SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Pentium 200, 32 MB RAM, Windows 95/98/NT, 3D Accel.
SIMILAR TO: Unique
CATEGORY: Real-Time Strategy
Review by: Chris Harding Published: October 5, 1999
For over 1000 years the people on the planet of Kharak lived in ignorance of their own origins. But through technological advances and discovery, the educated soon learned that the planet of which they called home, was not their own. Drastic differences between the biological composition of their bodies and the planet's other lifeforms were just the beginnings of raised suspicions that lead many to the belief that they were aliens to their own world. Spurred on by wonder, the scientists of Kharak searched for answers to their history -- where did they come from, why were they here, and how do they get home? Finding these answers wouldn't be easy. Kharak's surface consisted mostly of sand that sprawled for thousands of miles of desert, deserts so hot that no one had ever explored them -- but that was about to change.
In 1106 the Kharakid's launched a small satellite that was able to locate a massive object buried in the sand, an object that would forever change the people, their history, and their future forever. Buried in the sand the Kharakid's found an ancient starship that had apparently crash landed over a thousand years ago. Reverse-engineering the technology found in the wreckage, and armed with a map of their surrounding space, the people of Kharak united and launched their race's quest for Hiigara -- their Homeworld.
Thus begins Relic's very original take on real-time strategy, and what a take it is. The game that follows the cinema style, poetically scripted introduction is completely entertaining. Homeworld places you in control of the Khardakid Mothership, the first vessel equipped with the hyperdrive technology learned from the ancestors. The mothership is your primary means of travel and support for the 500,000 crew it holds. It's slow moving and only moderately defended, but is capable of building all sorts of support ships, including research vessels, support frigates, battleships, and even carriers which serve as tiny mobile motherships.
The uncharted veins of space hold the answers to the mysteries of Kharak and her people, and while uncovering them will bring forth past's truths, a galactic war unlike any other on the digital screen will be the result. Staged against multiple foes and armed with the alliance of a race older than space itself, the quest for Homeworld is an epic one. The number of epic-like features built into this title are too high to count, but standing atop the list is Homeworld's greatest power -- its presentation. This is certainly the pinnacle for all those that have wished in-game graphics looked more like introduction sequences. The amazing screenshots you see here are evidence of that, and even more shocking is that all of them come from gameplay.
The first half-hour playing Homeworld should be spent with the tutorial, regardless of your gaming affinity. Better than any I can think of, this tutorial will prove beneficial beyond measure at getting you up to speed with the game's mechanics, interfaces, and camera systems. And it doesn't hurt that it's down right fun as well. In the tutorial you'll learn how to effectively maneuverer squads of ships, fly in formations, set attack patterns, manage building queues, research new technologies, scavenge materials and deploy non-combat vehicles. Even with limitless camera vantage points and sensors to build and researching manager to operate, you'll find the Homeworld interface to be one of the best ever constructed.
Once beyond the tutorial players can choose from two single player campaigns or the limitless possibilities found in the title's multiplayer mode. Either way every owner of Homeworld will need to download this patch before attempting to configure or play. The biggest additions to the update include help for TNT and Intel i740 owners. For those still using Voodoo2 configurations you'll need to visit GLSetup and download version 1.0.0.107 of the program with the same name. Homeworld ships with version 1.06 but unfortunately that version does not help users with SLI configurations, 1.07 does. The Adrenaline Vault also recommends upgrading to DirectX 7.0 as we have found it offers slight performance improvements, especially for those running in Direct3D. Homeworld includes support for software based rendering, as well as hardware based using either the OpenGL or Direct3D APIs. Having played with both for some time, we've found that as long as you have up-to-date drivers and the 1.03 patch, Direct3D offers the smoothest, most beautiful and trouble-free experience.
Other games have attempted to make use of the limitless possibilities of space for their playground, but none have ever done it with this sort of grandeur. Even the Wing Commander and Freespace-style games have considerable ground to make up when it comes to this level of show stopping opulence. But as the saying goes every rose has its thorn, and even with its showstopping presentation, Homeworld is not without flaws. For starters the two single player campaigns are really only one. Whether you choose to be the Kushan or the Taiidan, the 16 single player missions will be exactly the same. And unfortunately the sameness creeps its way into the races themselves -- while they look decidedly different, their play styles are not. Many of the ships have exactly the same configurations and armorments, and there are only two unique ships for each race. The only other and related problem has to do with the game's brevity. The 16 missions would have been more than enough had there been that many per race, but as is, finding your Homeworld won't take experienced players more than 30 hours. The first three missions are completely painless and quite short, and while there is virtually nothing wrong with the remaining 13, there should have been more.
In short the game is very much like Diablo was when it first came out; it does for strategy games what Diablo did for RPGs, it resurrects them. Homeworld is a first iteration title, and with that there are a few rough edges. But these chinks in the armor/hull are miniscule when compared to its originality, innovation and fun. On the one hundred and eighth page of the manual in their special thanks section, Relic gives a nod to George Lucas for providing them with inspiration and thanks Peter Molyneaux for his advice. Well, no title I've ever played before has given me the sense of awe, wonder and amazement like Homeworld has. The Lucas inspired Star Wars like atmosphere encompasses the experience from beginning to end, and the Molyneaux-like originality and flare for the unique is strongly felt. Beyond the two minor flaws mentioned above, Homeworld is near-perfect. And when you take into account this being a first generation title, producer Alex Garden and company have done something utterly remarkable.
Graphics: The visuals in Homeworld are like nothing ever seen before. The 3D engine powering the graphical splendor is well up to the task. We played the game on three machines varying from 600 to 300 megahertz and on all variations the graphics were presented with beauty and without slowdown. Everything about Homeworld's graphics shout award-winner. On the top of the features list have to be the engine flares and ion beam effects that eminate from each ship. As seen in many of the screenshots we've provided, the colored lighting in Homeworld is the best of any title to date. There is very little if anything that can be said negatively about the visuals. If I had to point out something it would be that the low resolution textures used on some of the super-capital ships could have been better, but even then that's a stretch.
Interface: For an interface to have style it must possess something few of them do, and that's an ability to be not only a mechanism for how to play a game, but an integral and fun part of it. Simply put, this is the best interface I've ever used. Dual credit is deserved for the painstaking detail-oriented work that took place to get this just right. This interface could have easily been botched, especially considering how many complex factors are involved with it. Navigating over 50 ships in up to 30 different squads flying in multiple formations using different attack patterns all in the expanses of 3D space sounds like a complicated task -- but in Homeworld it's as easy as point-n-click. The limitless camera angle system, detailed manual and wonderful tutorial are all icing on the cake for the best interface ever. Nice job Relic.
Gameplay: Fans hoping that Rebellion would be the definitive Star Wars strategy game, take solace, your vice has finally arrived. The best description I can provide for how Homeworld plays is to have you visualize the final battle at the Death Star in the original Star Wars. Imagine you are the supreme commander in control of the entire fleet of fighters, corvettes, capital ships and a convoy of reinforcements taking on a highly developed enemy with superior numbers. Imagine waging this war across 2,500 light years of space, facing off against multiple enemies with unique agendas and origins, and perhaps even forging an alliance with an age old race all in an effort to find your way home.
While the single player aspect may not be as expansive as I would have liked, in the sense that the two campaigns are identical, the 16-mission experience is still the most fun I've had all year. The missions themselves are very well scripted, and beyond the single digits each objective becomes more complex and varied, with some of the later missions taking up three to four hours to complete. The entire single player game is a wonderful cinema style experience. Other than Bungie's Myth series, storytelling in strategy titles has been pretty weak, but Homeworld bucks that trend and provides us not only with a fun offering to play, but an engaging story to be a part of.
Beyond the confines of the single player is the best multiplayer strategy game since Total Annihilation. With multiple gameplay types and support for up to 16 players, multiplayer Homeworld is the answer to complaints registered against the brief single player mode. To add more weight to the longevity of the product, Sierra has included MissionMan, an unsupported editor that allows would be designers to create their own maps and scenarios in which to frolic.
Sound FX:Homeworld uses multiple narrators to script the story. It is their complimentary balance that gives the title some of the best voice acting ever seen. Sound effects as they relate to gameplay are equally as well done, and is dynamically reproduced at different levels depending on the angle, zoom level, and position you have the camera. Homeworld is a sound effects collage of stars. As the Tie Fighters' lasers are familiar to all Star Wars fans, the ion cannon blasts of the Destroyers will be too.
Musical Score: The much ballyhooed inclusion of Yes' single, Homeworld off of their album Ladder is actually not much to ballyhoo about, but the musical score is. The score includes a myriad of unique synthesized sounds and orchestral instruments played together as if they were being lead by an accomplished composer.
Intelligence & Difficulty: Almost. It was very tempting to give Homeworld five stars across the board, but alas, even as great as it is, a perfect game it is not. I've marked down the difficulty score a half-point due to the short single player campaign. With no difficulty settings to choose from and only 16 missions to play, I was able to finish Homeworld in about 20 hours. And while the multiplayer mode and mission editor have me totally captivated right now, I would have preferred a much longer single player experience.
The AI found in Homeworld is on par with the quality exhibited in the rest of the title. Enemy ships use intelligent attack patterns and are prone to undertake advanced maneuvers such as flanking and bait and run tactics. Experienced players though, will notice that it's not so much the AI's greatness as it is a fine job of scripting. Either way though, the effect is the same.
Overall: Every year there seems to be a game that is heads and shoulders above the rest. Titles like Half-Life, Jedi Knight and Myth put together features like original premises, innovative designs and addictive gameplays all in the same package. Please add Homeworld to this list. If you buy a single game this fall -- make sure it's this one!
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Homeworld
For over 1000 years the people on the planet of Kharak lived in ignorance of their own origins. But through technological advances and discovery, the educated soon learned that the planet of which they called home, was not their own. Drastic differences between the biological composition of their bodies and the planet's other lifeforms were just the beginnings of raised suspicions that lead many to the belief that they were aliens to their own world. Spurred on by wonder, the scientists of Kharak searched for answers to their history -- where did they come from, why were they here, and how do they get home? Finding these answers wouldn't be easy. Kharak's surface consisted mostly of sand that sprawled for thousands of miles of desert, deserts so hot that no one had ever explored them -- but that was about to change. 
In 1106 the Kharakid's launched a small satellite that was able to locate a massive object buried in the sand, an object that would forever change the people, their history, and their future forever. Buried in the sand the Kharakid's found an ancient starship that had apparently crash landed over a thousand years ago. Reverse-engineering the technology found in the wreckage, and armed with a map of their surrounding space, the people of Kharak united and launched their race's quest for Hiigara -- their Homeworld.
The uncharted veins of space hold the answers to the mysteries of Kharak and her people, and while uncovering them will bring forth past's truths, a galactic war unlike any other on the digital screen will be the result. Staged against multiple foes and armed with the alliance of a race older than space itself, the quest for Homeworld is an epic one. The number of epic-like features built into this title are too high to count, but standing atop the list is Homeworld's greatest power -- its presentation. This is certainly the pinnacle for all those that have wished in-game graphics looked more like introduction sequences. The amazing screenshots you see here are evidence of that, and even more shocking is that all of them come from gameplay.
The visuals in Homeworld are like nothing ever seen before. The 3D engine powering the graphical splendor is well up to the task. We played the game on three machines varying from 600 to 300 megahertz and on all variations the graphics were presented with beauty and without slowdown. Everything about Homeworld's graphics shout award-winner. On the top of the features list have to be the engine flares and ion beam effects that eminate from each ship. As seen in many of the screenshots we've provided, the colored lighting in Homeworld is the best of any title to date. There is very little if anything that can be said negatively about the visuals. If I had to point out something it would be that the low resolution textures used on some of the super-capital ships could have been better, but even then that's a stretch. 
Almost. It was very tempting to give Homeworld five stars across the board, but alas, even as great as it is, a perfect game it is not. I've marked down the difficulty score a half-point due to the short single player campaign. With no difficulty settings to choose from and only 16 missions to play, I was able to finish Homeworld in about 20 hours. And while the multiplayer mode and mission editor have me totally captivated right now, I would have preferred a much longer single player experience.
