Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

You can very mixed feelings about this game . Mix of amazing story and mediocre gameplay . Three core offensive units are basicaly balanced arround rock,paper,scissors game . Mobile artilery is good against armored units, Armored units are good against fast small units, and fast small units are good against artillery . It doesn't feel very appealing . Other problem is multitasking, I find this game very difficult to play, everything is happening at the same time, you just got message about discovering new artifact, meanwhile your units are attacked, resources are depleted, main character is at 75% of her life , builder got destroyed and enemy units are spotted on multiple locations - you got the picture . Story is amazing and very engaging , you dont have "whatever i dont care - SKIP " moment in this game. Everything is told in interesting way. But my main issue is optimalization, game is very demanding and frame drops are all over the place , which is probaly fault of Unity Engine . You need to have top notch PC to run this game at stable 60 fps .

I played in both HW1 and HW2, decided to buy this game too and didn't regret it. This game has nice graphics, the story which I enjoyed and some common lines with the whole series. The one thing that I want to mention is a gameplay. Some rts games really demand from the player to be on time everywhere on the map, to do a lot of micro and it becomes relly anoying sometimes. In this game you just need to remember a few hotkeys (for aircrafts especially), build some units with autofire (artillery cruises are great) and enjoy! You'll become a conductor in the orchestra of a battle. I finished the campaign two times: on regular and hard difficulty and not tired. Recommend for playing.

Before I start, I didn't play the first Homeworld games ( although now I'm planning to do it), so I consider this game more like a stand alone experience than just a spin-off of the HW saga. Homeworld: desert of Kharak is one of those game that truly intrigue me for a perfect match of gameplay, visuals, soundtrack and overall design. However, if I have to pick the feature that most struck me, that would be the gameplay. I've never experiences a strategy game focused only on vehicles ( mostly) and in maps so open: thanks to the desert theme of the game ( which, at least personally, didn't grew boring over time) the player finds himself surrounded from all sides by miles of sand and rocks. These gameplay mechanics allow for some intense moments and challenge the players, even those accustomed to this kind of games, to develop fitting strategies ( although those who preferred the hit-and-run tactics will find a easier approach). Alongside these features, there are a fair amount of units, perfectly balanced ( well, most of the time) which encourage the player to think outside the box. Besides that, the story of this spin off is heavily Dune-inspired ( which, I must admit, I'm a big fan) and soundtracks go well with the entire setting. On top of that, the motion capture cinematics are beautiful, due to the amazing ''pencil'' effect ( like the whole game was a book) and the skills of the actors. ( Plus, the VA in this game rocks!) Now, I know that that HW is originally a space strategy ( one of the finest, I've heard), however this does not mean that this fresh take on the series isn't deserving of its own spot on the Olympus of the strategy games. Actually, I've found it extremely unique in how different this game is compared to its peers, since it does take mobility on a completely new level. So, after all my ranting, is it worth it? Ehm.. Yes? I mean it's pretty obvious how much I adore this game.

Deserts of Kharak is the rare prequel that actually makes the original game even better. It retains the subtle storytelling of the original Homeworld and, despite not being set in space, manages to have similar feeling gameplay. It's very polished too, with some of the best art direction I've seen in an RTS, hell, gaming in general, a killer soundtrack and cool mission design. If you love the original Homeworld, you really need to play this one. If you've never played Homeworld in your life, this is also a great place to start before you get to the Remastered edition of the original.

I was hesitant going into this. Read the reviews. Waited. Came back only to wait more. Got it on sale in the end. Game looks great. Initial few missions, quite fun. But it wouldn't last. Saw peopel compare it to Ground Control...yeah, it ain't that as well. UI is dated, very dated. Being a Supreme Commander veteran I can only describe unit and formation management as chaos unless you put a lot of efort into it. Want to make semi-autonomous groups by including support cruisers? Sure but don't make them too big or they will melt as most unit will be out of repair range. Resourcing is a pain. Breaking down wrecks manualy is a tedious way to go around things. Most of the time you feel you don't need those until a mission throws a wrench into things. Miss the auto resource claim at end of mission from earlier HW installements. Now you need to tip-toe to get most stuff on map before you end the mission by killing the objective. High ground mechanic feels forced and somewhat buggy. I had enemy units right next to mine and they got the "+" while mine didn't. Also - kind of hard to imagine a bit of elevation would make rail guns less effective. Even on attack you are on the deffensive. Enemy units just keep spawning. Air units are clunky to use. And yeah - not having a tactical pause is a pain. All in all - I finished it on normal. Won't be comming back. Not a bad game but definetly is not shining.