Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak Reviews
I'm not going to beat around the bush here: Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is the greatest RTS I have played since I first started flirting with StarCraft II.
Blackbird Interactive clearly understands what makes Homeworld such an esteemed series, and for the most part Deserts of Kharak delivers. Only a relative lack of content somewhat lessens an otherwise excellent RTS.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a fantastic Homeworld game, and a fantastic RTS game in its own right. It's a great middle point between the classic formula and the rather intimidating full three dimension movement of the franchise, as well as just being a damned good RTS in a time when games in the genre are an increasingly rare sight.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak carries the legacy of the Homeworld franchise, and successfully grounds it to the planet Kharak. The game feels so similar in style and design that any Homeworld player will instantly feel at home playing any of the included game modes. Formations have yet to make a return to the series, and the lack of their inclusion will disappoint fans. Skirmish and Multiplayer lack variable in map selection, but I hope additional maps are added in the near future.
Deserts of Kharak boasts an unprecedented beauty in its setting and world design, and its hand drawn-style cutscenes only add to that.
Deserts of Kharak is a radical departure from previous franchise efforts, but most of what makes Homeworld great survived the transition.
As a RTS Homeworld: Deserts Of Kharak doesn't actually have much new, but it's still one of the better releases for the genre in a long time. In many ways it feels like a modern Westwood classic, but most importantly it evokes the same feelings of complex strategy that you might have had when playing the original Homeworld games.
I imagine the day Gearbox gave Blackbird Interactive permission to use the Homeworld name was triumphant, but also terrifying. Triumphant because the project involved a lot of the original team members and they got to resurrect their mothballed series. Terrifying because doing so meant making a successor to—seriously—one of the best strategy games ever made, and doing so after twelve years of rose-colored glasses.
Maybe it's the somewhat featureless terrain of Kharak, the simplified, streamlined interface and missions or the slightly shallow multiplayer modes, but there is a real sense that Deserts of Kharak is a throwback to a much earlier RTS style of game.
This game was reviewed via a digital code provided by the publisher.
Ultimately, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a bit like a trip to the beach. Sure, the sun's beaming and you'll have a great day's fun, but you still can't escape that feeling you've got sand up your Kharak.
There is some integrity in its detail, its precision, its distance. It manages to reach the epic mode, the grand narrative, to evoke a mythical journey now lost to us. But it also fails to escape the easy orientalism of that same myth, the simplicity of bloodless violence.
It's a widely held belief that good sound design can make a good game great, but the sound design in Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak makes a great game incredible
In many respects, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharah had the potential to be a really tough sell to longstanding supporters of the Homeworld brand. Yet somehow it managed to not only meet expectations, but exceed them in a surprising number of ways. This is far from a reinvention of the RTS genre, but it is certainly a much needed rebirth for this series. At long last, the king has returned.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak offers up one of the best RTS campaigns in years alongside some great gameplay mechanics, though its multiplayer and skirmish offerings leave much to be desired.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a good mainstream real-time strategy title that offers a solid prequel story and shows that the core ideas of the series can easily be adapted for planet-based warfare.
'Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak' is a good game and a worthy addition to the lofty 'Homeworld' canon, but its technical issues are a serious concern. Despite the weaknesses in its visuals and performance, it is a strong RTS with a first-class tactical formula and decent narrative.
Why exactly did Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak get so many favourable reviews? Sure, it has some interesting mechanics, like the mobile base, and, yes, it's not horrible, but it feels incomplete and… bland. The campaign is easy and short, the skirmish mode doesn't give enough things to experiment and try different strategies with, its two factions are almost identical, and the AI is quite stupid, to say the least. Want a good Homeworld game? Try out the previous two in the series.
Desite a lengthy list of issues that might annoy players such as the inability to rebind keys, a dearth of multiplayer maps, or potential potholes, Blackbird Interactive has successfully developed a worthy contribution to the Homeworld franchise with Deserts of Kharak.