Almost exactly a year ago, I was sitting at home, loading up Homeworld, totally unprepared for the amount of fun I was about to have. And now, thanks to Canadian developer Barking Dog Studios, I got to load up another chapter in the story of the Kushan people. I have been waiting for this one for quite some time now and was pretty happy to receive the box in the mail. If you played the original Homeworld, you can understand my excitement and ambivalence about loading up a "stand alone chapter" in the Homeworld saga from a different developer. Could Homeworld: Cataclysm possibly live up to one of the best games of last year?
I have yet to find the ultimate answer to the question yet, but so far it looks as though they've made quite a go of it. Cataclysm doesn't have the same epic feel to it that the original did, but it doesn't really seem to detract from it much. It just is pointed in a different direction. This may be the reason why Relic was so adamant about the press not calling Cataclysm a sequel. Even with that said it's quite obvious when you enter the game that it is an extension of the franchise. The same black and white animation style is present in-between levels and the terrific engine is in use with some minor tweaking for gamers' convenience. Some familiar ships will be present on screen, but there are also a lot of new ships available for use.
Perhaps the biggest change to the universe is the addition of the new faction called The Beast, which is what the story of the game revolves around. The story begins a while after the Kushan have taken back their Homeworld. The Kith council is reinstated and the "all for one" mentality that got the race their world back has dissolved back into the Kith caste system that leaves some to more riches and technology than others. You take the role of one of the others called the Somtaaw, a very small mining Kith. During the course of the game, the Somtaaw become directly responsible for unleashing The Beast. I haven't gotten far enough into the game to tell you too much, and wouldn't want to ruin it anyway, so instead will just tell you that it is really powerful and really dangerous. The great power behind The Beast is that it can infect ships and turn them to its side.
The game itself takes shape almost exactly like the other game with some minor tweaks such as the ability to speed up time and a new fog of war type mesh in the sensors manager. I'll get more into all of those types of things in the final review when I've had some time to play with them a bit more, but for the most part, it looks as though they've made some good changes that add some conveniences to the gameplay. The original Homeworld also got the reputation of being one of the most difficult games of last year which turned some people away when they would have liked to play a bit more. Lucky for all of you guys because there are now difficulty settings if the game is a bit too hard for you to handle.
I've enjoyed the first few levels that I've played so far and hope that the rest of the game keeps my interest up. I also look forward to getting into the multiplayer game a bit so I can kick my compatriots in the office around a little bit. It should be interesting to play as The Beast and see how well the balancing has been done. Basically the game looks to be a pretty fun piece of work but be sure to check back next week for the final word.
