Homeworld 2 - RTS

[ilia1986]

Year of release: Late 2003
Development House: Relic Entertainment
Publisher: Sierra Studios
Website: www.homeworld2.com


Game Score: 94
Graphics: 5
Sound: 4
Game play: 5
Concept: 5
Execution: 4
Controls: 5
Enjoyment: 5
Replay ability: 4
Difficulty: 1
Learning Curve: 4


Patch version: 1.1 Final
Bugs: 1
Mod ability / Community Support: 5


Review:
Homeworld 2, the next - and last - chapter in the Homeworld Universe series. Taking place 100 years after the events of Homeworld : Cataclysm, Homeworld 2 describes the Hiigharans, as they fight to protect themselves, and their planet - Hiighara from a most viscous enemy - the Vaygr. It is up to you, as the Fleet Commander to stop them, and at the same time fulfill an ancient prophecy that has to do with your race, the Vaygr, the enigmatic Bentusi, and another mysterious ancient race.

I stop here, because frankly, that is the summary, of the plot and the ongoing storyline behind HW2. The SP campaign is divided into 15 missions, with most of them having more or less the same order of the day : Research whatever new technology is available, maximize your remaining-from-last-mission fleet, annihilate the enemy, and move on. One of the reasons to the above, is mainly the fact that unlike in previous Homeworld titles, in HW2, once you complete all of the mission's primary objectives, a short cut scene showing your fleet entering Hyperspace will follow, and voilà! You are in the next mission. Resources are plentiful throughout almost every mission, and they are collected automatically once you end it. This leads in yourself having a ridiculous amount of money in any given time, except for the early missions.

In case you have already "smelled the wind", I will confirm your fears: HW2 Single player mode is Easy. Almost ridiculously easy. The number of enemies you will face on each mission depends solely on the amount of resources you have, and the size of your fleet. They named it "Dynamic Difficulty". On the paper, it sounds well, but in reality, the AI is no good. Mainly because it doesn't upgrade its ships. At all. The result is more of a slaughter fest, than a fair fight, as because of that, the enemy's fleet is eaten apart by your own in every situation, be it even the most hopeless one.

So what is the reason, I gave this game such a good mark? One word: Multi player. Unless you don't have the correct altitude and the amount of patience, HW2 Multi player will not let you go. This is especially true in case you are playing with people you actually know, and not just random persons. Everything from extreme balance, to lack of cheating/exploits, to the RTS aspect itself, is very well done. Be it 1 vs 1, or - 3 vs 3, you will most likely enjoy the game, regardless of the outcome. The reason to this, is the excellent graphics, sound, and the epicness of battles, as huge explosions that go off when a capital ship is destroyed, would render most modern First Person Shooter players with their jaws dropped.

Technically the game is also well done. Relic Entertainment has kept its promise to deliver a game with excellent graphics and at the same time - low system requirements. In 3 vs 3 games, the performance drop might be noticeable a bit, but the game feels comfortable even on highest graphical settings on a modest rig. The only problem is the net code, as occasional hang-ups and crashes might occur during games.

Overall, HW2 is a worthy successor to the original Homeworld, and should please any space - based RTS fan around.


Good stuff: A successor to Homeworld. Excellent graphics and sound. Nice optimization. Multi player can be addicting, and is very balanced.

Bad stuff: Single player campaign lacks content and the "Shock" factor. Lots of plot holes. Net code can be discouraging.


Reviewer System Specs:
AMD AthlonXP 1500+
512 MB of 133 MHz SD-Ram
MsI GeForce 3 Ti 200 128 MB DDR
128 Bit Sound Card

[Mr.Popo]

Year of release: Late 2003
Development House: Relic Entertainment
Publisher: Sierra Studios
Website: www.homeworld2.com


Game Score: 98
Graphics: 5
Sound: 5
Game play: 5
Concept: 5
Execution: 4
Controls: 5
Enjoyment: 5
Replay ability: 4
Difficulty: 3
Learning Curve: 4


Patch version: 1.1 Final
Bugs: 0
Mod ability / Community Support: 5


Review:
For the past five years I've been able to proudly call myself a Homeworld fanboy. Wonderful storyline, beautiful graphics and powerful narrative combined into an almost anti-science fiction science fiction package that easily became my favorite game of all time. However, when Cataclysm came around I found that it missed everything that I fell in love with in the original Homeworld, and that it dabbled too much in the realm of conventional sci fi.

These are the reasons I ultimately tried to avoid Homeworld 2, as I had heard nothing but disappointment from fellow fanboys and game critics alike. Finally, I caved in and bought it. I was, at first, maddened by some decisions that seemingly defied logic, but after finally beating the game I ended up submitting that it was truly a worthy successor to Homeworld.

While the complaints of many might lead one to believe the storyline was lackluster, don't let them deceive you. I personally found it to be a wonderful look into the history of the Homeworld universe, and was very happy with the outcome of this story.

(from Homeworld Shipyards)
"In the First Time the Bentusi found the Great Hyperspace Core. With it came the gift of interstellar travel. The outer rim trade routes were established, uniting the galaxy in peace.

Four thousand years passed before the Second Core was discovered on a desert planet. Pain and bloodshed flowed in its wake as the exiles returned to their homeworld. For a century peace and prosperity followed. It proved fleeting.

It is a desperate time for Hiigara. The Vaygr encroach from the Eastern Reaches. Their motives a mystery, they are brutal and unrelenting. Deep inside the Great Derelict at Tanis, construction of a new mothership is underway. With it, there stands a chance to defend what so many paid for with their lives.

But the true test will come not from battling the Vaygr but in fulfilling the prophecy that Sajuuk, He Whose Hand Shapes What Is, will return and herald the coming of the End Time..."

Karan S'jet, whose life was prolonged by the energies of the hyperspace core, shoulders the responsibility of once again becoming Fleet Command, and the burdens that entails. The most interesting aspect of this story is that because of the ferocity, speed and overwhelming numbers of the Vaygr, the Exiles are forced to "harness the power of the ancients," so to speak, in order to defeat their new enemy. Because of this, much of the game revolves around the Karos Graveyard, which took up only one mission in the original and raised many questions as to its origins. Through a wonderfully written backstory, these questions are answered without taking away the thrill of its mystery.

The biggest reason a newcomer to the sequel might have trouble is because of the fact that the style in which the player is forced to play in the game is drastically changed from the original. Where your frigates used to provide a solid backbone to any effective strike group, they are now easily decimated by laser corvettes, heavy missile frigates and destroyers. In multiplayer they become effective when employed in hit and run tactics, but in single player they become utterly useless in the face of enemy units with superior firepower. Needless to say, if you try and play this game like the original Homeworld, you're going to be repeating missions several times over.

Once you do become accustomed to the style of play, the single player campaign becomes easy. Very easy. Much of this is due to the fact that as soon as you complete your mission objectives, you automatically move on to the next level. The prevalent tactic in the later portions of the game become "send large fleet straight to enemy carrier/shipyard, mop up, repeat," and this is ultimately the single player's downfall. Unfortunately, it is because of this that the most important aspects of the experience has gone unnoticed - the directing, and to a smaller extent, the music. Each cutscene (both NIS and animatic) is wonderfully setup and scored perfectly, evoking the right emotions when emotion is needed, and setting up the right atmosphere when atmosphere is needed. The last few scenes, while not giving away too much, are as powerful and emotional as you'd come to expect from the last game in such a wonderful series.

While the fact that this game didn't use Adagio for Strings is a major disappointment, the music is another area (besides the graphics) that surpass the original game. A low, recurring cello theme sets the tone for the Vaygr barbarians, while a more sorrowful set of music, an interesting cross of traditional Middle Eastern, Indian and Chinese sounds set the stage for much of the game. It can be a mysterious, yet driving, piece with haunting vocals (when the player faces the Keepers during their search of Karos,) or the grim yet oddly beautiful piece for the emergence of the Planet Killers on the last level, the music is truly of higher quality of even games such as Medal of Honor can claim.

As in the original Homeworld, Homeworld 2 certainly provides in the multiplayer area. With the wonderful feature of drastically cheaper hyperspace cost, lightning quick hit and fade runs become a much more deadly and viable tactic, especially when playing as the Vaygr. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the Vaygr strike craft are considerably better than that of the Hiigaran's, a skilled Vaygr player can effectively shut down their opponent on a 1v1 game with a rush of a few squadrons of interceptors and gunships. One complaint that seems prevalent is that of the platform rush, but if you can get out pulsar gunships or laser corvettes fast enough, that tactic is pretty much useless. Also, with the improvement of strike craft and the generally larger map sizes, carriers have suddenly become deadly attack platforms, with the right back up of course. With the epic battles and many tactical opportunities to be had, the multiplayer experience delivers time and again.

Also, another place the game delivers is the scalability - it provides simply wonderful visuals, even on a lackluster machine.

Homeworld 2 is a truly amazing game that deserves every bit to be known as the successor to the original Homeworld. Unfortunately the wonderful direction, writing and scoring have gone largely unnoticed by the general gaming public, which is, needless to say, practically criminal.

Pros: Amazing graphics, epic battles, amazing direction, backstory, music, is very balanced, excellent multiplayer

Cons: Takes a little while to get used to the play style, a few plot holes, short single player campaign, frigates are pathetically weak

Reviewer System Specs:
Processor type unknown
532 MB of 133MHz SDRAM
Graphics card: SiS 650_740 32 MB DDR
Sound card: SiS 7012 Wave