Skulb 10

Half RTS, half space aquarium, Homeworld is one of the few essential titles any strategy fan needs to have played. Even replaying this amazing Half RTS, half space aquarium, Homeworld is one of the few essential titles any strategy fan needs to have played. Even replaying this amazing game more than a decade later it is still unsurpassed as far as game play, graphics and sound is concerned. The single player campaign is on my list of essential sci fi literature along with Alien, Star Wars and Starcraft. And on top of the spectacular pacing of the story comes great visuals, tremendous sound and tough as nails tactics. At every turn you feel as if you really are way out in space, and some of the scenarios are breathtaking and feel really lethal. The single best feature of the game for me is the fact that all your forces carry on between missions, giving you a chance to plan out your fleet from the start as well as a powerful urge not to lose any ships. Needless to say this is pretty hard to accomplish. On top of this resources are tight as a drum, and you`ll happily fly for ten minutes each way just to pick up a single grain of space dust if you have to.



If any negatives can be found they are negligible. However for people unaccustomed to RTS games Homeworld will be very tough to get to grips with beyond the first couple of levels. Even once the relatively tricky procedure of learning how to control your fleet in 3D is done with, the campaign is just unbelievably hard. It is hard in all the right ways though, and doesn`t cheat you. But still I can see it being a bit overwhelming for many people.

Secondly, I have also identified a graphical bug which causes the occasional star to stick on the left edge of the view after it should have disappeared off screen. And finally in Homeworld there is a powerful compulsion to remain in each zone until every last resource has been gathered by your slow moving harvesters. This is because you need all of it, and it really does take the odd half hour for this to get done on some levels. And because people complained about it a high speed gathering function was added for the sequels. But this is an artifact of the gaming community in the classic PC era, which was composed of very patient people, quite unlike today. It was expected that games would reward patience as well as skill, planning, overview and tactical ability. Personally I loved it (And I detested the fast gathering in Cataclysm and Homeworld 2, possibly as the only person in the world.) since it gave me a welcome break between the hectic missions during which I could watch the backgrounds and listen to the relaxing music. Anyone who doesn`t need a breather after the intense missions in Homeworld should have their blood pressure and other vitals checked..

If none of this turns you off then go get Homeworld with all appropriate haste! It is one of the most flawless games ever released for the PC … Expand