In the original, they were integral for, say, setting up a wall of concentrated fire that could be used to quickly knock out a group of fighters. You'll just love watching your fighters crash merrily into asteroids in Mission 6 of the original Homeworld, for instance, making what has always been an irritating mission even more troublesome. is inexplicably really bad in the remakes, making some missions particularly onerous. Having said all that, this is the part of the review where I have to point out some of this collection's flaws, which are especially glaring if you're a fan of the original games. Having both Homeworld and its sequel remastered is a real treat. I wish there were more like it, but the closest we've really gotten is Sins of a Solar Empire, which also has some great space battles but is otherwise very different from Homeworld. With their remastered visuals, they are even more striking today than they were 15 years ago. The Homeworld Remastered Collection includes Homeworld and its sequel (no Homeworld: Cataclysm), as well as the original versions of both and a multiplayer mode. PC games were in the process of making a major leap in 1999 - its contemporaries included System Shock 2 and EverQuest - but Homeworld in particular stood out as a game that was ahead of its time.įor the most part, Gearbox has managed to carry over these strengths intact. It also presented its story in a minimalist fashion that feels decidedly modern even today, primarily advancing the narrative through in-engine cutscenes and radio chatter. Among other things, it included a persistent campaign in which units carried over from mission to mission, which really served to drive home the sense of being wandering space refugees. In addition to its unique combat, the original Homeworld also brought with it a number of other novel ideas. They remain some of the best battles I've seen in sci-fi, so I'd say comparing them with the battles in Homeworld is a definite compliment. There are a lot of things that I hate about that show, but its space battles remain a definite high point. On top of the obvious parallels that can be found in a large mothership trying to make its way to a new world, Homeworld's soundtrack has an almost tribal feel that forcefully brings back memories of BSG everytime I hear it. Playing Homeworld today, I'm struck by how much it reminds me of the Battlestar Galactica remake, which was still six years away when the original game came out. It does its share to add to the package as a whole, extending the story and building on the overall universe but ten years on, the differences between the original and the sequel are pretty much moot outside of their campaigns. Outside of their individual stories, they are barely distinguishable from one another, especially with Homeworld now sharing Homeworld 2's engine and balance changes. They are structured much the same, both featuring a mothership on the run from implacable foes seeking their destruction, and both including persistent campaigns in which units and resources carry over from mission to mission. Homeworld 2Īt first blush, Homeworld and its sequel are pretty similar. But its sheer novelty won it many avid fans. True, navigating a 3D plane could be a tad disorienting, especially since 3D cameras weren't exactly widespread at that point. Conceived during the golden age of real-time strategy, when StarCraft and Command & Conquer were in full bloom, Homeworld turned heads with its 3D starship combat. Homeworld Remastered Collection's graphics build on the legacy of the original, which itself was quite a looker when it came out back in 1999. If you haven't seen it in action yet, I urge you to find a video. The battles are gorgeous - a pyrotechnic display that can be viewed from any angle, and can be zoomed all the way up to individual fighters. Gearbox's remake dramatically updates the visuals of the original games, bringing with it 4K support and vastly more detailed models. For that reason, Homeworld Remastered Collection still feels fresh and unique even today, especially now that it has received a fresh coat of paint. Precious few developers have had the chops or the ambition to create another real-time space strategy game of Homeworld's scale, and fewer still have been willing to use the all-important z-axis, which sits at the core of the original's gameplay. Some fifteen years after its original release, there are still very few games like Homeworld.
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