SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Pentium 200, 32 MB RAM, Windows 95/98/NT, 3D Accel.
REVIEWER'S MACHINE: PIII 500, 256MB RAM, Viper V770 Ultra TNT2, Win98
SIMILAR TO: Unique
CATEGORY: Real-Time Strategy
ESRB: Everyone

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.

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