Homeworld: Cataclysm
One
of the Best Games Ever Scores an Encore!
The Game...
Developed by Barking Dog Studios in conjunction with Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra, this is a 3D real-time strategy game. Although an expansion into the already well-established Homeworld universe, Cataclysm is also a stand-alone sequel.
The Upside...
With the help of time compression, you can travel the cosmos in a span of minutes. Your sensor board effectively gathers and commands your resources. A 360-degree point of view allows you to command with confidence, while enjoying the view that Homeworld's still astounding graphics engine provides.
There are new features such as waypoints and sensor screen attack commands and a new class of ships that boast technologies like the multi-ion beam, which do a good job of adding depth to this already revolutionary game. There is even an evolving mothership that begins as a mining rig, but ends up as an advanced warship.
Most everything in this game is tweakable, but if your machine will handle it, 1600x1200 mode using the Pilot's Eye View puts you in the middle of action like you have never seen before in any other PC title, no matter the genre. The interface in Cataclysm is both more sophisticated and yet simpler to navigate than its predecessor and the sound effects are still far more chillingly realistic than sound f/x in a void should be.
The Downside...
In Cataclysm you will find what players of Homeworld already know, this game has rather a long learning curve. Control is logically constructed, but you may find that a visit to the game's web site at http://homeworld.sierra.com/cataclysm will give you access to some worthwhile tutorials to supplement the game's already extensive in-box manual, as well as providing you with a whole host of other goodies.
The Bottom Line...
It is fifteen years after return to Homeworld. A low status sect among your peoples unwittingly unleashes a quasi-organic menace known as "The Beast". You must overcome this menace while fending off the other races, as well as the remnants of Homeworld's original enemy who want to use this growing evil for their own nasty purposes.
There are seventeen new single player missions in Cataclysm's campaign against "The Beast" and multiplayer supports up to eight combatants. In addition to the Campaign mode, there is a skirmish mode that pits you against the computer.
A couple dozen new technologies are just waiting for you to uncover them to use against your enemies. The game itself can be played on any one of five difficulty levels, but no matter which you choose you will find Cataclysm to be always challenging, without being too frustrating.
Recapturing the magic of the original, Cataclysm proves that the universe of Homeworld has more dimensions worth discovering. Keep the sequels coming Sierra. This one is money well spent.
Reviewed by John Campbell
Minimum System Requirements
CPU: P233
HD: 100
megs
OS: Windows
95/98/NT
RAM: 32
MB
VIDEO: 4
Meg
CD-ROM: 4x
required
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(out of 5)
