This DLC from Amplitude Studios brings its share of new features including several new cultures and ways to play.
Humankind succeeded in bring up to date the 4Xa genre often neglected by gaming communities.
While he has many qualities that breathe new life into this style, Humankind is not flawless. One of the main criticisms that we could make him concerned its “limited” choice of playable nations. Indeed, only 10 cultures per era were available when the game was released.
Of course we knew that it was temporary and that others would be added as add-ons are added. Amplitude Studio responded to this expectation, leaving African Cultures DLC which honors the civilizations that have marked this continent. Always looking forhistorical authenticity for the design of the game, the French studio has once again called on historian Benoît Humbert.
What wonderful pretext that is the release of this DLC to relaunch some parts of this game which I particularly appreciate. I decided to challenge myself to do a whole session with the 6 new nations to see what they had in mind.
Cultures of Africa therefore contains 6 nations with various specificities:
The Bantu (Ancient Era – Expansionist): The Bantu group together several peoples sharing the same language from central and western Africa to sub-Saharan Africa. The mastery of agriculture thanks to the Mupíà fields and the influence of this people make it a key nation to start a game. This civilization has the Bagendí pioneers, allowing rapid expansion by sacrificing them, in order to build outposts without having to spend influence points.
The Garamantes (Classic Era – Agrarian): This ancient Berber people was a major regional homeland in the middle of the second century CE. Thanks to Foggara, a unique district, this civilization has a powerful agricultural economy, favoring their extension. This nation is a good alternative to the Celts and provides a solid base for your agriculture. Their unique troop, the Javelin Riders, is a fast, ranged unit perfect for ambushes.
The Swahili (Middle Ages Era – Merchant): Favored by the establishment of city-states near the sea, the Swahilis created numerous trade routes. Emphasizing trade and stability, this nation will be very useful in developing your nation’s economy, especially if you have valuable resources, thanks to the Bandaris. As for their unique troop, namely the transport boats named Ntepe, they allow a faster projection of the units.
The Maasai (Modern Era – Agrarian): The Maasai are a semi-nomadic people of herders and warriors. By building your Enkang, you will benefit from the benefits of your agriculture in order to have a contribution of population in your cities. Nothing beats defending your nation with the Maasai Moranes, a powerful ranged unit.
The Ethiopians (Industrial Age – Militarist): Historically, Ethiopia is one of the only countries in Africa that was not colonized by pushing back the Western empires. This militaristic civilization, coupled with their unique building, the Ambas and the Oromo Cavalry, will be focused on defending your civilization.
The Nigerians (Contemporary Era – Agrarian): Nigeria is the last nation from this DLC that you can play as. Benefiting from abundant agricultural resources and thanks to its unique oil refining complexes, this civilization will be a good continuation of the Ethiopians. They also have MRAP light armored vehicles which constitute a significant strike force.
We can find fault with the fact that there is three out of 6 agrarian nationsincluding the Maasai and Nigerians, finding themselves in eras where theagriculture is less useful and timely. But these are correlated with their respective civilizations.
This DLC also contains new natural wonders and buildable wondersthus making it possible to acquire new bonuses during their discovery and during their construction.
- Mount Kilimanjaro
- Victoria Falls
- The Rock of Zuma
- Lake Natron
- The Great Mosque of Djenne
In addition to that, 7 new independent, peaceful and/or militaristic peopleswere incorporated and 15 story events have been addedin order to break the monotony of one-off plots, which after 3 games, were the same. Eighteen new music has been designed for this DLC with the participation of several artists: Aboubacar Kouyaté, Oumar Camara, Salifou Diarra, Zouregma Barnabé Koala, and still composed by Arnaud Roy.
Of new illustrated interludes were created to accompany certain scientific discoveries, further enriching storytelling in a style of acting that does not emphasize it. One of the other important additions with this DLC is the ability to change and customize victory conditions when creating the game.
So anticipated, Cultures of Africa bring his lots of new features and expands the gameplay and replayability of Humankind.
The DLC Cultures of Africa is available on Steam, Epic and the Microsoft store for €8.99. You can find the Humankind test here.
