- Publisher: SegaSoft , Sega
- Release Date: Aug 17, 2021
- Also On: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Aug 16, 2021A smart historical 4X that doesn't quite match the inventiveness of the studio's best.
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Oct 4, 2021This next-door neighbour of Sid Meier’s Civilization is mostly very well done and always beautiful. It can, however, also be pretty dull and some design choices don’t work as well as they should - including the vaunted culture morphing.
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Aug 31, 2021I had a lot of fun with Humankind, with its deep city building mechanics keeping me glued to the screen for hours on end. But with its unique multi-culture mechanic failing to improve upon solid foundations set by other turn-based titles, I’m unsure why anyone would choose to play Humankind over the likes of Civilization VI. That said, with a fantastic combat system and its unique core concept, Humankind has lots of potential to develop into a more competitive title in the strategy genre, so keep an eye out for future updates and DLC.
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Aug 30, 2021Though 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.
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Aug 24, 2021Humankind is a decent 4X entry for fans of the genre looking for something different - and yet very familiar. Newcomers are probably better off trying Civilization and giving Humankind some time to address its issues.
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Aug 20, 2021Humankind is still an exciting evolution for the genre. Its dedication to historical authenticity sets it apart from its largest competitor, and the new systems like war support and shifting cultures feel like the very first steps leading to something that’s potentially greater. It’s not quite the ‘Civ-killer’ it wants to be just yet, but hey, give it a few more iterations and it just might be.
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Aug 16, 2021A highly competent alternative to Civilization but the list of unequivocal improvements is disappointingly short, with an unfortunate lack of real innovation.
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Aug 16, 2021Humankind is an interesting but fairly safe riff on historical 4X that doesn't always rise to meet its potential.
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Aug 16, 2021Humankind 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.
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Oct 17, 2021Amplitude still has its work cut out to make Humankind a more welcoming place: improve the balance, fix the second half of the campaign, increase the performance… and release the inevitable DLCs. So, maybe then it will be able to go toe-to-toe with Civilization.
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LEVEL (Czech Republic)Feb 17, 2022Humankind is different than other games and that's fine. It builds on the authors' experiences with the genre, but may differ too much for the massive success of the brand and the studio. It's an interesting title that will find countless players and fans, but it does too little for big success.
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Edge MagazineSep 10, 2021Humankind isn't lacking in competence. This is a decent historical strategy with some of the best city building outside of dedicated games such as Cities: Skylines. But it would benefit from greater confidence in its central ideas; rather than seeking to ape Civilization, it could be more inventive. [Issue#363, p.110]
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Aug 25, 2021From 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.
| This publication does not provide a score for their reviews. | |
| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
| These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation. | |
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Aug 20, 2021Humankind is a worthy competitor to Civilization, with some fresh ideas that improve on the traditional 4X formula. It may be lacking in some systems, and others need more polishing, but the virtues of Humankind outweighs the negatives by much. It doesn't matter if you are a newcomer to the genre or a true Civ veteran, Humankind will leave you begging for one more turn on each and every game. [Recommended]
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Aug 18, 2021Quotation forthcoming.
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Aug 18, 2021For now, though, all I’ve got to talk about is this original vision for Humankind, a game that promised to be revolutionary but ended up as a very good evolution instead.
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Aug 16, 2021Indeed, 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.
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Aug 17, 2021It is undeniable that this is more dynamic and specific and operable than a Civ game, but in my time with the game I have remained unconvinced that this level of fiddly knob control gives me anything unique or better than the more abstracted or zoomed out systems of a Civ. My experience of Humankind was one of seeing occasional glimmers of something special while having to fight to keep a lot of numbers and pressures in my head at once. I know that there are strategy and 4x players for whom this is where the action is. Those players love the system mastery of it all, and it's clear that the developers’ desire here was to create an abundance of complex systems that interlock beautifully. I think they accomplished that, but for me there is a point where that reaches diminishing returns, and Humankind is over that line.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 82 out of 157
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Mixed: 35 out of 157
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Negative: 40 out of 157
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Aug 26, 2021
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Aug 20, 2021
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Aug 19, 2021