Homeworld

[Namewithheld]

So, earlier this week, I was feeling nostalgic and so I rummaged around in my closet and found my copy of Homeworld. I installed it and played it and remembered why its still sitting right up there in my "best games of all time".

And yet, almost no one I know has actually played Homeworld. Some haven't even heard of it!

For those who don't know, Homeworld was one of the first RTS made by Relic and it was awesome. Aside from having a story that was both compelling, original, well done, made, and generally fantastic in almost every single way, Homeworld also had fantastic graphics and gameplay and music and audio and...well, pretty much everything!

The story is about a race of people called the Kushan who live on Kharak, a desert planet at the edge of the galaxy. The Kushan discover, to their shock, that they are not natives from Kharak, but rather from a planet near the center of the galaxy. And so they build a massive colony ship to go out and find their Homeworld and any more details about the plot would be criminal, just like how you shouldn't talk about the plot of Bioshock in front of anyone who hasn't played it.

The gameplay involves building a massive fleet of starships, ranging from fighters and bombers to frigates and destroyers, then using them to blast the enemy fleet apart in glorious cinematic battles so pretty that I keep forgetting that I'm supposed to be commanding them and then I get my ass kicked.


So...if you have Homeworld, I'm looking for people to play multiplayer with. If you don't have Homeworld, I suggest fixing that. Like...now. Preferably combined with self flagellation for not buying it before. And while you're out getting old games, grab Psychonaughts and Planescape Torment!

 

[Carnagath]

In my opinion Homeworld has a better campaign than Homeworld 2, but Homeworld 2 has better online play. You might want to try that one instead, there's a bigger variety of rock/paper/scissors combos and it's much easier to control. In any case, multiplayer Homeworld is all about tactical choices and countering what your opponent builds, and that gets old quite fast, it comes nowhere near the variety of strategies that Starcraft has for example. That might be why noone played it online, although I'd disagree that noone played it, period, as almost everyone I know has played those games (and gotten their asses kicked by their monstrous difficulty!).

 

[The King And His Fool]

HEATHEN!

In any case, multiplayer Homeworld is all about tactical choices and countering what your opponent builds, and that gets old quite fast, it comes nowhere near the variety of strategies that Starcraft has for example.

Isn't that what almost every RTS is about? I fail to see how StarCraft is any different.

I never played Homeworld online. I never play RTS games online in fact. But I'll never forget the countless hours of gasping I did as I watched my fleet duke it out with the enemy fleet while dreaming away at the joyous chatter of dieing pilots. Aaah.. Homeworld... the Holy Grail of RTS. If only there was a 3.

 

[Carnagath]

Isn't that what almost every RTS is about? I fail to see how StarCraft is any different.

Not quite. In Homeworld, if someone builds a specific kind of ship, you MUST build its exact counter or you lose. There's pretty much only one way to counter it, and it all comes down to who scouts better and who is putting more pressure on the resources of the map. In Starcraft you have multiple ways to counter something since you combine land units, air units and units with specific abilities, for example you can counter siege tanks with air, mines, fast melee units, higher ground, zealot drops, psionic storms, mind control, stealth, marines and medics with blind... etc etc. In Homeworld you can counter frigates with antifrigates. And stronger frigates. Quite a difference.