humankind is a video game produced by Amplitude Studios with clear objective from the beginning: the strategic development of civilizations. In the open dev that we tried we started from the Babylonian scenario, the civilization that now populated the lands of Mesopotamia years ago. The idea is to grow a large population, protected by a large army and which extends along the territory, but not only: a people must also be able to scientifically evolve with innovations in different fields.
It will be up to us to choose how to juggle.
The video game, at the beginning, shows the player a quick tutorial of what is possible. However, we find it insufficient for a strategic game where everything is of essential importance. For example: the population of our city will be a very important factor in building buildings, but it is extremely difficult to get a large number of inhabitants. A good tutorial would have been useful in which it is explained what the right techniques can be in order to increase one's men, but this is not provided by the video game. As an open dev, we sincerely hope that the developers improve the tutorial aspect.
Like any self-respecting strategic game, the gameplay is divided into turns. Perhaps this is our fault, but we believe that for a scenario with so many things to do 30 turns are too few to be able to fully enjoy the game and develop civilization decently. In each turn there are tasks to complete in order to proceed, which if not completed will make it impossible to move forward.
In Humankind it is possible to build a very wide range of buildings, from those that supply the city with food to those that expand neighborhoods. You can build them by waiting for turns, paying coins or using people. This aspect works very well, but we recommend starting immediately by building structures that provide a lot of money so that you always have it available. Also very interesting is the creation of outposts outside the city, which is possible if troops are sent to explore.
Each outpost is then expandable, making it a real detachment of the main city. All in all, we found the constructive complex of the game well organized and useful for a single purpose: to develop civilization.
Another interesting aspect of the game is the exploration of the terrors around our city, full of discoveries and animals. You can explore through troops, created specifically for combat. We were unable, in our first Babylonian scenario, to find other humans. However, the territory was teeming with animals to engage in battle with. We would like to discuss this last aspect better in a separate paragraph.
In the territory there are some settlements, which, if plundered, will be a conspicuous source of money and supplies for our city. It is also possible to clear wooded areas out of necessity and, if we are too busy following the development of the rest, the game provides an interesting option: that of making explorations automatic. This aspect of the game is also well integrated and fun to play.
Again due to the tutorial taking many things for granted, the fighting in Humankind is tough (especially if you are not used to the type of game). Against animals, if you have two good troops, winning is very simple and, as we have already specified, in the Babylonian scenario no other men have appeared to challenge but, in the next scenario, the goal is precisely to fight against the Egyptians. . We could approach the battle in two ways: either by strategically planning each step, or by letting the game's AI decide automatically for us (as in exploration).
On the one hand, unfortunately, the tutorial was not able to train us enough and it was impossible for us to win even once. On the other hand, in the automatic mode it was pretty easy not to lose to the Egyptian people. Battles are certainly true to the strategy video game genre, but some more help would be very welcome.
The last aspect we would like to talk about is that of scientific progress, an aspect of vital importance to Humankind, so much so that the shifts do not flow unless there is progress in progress each time. This branches off into all fields of knowledge, from philosophy to navigation, and is divided into branches that are completed every few shifts.
We believe it is the most important expression of the historical fidelity that this game wants to represent, having an incredible number of selectable progress since each of them perfectly represents the civilization that we find ourselves representing as, for example, the invention of the wheel.
Humankind is an interesting strategic video game, with an excellent constructive and exploratory structure. However, it lacks a tutorial sufficient for the type of game it represents. An applause must be made to the excellent representation of historical reality, the true bulwark of the title.
► Humankind is a Strategy-Tactical game developed by Amplitude Studios and published by Sega for Steam and PC, Expected to be released in 2020
Humankind is a nice game that we recommend: we decided to rate it with a 70%, if you are interested in learning more you can read the Humankind Review
