Sid Meier’s Civilization is easily one of the most recognized strategy game franchises in gaming history. However, recent years have left the series feeling stagnant. Stuck in place by unchanging mechanics and a lack of uniqueness to the game’s various groups and civilizations. With Humankind, Amplitude Studios is seemingly building off the tried and true formula that made Civilization so enduring, while also exploring new ways to play through history. Unlike the Civilization series—and even other 4X strategy games—Humankind will let players create a unique civilization based around 60 different cultures. Each culture will add a different layer to the gameplay, helping to create a unique version of humanity’s history every time you play through a match. It’s a breath of fresh air for the genre and something we’ve needed for quite a while.
The 4Xs
Explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. Those are the four fundamentals of the 4X strategy genre, which has encompassed legendary titles like Civilization IV, Endless Legend, and more. Unlike the more fantastical or sci-fi additions to the genre, though, Humankind will explore humanity’s history similar to the original Civilization games. They say history is written by the victor, and in Humankind your aim is to rewrite history completely. Once you’ve created your unique civilization, you can head out into the world and meet with other civilizations, including smaller city-states or groups that have yet to fully form. A big change from previous 4X games, however, is the fact that Humankind will allow you to choose from a variety of cultures, each of which can layer on new archetypes like violent or cruel—the latter of which will see you willing to sacrifice your population and people in order to progress. This is substantially different from past 4X games based around history as Humankind sees you blending different cultures with each other, completely mixing them together to form a unique civilization that changes each time you proceed through a new era and add more cultural influences to your world.
Just One More Turn
I’d always heard the phrase “just one more turn” from my friends back when they used to play Civilization III. But I never thought it actually had any real meaning. At least, not until I played my first game of Civilization IV. I was hooked from the start and soon found myself spending long nights playing through my first game, constantly finding reasons why I couldn’t stop just yet. It was this addicting gameplay that got me into strategy games. Creating my own civilization and leading my people to greatness with a ton of strategy and depth was a welcome change from the constant run-and-gun I’d become so used to in first-person shooters. To see Humankind taking the basics that I loved so much in past Civilization games, and then expanding on them, is both exciting and worrying for my already strained sleep schedule. With multiple eras to explore and an assortment of cultures to mishmash together, Humankind could have a depth most 4X games haven’t come close to exploring yet. Throw in the other great parts of the strategy genre it’s expanding on—like how terrain factors in battles, city growth, and your civilization’s progression—and the list of pros just gets longer. If what we’ve seen so far is an indicator of what Amplitude Studios is bringing to the table, then Humankind could become a defining bar for all future Civilization games and even the 4X genre. Deeper archetypes, more meaningful choices for your civilization, and the ability to create something that feels unique no matter how many times you play through it are all much-needed advances 4X games have been waiting years to explore.
