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The gameplay itself is almost unchanged from that in the original Homeworld. All of the basic functions and keys remain unchanged, and as result, the game plays very much like its predecessor. There are several key differences that make you realize that this is a new title, however. The most obvious is the change to the ships themselves. You start the game with an advanced mining vessel as your command ship. This makes for a far different command strategy in Homeworld because your command ship can actually move, and in many missions efficient maneuvering of your command vessel is essential to success. The command ship also serves to complete all of the functions that required separate ships in the original. Instead modules are built directly onto the mothership, such as support, armor, advanced engineering, and research. It makes the whole integration of building and supporting much more efficient and in general much easier to deal with. Since the Somtaaw are a distinct Kiith, they have their own fleet with new ships, technologies and shapes. I was not incredibly impressed with the new ship models, though. They were not quite as interesting as those from either side of the original, and all the ships were depressingly blocky and drab. Even the destroyer and massive dreadnoughts looked more like big toaster ovens than the fantastic heavy cruisers of the first game.
The new ships themselves are far better than those of the original, and include many new technologies and special abilities. The basic fighter and recon vessel remain unchanged, however the fighter has the ability to link with another fighter to form a corvette class vessel. There is also a new strike class vessel, called the Mimic. It contains powerful holographic emitters, and as such are powerful infiltration units. There sole attack, however, is a kamikaze suicide run which limits their usefulness. Two of these units can likewise be combined into a larger corvette class vessel. The introduction of a ramming frigate is an interesting supplement to that class of vessel. The ramming motion itself is extremely disruptive to enemy ships, as it knocks them far away, but only after extended time can they really do large amounts of damage. The destroyers of the first game are consolidated into one destroyer class vessel, and the heavy cruiser gives way to the dreadnought of Cataclysm. I am not sure whether statistically speaking the dreadnought is more powerful than the heavy cruiser, but it sure feels a great deal more powerful. Perhaps the most important non-combat unit change is the introduction of the worker class vessels. Taking on the role of harvester, repair vessel, and salvage rig the workers are one of the mainstays of your fleet, and keeping several of them active at all times is vitally necessary to completing any mission.
  
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