No one has rated this review as helpful yet
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 47.9 hrs on record (47.8 hrs at review time)
Posted: 12 May, 2022 @ 12:13am
Updated: 12 May, 2022 @ 12:16am

I recently replayed this on "normal" difficulty. I took my time, frequently stealing units like I did back when I first played through the original Homeworld.

The audio design is a definite standout. The music is exceptional, the voice acting is well done, the background radio chatter is often interesting and relevant to what's going on, and the sound effects are consistently satisfying. The backstory is much richer and more fleshed out than typical RTS fare, with the backstory DLC being worthy of consideration (and reminiscent of the exceptional original Homeworld user manual, one of the best ones ever put out when the practice of a paper manual was still the norm. It's worth looking up for media enthusiasts and gaming history buffs).

On "normal" difficulty (the middle tier difficulty) the campaign is pretty easy, even if you're kinda lazy like me and seldom do more than two or three battle groups (often 2 mixed unit groups, a harvester group, and Rachael). If I wasn't old and lazy, I'd probably have tried to make better use of support unit guard orders and dividing light and heavier units into a greater number of groups for more tactical play.

I do find the omission of any obvious "move together in a formation" orders somewhat annoying, especially considering how central to game play formations were in the original Homeworld (even if the formations may have felt more about visuals than actual meaningful impact on play... remember "claw" versus "X" versus "sphere?")

If you go into the game blind and don't look into any of the backstory, the campaign narrative will probably come across as somewhat interesting, though not super deep. The campaign narrative presentation, on the other hand, is very well done in terms of the in-game cinematography, soundtrack, fully voiced characters, and stylized cut scenes. The graphics have held up well, in spite of it being six years old.

If you like RTS games, this is a worthy addition to the excellent Homeworld franchise, and a solid introduction to RTS games for those who are new to the genre. Easily recommendable, and a mostly 2D feel that can prepare new players for the truely 3D combat in the Homeworld Remastered / original games.

A must buy when on sale, though not a bad deal at normal price if you have friends you can do multiplayer with.
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