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5/5 |
I bought a new PC just to play this game.
(April 27, 2007) |
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Homeworld 2 is simply the best game ever, followed very closely by Homeworld 1 and Homeworld: Cataclysm. There are some fairly big differences/refinements - mainly with unit groups, formations, unit roles and so on. The 3D map remains the same, although the enemy rarely takes advantage of attacking/sneaking around above or below the main plane.
After the first couple, missions seem to have a random difficulty (every now and then you get a stinker), but unlike almost any other game I can happily play over and over for days - because you have so much freedom over your fleet and strategy. Even better, your enemy plays by the rules - so if you attack quickly, he won't have gathered many resources and will have an equally weak defence. If you sneak around trying to build up a formidable battlegroup, you'll find the enemy's superior tactics and similarly powerful fleet will destroy you every time. That's also one of the main reasons to buy this game - the best enemy AI I have ever seen. There are a few tricks you can employ, but even though the interface is superb it's difficult to deal with small but balanced attack groups coming at you in multiple directions, on different vectors, and still plough on with the mission objectives.
The cut scenes (a basic but effective animation), voice acting and choral soundtrack are simply incredible, giving Homeworld far more emotion and gravity (no pun intended) than any other game I've ever seen or played. Although there was quite a gap between HW1, HW:C and HW2 (and noticeable changes to the interface and gameplay), all three games fit together beautifully and are quite different from other RTS's (which I tend not to like). I cannot recommend these three games highly enough, and with all of them now at rock-bottom budget prices it's a steal. |
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4/5 |
Bought for academic reasons... but enjoyed it.
(April 08, 2007) |
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I bought this game because I wanted to see how a relatively old game would do on more up to date hardware and I'm also delving into OpenGL myself and wanted to get some ideas of where to start. Suffice to say, the game looks pretty amazing and moves like a charm - very involving indeed.
The reason for writing the review is actually to say that I got really engrossed in this game... which was a little bit of a surprise as I'm mostly into the X-Wing Alliance type game... this has a lot more overall strategy feel to it obviously, as you control a fleet (sometimes an armada) and have to learn about separation of concerns and not get caught into micro-management... just tell your guys what to do and as long as you've not sent them on a fool's errand with no chance of success, you might get a good outcome... fingers-crossed, huh? |
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