Homeworld 2
This is one of my all time favorite real-time strategy games. In fact its one of my
favorite games all together. I have played it since it
came out, and continue to play still. Join in on cataclysmic space
battles to gain the control of the galaxy.
By: Admin
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Published:
2006.11.13 - 16:28
Mark: Unrated
The game
This game is the impressive sequel to Homeworld, which was awarded the
title Game of the year by PC Gamer in 1999.
It is a true 3D Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game which lets you control a large
space fleet in combat against a hostile aggressor. You must protect your mothership The pride of Hiigara and try to defeat the opposing
forces that has invaded your homeworld. In the single player
storyline the history enthralls you as you battle it out against the dark empire of
the Vaygr in many skirmishes in a number of remote battlefields.
The pride of Hiigara
As I am a sci-fi geek this type of games easily fascinates me. But most
games fail to produce a good background story. A believable storyline is
essential in creating the right "feel". When playing the game it makes
it much more interesting if the story around is exhilarating and
fascinating. The Homeworld storyline has a very genuine touch which I
personally love. You understand the suffering of the Hiigarans and want
to help them in their struggle for survival.
The music, sound
effects and well designed graphics creates dramatic atmosphere
which pulls you in and makes time pass quickly.
Many games have come and gone, but I have always returned to Homeworld 2
for the ultimate space battle feeling. I enjoy playing the single player
mode. But nothing beats getting together with a few friends and either
joining forces against numerous enemy fleets or challenging each other
in an all out multiplayer bonanza.
Story
Karan S'jet
Once called the Kushan, the Exiles have finally returned
to their old home world of Hiigara.
The Hiigerans have been living in peace on their planet for 100 years
after their return from exile. The Taiidan forces has been defeated and
the Exiles have prospered under the rule of their leader Karan S'jet. But
peace soon dies as Hiigara is attacked by a new and powerful enemy known as
the Vaygr, which have risen in the eastern border of the galaxy.
The Vaygr leader Makaan has united the once separated nomadic
warrior clans and has formed a powerful alliance including the remnants
of the crippled Taiidan fleet. Once
again faced with the looming shadow of defeat the Hiigarans launch a new
Mothership which has been assembled in the shipyards at Tanis.
This is where the single-player storyline begins.
We follow the Hiigarans as they again fight for survival against a
determined enemy. A journey that takes us to the most remote reaches of
the galaxy where we encounter old enemies, ancient allies and maybe
knowledge about why the Hiigarans were exiled from their home world.
Gameplay
Control compass
One of the most impressive features of the Homeworld series is the true
three-dimensional simulation environment. The original Homeworld game
pioneered this in the real-time strategy genre. The ships can
be guided in any direction with a trajectory compass which controls azimuth
angle and elevation angle respectively. This is the basic movement
control. For goto attack, repair, dock or resource acquisition you only
have make a mouse-over click on the desired target. You can move
individual ships (squadrons for strike crafts) or select a group of
ships to move. Groups of ships can be divided into battle groups
assigned to a number for easy selection.
Game interface
On the battlefield you are able to see all ships which is in sensor
range of one of your vessels or in the range of an allied vessel. Ships
belonging to yourself have green marker colors, allies are yellow and
enemies are red. It can be wise to upgrade your sensors and to use
scouts or recon probes so that you are able to detect any assault force
before they can sneak up on you. There are two different battlefield
views. One is a wide angle view of the whole battle field. This is
useful in order to get an overview of the whole territory. The other
view is the close view where you can see your ships in more detail. You
will use this view most to choose and direct your ships in closer
proximity.
Resorce Collectors in action
Like with most RTS games you need to harvest resources in order to build
new objects. Resources come in the form of asteroids and space debris
from destroyed capital ships. Resource Collectors are small ships
that harvest and mine the resources which they bring back to the closest
ship with resource processing capability. Resource processing vessels
include the capital production vessels as well as Mobile Refineries. When the resources are refined
they produce Resource Units (RU) which you can build new units
from. It is very important to protect the mining operations as they are
the lifeline of your fleet.
Hiigaran carrier
Building new ships can only be done by certain classes of vessels. These
are Carriers, Shipyards and Motherships/Flagships,
though construction options are limited for some classes. The drawback
of Carriers is that they can not build capital class ships, but as they
very mobile they are perfect for defense of resource operations. The
Mothership/Flagship can manufacture all but the largest combatant, the
Battlecruiser class. For this you need a Shipyard. But shipyards
are very cumbersome constructs which are slow to move, have very limited
defense and have a huge production cost. The production vessels can also
upgrade themselves with improved abilities and new modules. These
production vessels also serve as resource drop-off and refineries.
Destroyer battle
A combat fleet can be made up of 4 different classes of ships.
The Strikecraft class is made up of Fighters and
Bombers. This class of ships is most effective against other
Strikecraft and smaller vessels, though they are also able to attack
larger ships. Corvettes are a slightly larger class which are
tasked with attack of other Corvette class ships and also Frigate
class types. The Frigate class is designed for combating capital class
ships and can deliver a massive punch with their specialized armament.
The capital class combatants consist of Destroyers, which are big
and powerful ships with loads of amour and armament, and the immense
Battlecruiser which is the largest combat vessel capable of taking
down any ship sent against it.
Two ship types differs from this lineup because of their very
specialized capabilities. The Flak Frigate excels in destroying
smaller ships with its Anti-Strikecraft artillery which makes it very
suitable in defense of installations, bases, resource operations and
combat groups. Another specialize ship is the Marine/Infiltrator
Frigate. This ship type is made for attaching itself to and
capturing hostile vessels. Once you have subjugated the enemy ship your
are able to control it as if one of your own ships. Though captured
production vessels will have slightly less production capability.
