Introduction

Homeworld: Cataclysm (henceforth known as Cataclysm) is a stand-alone expansion for the very popular and genre-setting game, Homeworld. Combing both 3D and RTS in space, Homeworld won awards all over the world, and claimed many gamers' hours on end with its awe-inspiring gameplay, and involving storyline.

Cataclysm improves on the original Homeworld in many ways. From a spruced-up interface, streamlined operations, graphic enhancements, a deeper storyline, and more control. Essentially it's more of the Homeworld goodness that we've all come to love.

The story takes place 15 years after Homeworld. The people of Hiigara are struggling to adjust to life on their new homeworld. The Turanic raiders are attacking them from all angles, and their old enemies are slowly wearing them thin with minor skirmishes. The Kiithid (plural for Kiith - the clans), are doing their best to defend their new freedom, but it doesn't look too good on the horizon, as they are weakening by the day.

Gameplay

Gameplay takes place with you in charge of the Kuun-Lan mining vessel, of the Somtaaw Kiith. While mining around, you got a distress call, with a request for assistance in a battle. As you head out, you'll come into contact with an ancient race, called The Beast. Your mission is to stop The Beast from advancing upon the galaxy, and wreaking havoc.

Control through the interface is a breeze, thanks in large part to the very efficient interface in the original Homeworld. Barking Dog Studios takes it a step further and streamlines it even more for simpler operation and quicker navigation. Having your units do your bidding is easier thanks to this, and you'll find yourself having more time focusing on the more important things - the battle.

In battles, you're given the options of setting the formation, the individual orders if you want, and the direction. In Cataclysm, you also have the fog-of-war, which gives you a realistic approach to how far you can view. There isn't any real fog, thankfully - it's all invisible. The AI is quite smart, although the pathfinding does seem to have glitches, but it isn't very obvious unless you look for it. Production of your units all happens in real-time, and all the information you could ever want is at your virtual fingertips with a few press of the mouse, or a simple hot-key.

You can now assign waypoints for your units, which allows you greater control over how your units get to a certain destination. There are 17 missions to play, not including training and skirmishes. Overall, you get your money's worth in this game in the form of gameplay.

The original Homeworld had one complaint where that you had to sometimes glide all the way across a galaxy or the battlefield, and this sometimes took up to 10 to 15 minutes of boring traveling. Well Cataclysm fixes this by adding a choice to fast-forward the time at different speeds, which is real nice, and keeps this action going.

Visuals

The graphics are a delight to behold. The original Homeworld wasn't lacking in the eye-candy department, and Cataclysm improves with a bit more graphical polish, as well as some additions. The textures on the ships are quite well done, unfortunately they get really blurry and flat looking when you get up close. With some bump-mapping, it'll bring it all alive. The unit's weapons and the effect they create are awesome, as are the resulting explosions.

LOD (Level Of Detail) is handled very well, and smoothly. As you zoom in and out, it adjusts fluidly, and keeps your framerates in the green zone. Space looks real, with intense looking nebula backgrounds, which are simply inspiring to look at. Space isn't dark in this game, it's bright and colorful and full of all kinds of details, from debris, asteroids, planets, and more.

Aurals

Every once in a while, a game comes out with great music, and you'll find yourself scanning the net hoping to find mp3's from the game. This is one such game, as the musical score is really awesome. Some are techno-ish breakbeats, while others are slow languid beats.

The sound effects are quite good, and realistic. There isn't anything that detracts. The conversations during battle are more varied and there's more of it than in the original Homeworld. This adds to the experience, and makes you feel more involved in the game.

Solo

You first start out with the tutorial, which is very excellently done. It steps you through everything to get you started, from the basics of movements to the different handling of each sub-section; sensors, production, weapons, etc.

The campaigns comprises of 17 missions, each consecutively harder than before. Most of the units that you produce will have special abilities. Mastering these abilities will prove very useful and rewarding, as they will help in winning the battle and accomplishing the mission. Examples of the abilities are EMP bursts, cloaking, mimic (cloning of your ships in holographics) leech, and siege cannon.

In Cataclysm, you're faced with even more strategically thinking. The Beast is a unique enemy, as they have the ability to assimilate your ship, meaning they can employ its technology and use it for their own. It's sort of like those Star Trek episodes, where you find the good guys take the bad guy's technology, reverse engineer it, and use it against them. You must not get too close to the Beast, and use whatever means necessary to destroy them.

Research takes place on your Mothership, in forms of research modules. The modules are the Hangar Bay, Armor, Engineering, Advanced Engineering, and Weapons. Each one allows different types of technology to be discovered, and doesn't always mean a new ship either. It can be armor upgrades, energy weapon upgrades, force field upgrades - you get the idea. With each new technology discovered, all units afterwards will automatically have it, and old ships can be upgraded via an option. What's even nicer is that your Mothership isn't neglected, as it can be outfitted with the new technologies if you so desire. Here's an opportunity to beef it up!

Multiplayer

Cataclysm offers multiplayer games with up to 8 people over a LAN or Internet connection (via Sierra.com). Several pre-defined game types are offered: Default, I Hate Harvesting, Bounty Hunter, Carpe Diem, or Custom. Multiplayer seems to be better than the original Homeworld with a better stable experience.

Fun Factor

If you enjoyed Homeworld, then there's no question about it that you will enjoy Cataclysm. The ability to do so many things in this universe, and see the results of your action and decisions is just awesome - watching the little guys pummel a huge enemy up close, or biting your fingernail as a scavenger does it's job with enemies nearby. It all adds up to a fun and wild experience as you take on the Beast. The storyline draws you in to the universe, and everything you do has an impact, and there are times where you'll find yourself going "just a few more minutes, I have to see what happens."

The Questions

• Does it advance the genre?  Not much.
• Does it offer anything new?   Yes.
• Does it offer a decent amount of gameplay?   Yes.
• Is the product relatively bug-free?  Yes.
• Does the documentation thoroughly explain the game?  Yes.
• Does this game have any features to keep it from getting outdated?   Yes.
• Is the game worth the retail price?  Yes.
• Is the game FUN?  Yes.

Tips

• Use special abilities strategically
• Avoid the tank-rush approach; defend your support ships instead
• Use FSAA to spruce up graphics
• Research new technologies as soon as possible