Homeworld Remastered. |
Developer: Gearbox
Out Now Formats; PC |
Review Format PC
Reviewed by Matt Taylor
Reviewed by Matt Taylor
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Homeworld Remastered and Homeworld 2 Remastered were originally announced by Gearbox Software back in July 2013 as Homeworld HD and Homeworld 2 HD. Since then the fanbase has seen name changes and delays in the release and return of one of the most critically acclaimed real-time strategy titles ever made. I spent the last week playing Homeworld Remastered, trying to get a feeling of what made the game so unique and brilliant in it’s time, and putting it to the test as a modern title.
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A little about Homeworld’s strange history. The Homeworld IP (intellectual property) was up for grabs after THQ’s bankruptcy and a successful Kickstarter campaign left the rights to the game floating in space. In the auctioning off that followed THQ’s demise, Gearbox Software scooped up Homeworld, the 3D real-time-strategy game originally developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Seirra Entertainment in 1999.
RTS titles share a lot of similarities. They are generally set on a flat plane, with the player looking down on the game from a top down or (sometimes) isometric view. This god view enables the player to take in the game around the characters they control, where they them to collect resources, build structures and defend the player from attack. Set in space and working in a 3D space, Homeworld simplifies the players task down to resource management and galactic combat. |
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While Homeworld didn’t scratch the “chill out” itch I’d normally associate with a game in this genre, I was blown away by the ability for large scale space combat. As I watched an enemy flotilla get shredded apart by my own forces, I had found the angle that this game, and only this game, could offer me. This is a perfect space battle simulator.
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In the week that I’ve had the game, I’ve spent roughly 10 hours with it and spread my time between the single player campaign and quick matches against a computer controlled AI. Without too much deviation between the two, the storyline for Homeworld is interesting and takes you between unique levels, designed to test different abilities and strategies for later use in combat. I found that most of these objective lead missions worked as they should, but discovered that, even after 16 years in the wild, Homeworld still suffers from some damning issues. I found myself wasting hours attempting to follow instructions and complete some of these objectives, only for the game to fail to recognise that I’ve completed them, or for a rudimentary trigger that stops the objective from completing. The game didn’t tell me what I needed to do to continue, and I didn’t know what I was doing wrong. I felt like a blind man trying to finish a rubik's cube.
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In the end, most of these issues were resolved by restarting the level and erasing hours of progression, or by simply trying again and again until it triggered. It appears that I wasn’t the only one, with forum posts and Steam discussions revolving around these issues flooding the internet. In a world where games are easily accessible and it takes 2 seconds for me to leave one game and start another, this isn’t acceptable.
Summary
My thoughts on Homeworld Remastered are still pretty mixed. This is a beautiful, unique strategy experience that offers science fiction fans plenty. It has some great combat, but not a whole lot else as far as variation, and at times feels like it’s out to waste your time. If this sounds like something you’d be happy to suffer through to lead a fleet of spaceships into battle you should probably pick this up. When it’s on sale.
Don’t jump to hyperspace just yet, I’ll be checking out Homeworld 2 Remastered over the next few weeks.
Don’t jump to hyperspace just yet, I’ll be checking out Homeworld 2 Remastered over the next few weeks.
