I find it immensely ironic that many folks I know who have been playing Sid Meier's Civilization series since they were young... they seemingly have an irrational hatred toward Humankind.

The simple fact of the matter is that, at every possible level, Humankind is completely superior to the last /two/ of Sid Meier's Civilization games.

And this is coming from a kid who found Civ 2 installed on a computer in the back of one of my middle school classrooms, managed to download it onto a 3.5" Floppy, and then I guess have a /bootleg/ copy of it on my piece of ♥♥♥♥ E-Machine, who has been playing Civ games ever since.

The pinnacle of the Civilization series was unquestionably Civ 4.

Civ 4 represented the absolute Zenith of the Modding Scene for Civilization games... if you still have Civ 4, you should go back and check out some of the more creative Mods. People have done /incredible/ things with the Civ 4 Engine, in terms of video game modifications.

Civ 5 switched to Hex Grids, a good change... but was a colossal cash grab... and by making only a Single Unit per Tile? Yes, this did break the /doomstack/ scenario... but it also fundamentally broke many, many other techniques and game mechanics.

Humankind solves this quite elegantly with many game mechanics governing when multiple units can be on one square, the difference between a strategic unit movement, and a tactical unit movement within a battlespace, when an area is a battlespace, when a unit can or cannot join a battlespace, etc.

Further, Humankind has a much, much improved concept of terrain height and rivers when compared to just literally any Civ Game I've ever played.

If you want to play a game that I would consider /realistic/ in terms of actual historical military strategy?
Consider playing with a custom map with the terrain height variability set to extreme.

This... this ability has been in Humankind /since day 1/, and allows you to actually hold off the Persians at the Hot Gates with your one unit of Hoplites... But it can also allow your scout/companion cavalry to sweep across the plains of Scythia to actually take out the Immortals as they march toward the Aegean.

I haven't even bothered to play Civ 6 as it is just too expensive, and is barely different than Civ 5 other than /the graphics are a bit different/.

As best I can tell, the 'most neat' thing about Civ 6 is that the characters seem to actually be speaking in /extremely accurate/ voices and dialects of the era in which they lived... and THAT is quite an achievement.

But... that is literally just /window dressing/ on an actual /GAME/.
See, the Civilization series used to ...

Civ 5 and Civ 6 you have to pay stupid amounts of money to get all the DLC and such... which is apparently /not/ a problem when it's a Sid Meier Civilization game, but it /is/ a problem when its coming from ... not Sid Meier.

Does Sid even like actually own/control Firaxis anymore? Does anyone know? No.

Idiot gamer man-babies just cannot help but carry forward old useless habits, and will have /objectively verifiable/ double-standards when, as in the Thucydides Trap, an old tottering regional power is finally surpassed by the rising new local nexus of innovation and productivity.

Yes, that's right, I used the term 'Thucydides Trap' in a review of a game on Steam, because I actually ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ studied this ♥♥♥♥ academically, unlike most of the sperg-lord man-babies that make up the vast majority of the strategy game market demographic.

I also have done enough data analyst jobs to simply /tell you all/: yes, the VAST majority of the Market Demo for any kind of 4X or Historically Themed Strategy Game on PC has, for quite a while, been White Males, nearly always (but not /always always/) with Authoritarian/Fascist uh... 'personality aspects'. You know. The DEUS VULT people on the internet. God, it's SO MUCH WORSE with Paradox Games... *sigh*.

Anyway... in Humankind, the AI is FAR FAR more intelligent, ESPECIALLY during negotiations with the player.

I am not sure if this /still/ works, but I know that in Civ 4 at least...? None of the AI understands the concept of a loan.
Basically always, you can just give them say 100 gold now, and ask them for 5 gold per turn (or 10... or 20... etc...) for the next 30 turns.

As far as I am aware, this... /bug?/ was never fixed in Civ 4. You can easily use this to *cheese* the entire AI game.

You /know/ they just get ludicrous extra yields per tile.
You /know/ they have map hacks.
You also /know/ that the AI is fundamentally actually very stupid, hence why they need nonsense stat bonuses to even give actual humans a challenge at all.

So... they get nonsense yields? Ally them, make loans, take all their money, bankrupt their economies, then, after a bit of that, you'll be able to build a military that can defeat them, or, if you're more clever, just manipulate the situation so that them and their next most powerful neighbor war each other to near-death... then swoop in like a vulture.

You know, just like Anglo-American Foreign Policy of the last 60+ years! :D

Anyway, Humankind actually has a very rich and deep mechanics system going on simulating negotiating with an actual leader of a nation or city-state. It is essentially so vastly superior to the Civilization series leader negotiation AI that it outclasses it entirely, makes it totally obsolete.

The pollution mechanic that many decried as /too difficult/?
Ahaha. Welcome to reality, idiots.

We are currently /all going to die on this godforsaken rock if we simply stay the course, hold the heading the planet is collectively on/.

If this makes you feel uncomfortable or scared or something?
Good.
You ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ should be.

Or does it makes you feel like you're not actually good at video games because they do not conform to your preferred playstyle and technique?

Oh, I'm sorry.

You see, in biology, in evolutionary timescales, only organisms which can adapt to sudden, unexpected changes in their environments are usually considered hardy, or 'fit' enough to actually survive and pass their genes on through the new climactic epoch.

If you cannot adopt to a new version of the Civilization game we've all come to know and love, a new version which ... for basically a first attempt at doing what Sid Meier and crew have basically had the monopoly on for... 3+ decades?

Then I actually literally laugh at, not pity, LAUGH at how pathetic you are.

It's a different game.
It has different rules.
If you do not want to play the different game, you do not have to.

Nothing is actually forcing you to unfairly review this game on Steam other than your own sense of self-inadequacy.

This studio has done absolutely phenomenal work. As a long time programmer, tinkerer with and modifier of games... I am absolutely astounded at the success of Humankind.

See, the actual best mod I could come up with for the game at this moment?

Take my favorite music from the Civilization Series.
As well... as Leonard Nimoy's voice clips from Civ 4.
And make that into a free mod for Humankind.

As a game, Humankind itself is still... early on its path toward development and refinement of the actual... rules of the game itself.

While I find the modding scene of Humankind at this point in time... interesting?
I feel many are missing the point... of a game.

The game... is... to play the game.

The game... teaches you... about itself... and as you play it... you begin to realize... the game teaches you about /yourself/... how you respond when the game... does something you forgot it could do... when a situation arises that you did not realize could occur.

How... How would Mr. Spok... play Humankind?
How would Princess Zelda?
How would Mr. House, or Andrew Ryan... play Humankind?

Hah. I suppose... that is up for you... the 'player'... to decide.

For... as it has been said:

All the world is but a stage...
... ... and all of us?
...
... ... ... merely 'players'.

I find it immensely ironic that many folks I know who have been playing Sid Meier's Civilization series since they were young... they seemingly have an irrational hatred toward Humankind. The simple fact of the matter is that, at every possible level, Humankind is completely superior to the last /two/ of Sid Meier's Civilization games. And this is coming from a kid who found Civ 2 installed on a computer in the back of one of my middle school classrooms, managed to download it onto a 3.5" Floppy, and then I guess have a /bootleg/ copy of it on my piece of shit E-Machine, who has been playing Civ games ever since. The pinnacle of the Civilization series was unquestionably Civ 4. Civ 4 represented the absolute Zenith of the Modding Scene for Civilization games... if you still have Civ 4, you should go back and check out some of the more creative Mods. People have done /incredible/ things with the Civ 4 Engine, in terms of video game modifications. Civ 5 switched to Hex Grids, a good change... but was a colossal cash grab... and by making only a Single Unit per Tile? Yes, this did break the /doomstack/ scenario... but it also fundamentally broke many, many other techniques and game mechanics. Humankind solves this quite elegantly with many game mechanics governing when multiple units can be on one square, the difference between a strategic unit movement, and a tactical unit movement within a battlespace, when an area is a battlespace, when a unit can or cannot join a battlespace, etc. Further, Humankind has a much, much improved concept of terrain height and rivers when compared to just literally any Civ Game I've ever played. If you want to play a game that I would consider /realistic/ in terms of actual historical military strategy? Consider playing with a custom map with the terrain height variability set to extreme. This... this ability has been in Humankind /since day 1/, and allows you to actually hold off the Persians at the Hot Gates with your one unit of Hoplites... But it can also allow your scout/companion cavalry to sweep across the plains of Scythia to actually take out the Immortals as they march toward the Aegean. I haven't even bothered to play Civ 6 as it is just too expensive, and is barely different than Civ 5 other than /the graphics are a bit different/. As best I can tell, the 'most neat' thing about Civ 6 is that the characters seem to actually be speaking in /extremely accurate/ voices and dialects of the era in which they lived... and THAT is quite an achievement. But... that is literally just /window dressing/ on an actual /GAME/. See, the Civilization series used to ... Civ 5 and Civ 6 you have to pay stupid amounts of money to get all the DLC and such... which is apparently /not/ a problem when it's a Sid Meier Civilization game, but it /is/ a problem when its coming from ... not Sid Meier. Does Sid even like actually own/control Firaxis anymore? Does anyone know? No. Idiot gamer man-babies just cannot help but carry forward old useless habits, and will have /objectively verifiable/ double-standards when, as in the Thucydides Trap, an old tottering regional power is finally surpassed by the rising new local nexus of innovation and productivity. Yes, that's right, I used the term 'Thucydides Trap' in a review of a game on Steam, because I actually fucking studied this shit academically, unlike most of the sperg-lord man-babies that make up the vast majority of the strategy game market demographic. I also have done enough data analyst jobs to simply /tell you all/: yes, the VAST majority of the Market Demo for any kind of 4X or Historically Themed Strategy Game on PC has, for quite a while, been White Males, nearly always (but not /always always/) with Authoritarian/Fascist uh... 'personality aspects'. You know. The DEUS VULT people on the internet. God, it's SO MUCH WORSE with Paradox Games... *sigh*. Anyway... in Humankind, the AI is FAR FAR more intelligent, ESPECIALLY during negotiations with the player. I am not sure if this /still/ works, but I know that in Civ 4 at least...? None of the AI understands the concept of a loan. Basically always, you can just give them say 100 gold now, and ask them for 5 gold per turn (or 10... or 20... etc...) for the next 30 turns. As far as I am aware, this... /bug?/ was never fixed in Civ 4. You can easily use this to *cheese* the entire AI game. You /know/ they just get ludicrous extra yields per tile. You /know/ they have map hacks. You also /know/ that the AI is fundamentally actually very stupid, hence why they need nonsense stat bonuses to even give actual humans a challenge at all. So... they get nonsense yields? Ally them, make loans, take all their money, bankrupt their economies, then, after a bit of that, you'll be able to build a military that can defeat them, or, if you're more clever, just manipulate the situation so that them and their next most powerful neighbor war each other to near-death... then swoop in like a vulture. You know, just like Anglo-American Foreign Policy of the last 60+ years! :D Anyway, Humankind actually has a very rich and deep mechanics system going on simulating negotiating with an actual leader of a nation or city-state. It is essentially so vastly superior to the Civilization series leader negotiation AI that it outclasses it entirely, makes it totally obsolete. The pollution mechanic that many decried as /too difficult/? Ahaha. Welcome to reality, idiots. We are currently /all going to die on this godforsaken rock if we simply stay the course, hold the heading the planet is collectively on/. If this makes you feel uncomfortable or scared or something? Good. You fucking should be. Or does it makes you feel like you're not actually good at video games because they do not conform to your preferred playstyle and technique? Oh, I'm sorry. You see, in biology, in evolutionary timescales, only organisms which can adapt to sudden, unexpected changes in their environments are usually considered hardy, or 'fit' enough to actually survive and pass their genes on through the new climactic epoch. If you cannot adopt to a new version of the Civilization game we've all come to know and love, a new version which ... for basically a first attempt at doing what Sid Meier and crew have basically had the monopoly on for... 3+ decades? Then I actually literally laugh at, not pity, LAUGH at how pathetic you are. It's a different game. It has different rules. If you do not want to play the different game, you do not have to. Nothing is actually forcing you to unfairly review this game on Steam other than your own sense of self-inadequacy. This studio has done absolutely phenomenal work. As a long time programmer, tinkerer with and modifier of games... I am absolutely astounded at the success of Humankind. See, the actual best mod I could come up with for the game at this moment? Take my favorite music from the Civilization Series. As well... as Leonard Nimoy's voice clips from Civ 4. And make that into a free mod for Humankind. As a game, Humankind itself is still... early on its path toward development and refinement of the actual... rules of the game itself. While I find the modding scene of Humankind at this point in time... interesting? I feel many are missing the point... of a game. The game... is... to play the game. The game... teaches you... about itself... and as you play it... you begin to realize... the game teaches you about /yourself/... how you respond when the game... does something you forgot it could do... when a situation arises that you did not realize could occur. How... How would Mr. Spok... play Humankind? How would Princess Zelda? How would Mr. House, or Andrew Ryan... play Humankind? Hah. I suppose... that is up for you... the 'player'... to decide. For... as it has been said: All the world is but a stage... ... ... and all of us? ... ... ... ... merely 'players'.