: Humankind Platforms: PC (Aug 17, 2021) Developer: Amplitude Studios Publisher: SEGA Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 80 average - 71% recommended Critic Reviews Everyeye.it - Italian - 9 / 10 Quote Humankind, in short, raises the quality standards of the 4X game, placing itself as the perfect "rival" of Civilization. This net of some gleanings that could be filed through future updates and safe expansions. If you're a lover of this genre, you can't really skip the date with Amplitude's work. The future, full support for mods and the world editor will help to enrich the title seamlessly. Gameblog - French - 9 / 10 Quote HUMANKIND is a true masterpiece and the best 4X of the decade. The game has brilliant gameplay mechanics and offers us an experience of great depth, with some incredible art style. May its reign be long. GamesRadar+ - 4.5 / 5 stars Quote Embracing player motivations from start to finish, Humankind refreshes the 4X genre – even with a couple of technical kinks. IGN Italy - Italian - 9 / 10 Quote A 4X game like no other. Unique and innovative, full with interesting mechanics - and some weird ones. Humankind has some clear flaws, indeed, but kudos to Amplitude for pushing the genre forward. TheSixthAxis - 9 / 10 Quote 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. 33bits - Spanish - 80 / 100 Quote Amplitude has pulled a worthy Civilization competitor up its sleeve. It has its drawbacks, but it certainly also has enough of a personality of its own to take on Firaxis' game on its own turf. The choice of civilization in each era, and the simultaneous turns are huge additions. CGMagazine - 8 / 10 Quote Like actual Humankind, the game, Humankind is an ambitious, large, complex and sometimes difficult to understand experience that gets better with time and only expands the possibilities of what comes next. God is a Geek - 8 / 10 Quote There are some cracks in the shiny veneer, for sure, but on the whole Humankind is a great experience with almost endless replayability. PCGamesN - 8 / 10 Quote The most direct challenger to Civilization yet is full of brilliant ideas which could yet change the genre, although bugs and underdeveloped features occasionally get in the way of the fun. SECTOR.sk - Slovak - 8 / 10 Quote Civilization has a new rival, with deep evolution. Sometimes not very logic, but variable and fun. The Games Machine - Italian - 7.7 / 10 Quote Sadly, Humankind isn't Amplitude Studios' magnum opus. Its interesting concept of civilization mix-matching is constantly let down by an uncompetitive AI and all sort of balancing issues. Cultured Vultures - 7.5 / 10 Quote Humankind is a refreshing and authentic take on the historical 4X strategy subgenre, albeit with some balancing problems that keep it from greatness. GameWatcher - 7.5 / 10 Quote While it probably won’t be a “Civ killer” – not that it necessarily aims to be one –, it’s clearly a game that historical 4X strategy fans looking for a different spin on the subgenre’s formula should definitely consider trying out at some point. PC Invasion - 7.5 / 10 Quote Humankind is ambitious in size, scale, and scope, allowing you to try out multiple combinations of cultures as you progress through various eras. However, it's also hampered by limitations in certain mechanics and systems that don't mesh well with the overall gameplay. PC Gamer - 71 / 100 Quote A smart historical 4X that doesn't quite match the inventiveness of the studio's best. Checkpoint Gaming - 7 / 10 Quote Humankind is immediately accessible to anybody familiar with the 4X genre, especially the Civilization series. It strays a little too close to Civilization at times, but its unique take on the advancement of culture and ideology prevents it from feeling like a copycat. The way your culture changes between eras means that no two games will ever be the same, no matter how much you try. It’s not quite as masterful as it could be and needs some fine-tuning in some areas, but it remains a solid addition to Amplitude’s library of strategy games. IGN - 7 / 10 Quote Humankind is an interesting but fairly safe riff on historical 4X that doesn't always rise to meet its potential. Metro GameCentral - 7 / 10 Quote A highly competent alternative to Civilization but the list of unequivocal improvements is disappointingly short, with an unfortunate lack of real innovation. NaviGames - Spanish - 7 / 10 Quote Fun and very addictive, but not quite rounded because it fails to deliver on its main points. Chicas Gamers - Spanish - Unscored Quote Humankind is a strategy game introduces us on the governor's skin with all things implicate that, all choices of politic, law, society and other, and not only resources assignment. It has his cons like but rate and improvable battle, but on the contrary it has many options process alleviates his defects. On a artistic level the game looks like realistic, but casual due to his colourful Eurogamer - No Recommendation / Blank Quote Amplitude's big play for the historical grand strategy crown is ambitious and considered, but it's missing a little magic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 Humankind review: a heavyweight alternative to Civilization WWW.ROCKPAPERSHOTGUN.COM Humankind is, by and large, exactly what I hoped it would be: a heavyweight alternative to Civilization in the world of historical strategy. Quote Beyond that sort of thing, my only real problem with Humankind is the issue I alluded to right at the start: that despite really liking it, I’m not 100% sure of what it is. It has set out to prove itself as a historical 4X that is emphatically not a Civ clone, and it has succeeded. But in bending itself around the monolithic bulk of Big Sid’s baby, it has grown into a strange shape. There’s just a lot going on, is the best way I can put it. At times, this makes for an extremely rich strategic play. At other times, it makes for an experience verging on information overload. Indeed, and especially in the later stages of a game, Humankind can feel more like a puzzle game than a 4X, with the business of hexes and multipliers abstracting it from its central theme of humanity. Still, if the worst things I can find to say about Humankind are that it sometimes makes me think too much, and that I need to play it more, it’s hardly a bloody disaster, is it? Go make yourself some harbours, and tell the Olmecs I said hello. If they ever make it out of their Ancient Era time loop and invent writing, that is. Humankind review -- A 4X strategy journey through history WWW.PCINVASION.COM Here's our official review of Humankind, the brand new 4X strategy game from the makers of Endless Legend and Endless Space. Quote Yes, Humankind does have notable flaws that can make your playthroughs bothersome. In some cases, you might just choose the same cultures because they’re the most viable. In others, you’d find that the mid-game onwards has you going through the motions. And, as cited earlier, the encyclopedia feature is barely readable. Still, the game itself is fairly stable. I didn’t encounter any crashes or major bugs (most of my qualms were with the core mechanics). However, I did experience some slight slowdowns whenever I selected avatar, world, and AI empire settings. Overall, Humankind can be a worthwhile game due to the plethora of options for you to try out and consider. It’s visually appealing, so it’s got the charm and flair to keep you engaged. There are even features that let you create your own avatar so your buddies can play against an AI opponent that you designed. Additionally, there’s a map editor that you can test and share, as well as mod support that’ll arrive soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 @CitizenVectron @Jason @jaethos @Xbob42 @TheBladeRoden @TwinIon @Zaku3 @Keyser_Soze Figured you guys would want to see what the reviewers have to say. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 Overall looks pretty good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLeon Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 Yeah, that looks like a good game for me to download, play for about an hour, feel totally overwhelmed, then delete it. Yay Game Pass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 1 hour ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: @CitizenVectron @Jason @jaethos @Xbob42 @TheBladeRoden @TwinIon @Zaku3 @Keyser_Soze Figured you guys would want to see what the reviewers have to say. Thanks, I'll have to pick up a month of Game Pass when I get back to LA to try this out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 I saw after you posted it and I just didn't say anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 I've also updated the OpenCritic reviews post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinIon Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 So I've only played one intro game so far on the default (easy) setting and there's a lot to like and a few things that will need to change for sure, and the issues mostly have to do with war. I do like the mini game of battles that take place. It feels more strategic than Civ and playing it well does really help (though the AI is dumb as a rock in battles). Unfortunately that mini-game also prohibits a third party from entering any given battle. For regular battles that's not much of a problem. It is a big problem when it comes to sieges. Sieges can take up a huge area and basically make it impassible and the participants invulnerable. I discovered this when I saw a siege between two neighbors while I was at war with both. Unfortunately this siege ended up blocking my path to the entire continent. So I had a great war machine that couldn't do anything thanks to a skirmish between two lesser civs. Perhaps the biggest problem though, comes from how wars end. The basic mechanics (such that I understand them) are that actions during war build up "war points" as well as affecting your civs' will to fight. When your opponents' will to fight goes to zero, you win and the war is over. That means that if you're on an unstoppable run and they get to zero, you have to stop and accept their surrender. Moreover, when you accept that surrender (as you are forced to do), you negotiate with your war points. So if you captured a bunch of cities and don't have the war points to negotiate for all of them, too bad you'll have to give some back and make peace. As far as I can tell, you also can't win a war before their will to fight goes to zero or you conquer them all. So if you want to get into a Falkland Islands style fight over some small piece of land and then want to call it off, too bad. Either surrender or you'll be at war forever. I'm pretty sure this will get changed, but right now it really sucks. It sucks if you want to fight over something small, and it sucks if you want to really conquer an enemy. The other problem with wars ending is what to do with the cities you've now acquired. The technology required to merge cities comes well into the game, so if you conquer an early city, you might be in a tough spot to support it. Even when you do get that technology, the algorithm for merging cities seems completely broken. It was asking for wholly unreasonable sums to merge a tiny city into a giant city that nearly surrounded it. If you're far ahead of your conquered foe or you just took a small outlier city, it might only have half the infrastructure upgrades you get for free when founding a new city. So often times you're better off ransacking a city and building a new city or outpost yourself. That also gives you more war points and fewer things to negotiate over, so it's become my standard practice to burn nearly every city and outpost to the ground, which doesn't seem like it should be the best way to deal with everything. --- All that said, I do like the game. I think the whole city and outpost system is good. There are a lot of little systems that work well and are engaging. I think it looks good, plays and runs well. It's probably a bit too much like Civilization to make it feel wholly new and different, but it's still a well made entry in the genre. I'm not a Civ fanatic, but I'll put a few hours into each entry. I think Humankind needs a bit of tweaking, but I think it could get there pretty quickly. The issue with three player battles is the only thing that I suspect will be around for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 On 8/27/2021 at 10:44 AM, TwinIon said: So I've only played one intro game so far on the default (easy) setting and there's a lot to like and a few things that will need to change for sure, and the issues mostly have to do with war. I do like the mini game of battles that take place. It feels more strategic than Civ and playing it well does really help (though the AI is dumb as a rock in battles). Unfortunately that mini-game also prohibits a third party from entering any given battle. For regular battles that's not much of a problem. It is a big problem when it comes to sieges. Sieges can take up a huge area and basically make it impassible and the participants invulnerable. I discovered this when I saw a siege between two neighbors while I was at war with both. Unfortunately this siege ended up blocking my path to the entire continent. So I had a great war machine that couldn't do anything thanks to a skirmish between two lesser civs. Perhaps the biggest problem though, comes from how wars end. The basic mechanics (such that I understand them) are that actions during war build up "war points" as well as affecting your civs' will to fight. When your opponents' will to fight goes to zero, you win and the war is over. That means that if you're on an unstoppable run and they get to zero, you have to stop and accept their surrender. Moreover, when you accept that surrender (as you are forced to do), you negotiate with your war points. So if you captured a bunch of cities and don't have the war points to negotiate for all of them, too bad you'll have to give some back and make peace. As far as I can tell, you also can't win a war before their will to fight goes to zero or you conquer them all. So if you want to get into a Falkland Islands style fight over some small piece of land and then want to call it off, too bad. Either surrender or you'll be at war forever. I'm pretty sure this will get changed, but right now it really sucks. It sucks if you want to fight over something small, and it sucks if you want to really conquer an enemy. The other problem with wars ending is what to do with the cities you've now acquired. The technology required to merge cities comes well into the game, so if you conquer an early city, you might be in a tough spot to support it. Even when you do get that technology, the algorithm for merging cities seems completely broken. It was asking for wholly unreasonable sums to merge a tiny city into a giant city that nearly surrounded it. If you're far ahead of your conquered foe or you just took a small outlier city, it might only have half the infrastructure upgrades you get for free when founding a new city. So often times you're better off ransacking a city and building a new city or outpost yourself. That also gives you more war points and fewer things to negotiate over, so it's become my standard practice to burn nearly every city and outpost to the ground, which doesn't seem like it should be the best way to deal with everything. --- All that said, I do like the game. I think the whole city and outpost system is good. There are a lot of little systems that work well and are engaging. I think it looks good, plays and runs well. It's probably a bit too much like Civilization to make it feel wholly new and different, but it's still a well made entry in the genre. I'm not a Civ fanatic, but I'll put a few hours into each entry. I think Humankind needs a bit of tweaking, but I think it could get there pretty quickly. The issue with three player battles is the only thing that I suspect will be around for a long time. I played a few hours of my first game this week and while I like the stuff like the much larger build zone for cities and how you can expand it by linking outposts to cities, I'm just not sure it's different enough from Civ to hold my interest long term. I'm glad I could try it on Gamepass instead of having to buy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 Coming to Consoles November 4th and on Game Pass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted June 16, 2022 Author Share Posted June 16, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLeon Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 Indefinite delay… damn, I was really looking forward to bailing on this game halfway through the tutorial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaku3 Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 1 hour ago, TheLeon said: Indefinite delay… damn, I was really looking forward to bailing on this game halfway through the tutorial. It probably will run on a potatoe PC. The latin america culture pack interests me but Vicky 3 comes out Tuesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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