Homeworld was arguably the best strategy game of 1999, so it's quite impressive that, a year on, Barking Dog Studios managed to pack enough into this sort-of-sequel to earn it the Sharky Games accolade of best strategy game of 2000 so far. The revolutionary concept from the original Homeworld remains, placing you in control of a space fleet that can be maneuvered in full 3D instead of along a 2D plane as in Star Trek: Armada. Some users found controlling things in 3D a little tricky in Homeworld, so Barking Dog Studios added a handy sensor manager that meant less switching between different view screens. The difficulty level was set pretty high to cater more to Homeworld veterans, and the developers added a few new twists to the strategy genre. Some of the ships are capable of joining together to form more powerful vessels, and the enemy is actually something known as the Beast virus that infects both ships and crews. When fighting this unique enemy you have to play carefully to make sure you don't lose too many ships to the Beast virus.

Cataclysm was a cross between a sequel and an add-on, and it succeeded as both. It added more to the original game than your average add-on, while being long and polished enough to qualify as a stand alone product, and a top quality one at that.

From the RTS games at the bottom of the pile to those that are kings of the hill, that's it for the Sharky Games RTS Shootout 2000. Like its predecessor, HomeWorld: Cataclysm managed to walk away with top honours, although it wouldn't surprise me if in the mere two months remaining of the year another RTS turns up to steal that crown (Murphy's Law being the bastard that it is). Still, as I said in the intro, that's what updates are for. Adios!

Pete Closs
Games Editor