Homeworld was truly a revolutionary game, and even though it has it's flaws, I still enjoy playing it years after it's release.
The main feature in Homeworld that sets it apart from other strategy games, at least when it was new, was it's completely 3D space combat. This does make controling your fleet slightly more complicated then the average 2D game, but the interface is as ingeniously designed as I can imagine. There is an excellent tutorial included and I mastered ship movement in about an hour or so.
The basic elements to gameplay are nothing unusual: harvest resources, build fleet, destroy enemy forces. However, it is the presentation of this system that makes Homeworld great. The added third dimension makes for so many stretegies that one can employ, it is very rewarding to the commander who can learn how to use them. Even though the graphics have been outdone by more recent games, they are still very appealing. Muzzle flashes and ion blasts from capital ships and colorful exhaust trails from fighter make the game a joy to look at.
I did have a couple of problems with Homeworld. Though the single player game has a deep and rich story, in which your race is the underdog, I sometimes felt that I was too much the underdog. In almost any given mission you are outgunned from the get go. Most of the early missions have you facing waves of small fighters, so naturally you build a lot of anti-fighter craft. Then suddenly in the next mission I face a ton of capital ships which I don't stand a chance against. Whatever you end one mission with, you start the next mission with, so on occasion I found myself cheating and peaking ahead to see what I would need, then going back to my save game.
But whatever minor annoyances Homeworld has, I still say it is one of the best game of all time. Once you learn the interface and get used to your selection of ships, Homeworld will provide hours of fun.
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