Homeworld 2 review

Homeworld 2 is a 3D space based real-time strategy title that follows on from the 1999 original and builds on its success and that of its first follow-up, Homeworld: Cataclysm. Being the first, and arguably only, game to successfully implement the RTS genre in a fully 3D space leaves a heavy weight to be borne by any new title. Fortunately Homeworld 2 takes the best aspects of the originals and builds on them with updated graphics. The frantic pace of the action from the first title has been retained and the story is also a continuation from the original.

Pretty as a picture

The first thing that strikes you with this title is the detail and quality of the graphics. A modern RTS title generally has small units with a decent level of detail and good animation. Homeworld 2 uses hardware T&L and a beefy system spec. to create a lush game world. The first title in this series was noted for its graphical abilities and this one won’t disappoint fans either, although be warned that it does require some more serious hardware than you might expect of a RTS. The game provides a number of views of the action. You can get up close and personal with the units if you want to have fine control over their actions or you can zoom right out and use the sensors to guide dots around the game area. In the sensor mode, height poles are used to indicate the extra dimension of control you have over the craft. All the while your base ship, the Pride of Hiigara, is used to construct units and research new ships and weapons. From here you can construct your fighters, frigates and corvettes. There are various kinds of each from scouts and bombers to torpedo frigates and destroyers.

Necessity is the mother of invention

As you progress through the single player campaign your research allows you to build bigger and better ships to take on the increasing threat from your enemies. You can upgrade your ships with research and, when attacking larger ships, you can even target subsystems such as weapons and engines. As your squads get larger you have to get to grips with the mechanics of controlling a ship in 3D space. Homeworld 2 makes this as intuitive as it can with the mouse buttons put to good use for movement and height control. Once you get the hang of this you can take a good deal of strategic control over your units during fights, although they do a pretty good job of this for themselves for the most part. The screen display is also pretty intuitive once you get going with the build bar and the controls on the bottom of the screen, that are taken up with buttons to switch between views of the scene and tactics for your troops. If you assign a group of units to a squad (grouping them on a hotkey) then you can choose a formation for them to take so that they protect the fighters or the frigates in their ranks or one of a few others. You can also set how aggressive the units are when they come across enemies. With a good level of control over the AI of the ships and a fine level of control over their movements you have complete freedom to wage war in any way that you choose.

Turing would be proud

When you send your fighters out on the attack they intelligently swoop past their enemies in a flight pattern so that they can empty their guns into them and then retreat to a distance to recharge and come back for another pass. They will even draw the enemy away from your mothership, if they get too close for comfort and take the fight away slightly. The computer controlled opponents use a similar level of intelligence to fight your ships though, so don’t feel that you can just leave your fighters to their own devices and you’ll be guaranteed a win. In skirmish fights the computer will attack with ever increasing numbers of fighters until they wear you down, putting the pressure on you to take the offensive first and get in a decent squad before the computer can get the upper hand. The computer plays a very intelligent game, as you would expect from a modern RTS title, and you need to use all of the features that 3D space offers you to retain the upper hand.

Sounds like trouble

The single player campaign is built around an epic story involving you struggling to protect your homeworld from the attacking enemy Vaygr. The story is progressed in pre-rendered scenes and through radio chatter in-game. Your mission is handed to you by a voice on the radio and the chatter between the captains of the fighters and the mothership keeps the story going through the action. The voice acting is decent enough although it is always very deadly serious, which gets a bit tiresome. The sound effects of explosions and ships moving around are convincing enough – in the sense that any sound effects that are heard in deep space are convincing!

Good enough for the masses

Homeworld 2 is a well-made 3D space RTS that fans of the original will be rightly eager to get hold of. For those who missed the original then this is an excellent excuse to get into the series, with graphics that ooze quality and a good challenge put up by the computer. The game translates well into multiplayer as well with up to six people being able to take part in online or LAN skirmishes. The computer gives a sufficient challenge in skirmish mode that you’ll be able to realistically practice offline before finding like-minded human opponents. This title should be enough to win the Homeworld series some new fans from other RTS titles who are looking for a new dimension to their gaming. Gamers who aren’t into RTS should probably look elsewhere for their first foray into the genre as the 3D controls add an extra level of complexity that might be too much for some whilst trying to cope with battles, resource management and research.