![]() ![]() (The whole thing’s an anthropomorphized riff on David Brin’s Uplift novels, which take space combat imagery to heights Homeworld 2 can only dream of). The storyline has its moments, but after Cataclysm’s strange, daring waters, Homeworld 2’s scavenger-hunt plotline feels for most of its length like an almost spitefully conventional rehash, top-heavy with extra-galactic ancient races that no longer exist except as convenient plot devices. Here, automatic collection occurs the second you’ve completed your mission goals, which entails starting the next level short-handed. The lack of such an option was, ironically, one of the few valid criticisms leveled at Homeworld. Also annoying is the automatic collection of resources. The third mission introduces marine frigates, which “capture†enemy ships in multiplayer, but in single-player only give the misleading impression of being able to do so (including attaching to the ship and displaying a steadily increasing “capture barâ€). It’s not just the difficulty either, but the logic. There’s no let-up, just an overriding sense of attrition and hopelessness as you watch your entire “persistent†fleet get persistently pulverized many times over. Instead of offerings like Homeworld’s wonderfully eerie Garden of Kadesh, the sequel gives you exhausting debacles like the fourth mission, in which doing things in sequence directly opposite from what’s suggested is not only possible but proves a tenth as ulcerous, and the outright sadistic red herring of the tenth one. Homeworld’s poignant air of cosmic mystery is largely absent here everything’s all grueling puzzle and puzzling grind. Which is partly what makes much of the martinet story campaign such a bummer. As in Homeworld, you feel for these poor trusting bastards scrounging for asteroids out in the middle of genuine nowhere. Your people live inside those fragile husks, fly them, die in them—the exhaust trails become their souls. ![]() For a game totally devoid of visible living organisms, Homeworld 2 compensates by making you care about simulated husks of flying machinery. But it’s great hard sci-fi, and the visuals really suck you in —literally—as you zoom in closer like a jeweler with a loupe, and the distant flashes gradually coalesce into thousands of stories unfolding. The large, complex battles it depicts have an austere, clinical feel that’s more admirable than immersive, regardless of the camera angle. The Homeworld universe is “hard†science fiction, as opposed to, say, StarCraft. With a new game engine, especially during massive battles of all ship classes, you can’t help but admire its finer points, from its lovely dynamic lighting to its chilly “realism.†Homeworld 2 takes the original and upgrades it. Still widely regarded as the gold standard of space real-time strategy games, it successfully coupled lush graphics with a sleek interface that made manipulating camera angles and toggling between build and formation menus in 3D space incredibly easy. Much of the success of Homeworld 2 will depend on the final storyline and the advanced missions, but the well-designed interface, the wide variety of ships and structures, and new multiplayer options indicate a powerful potential.In 1999, Relic Entertainment’s groundbreaking Homeworld took the gaming world by surprise. A well-integrated soundtrack adds to the immersive experience. Although the 3D graphics are less advanced than recent comparable titles, the massive space battles are still impressive. The deathmatch option is great practice, because you can train for regular gameplay without plot interruptions. Veteran gamers will complete the two single-player missions quickly. The tutorial provides a cursory introduction to controlling the camera and the basic interface, but you'll need more practice to master all the controls. The demo version provides one tutorial, two single-player missions, and two multiplayer missions, as well as a single-player deathmatch against the computer. Despite some slowness in cut scenes and between missions, Homeworld 2 combines intense action, an immersive story, and detailed 3D graphics to create an enjoyable space-strategy game. Gamers must collect resources, construct space fleets, and battle the Vaygrs to survive. In this sequel, a renegade clan called the Vaygrs threatens the Hiigarans' existence. In the original Homeworld, descendants of Hiigara fought their way to their ancestral home. ![]()
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