Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak Reviews
While the story sometimes sticks too close to familiar ground, Deserts of Kharak is a fun and challenging RTS title that's a worthy addition to the Homeworld franchise.
Short campaign, steep price, but this homeworld-in-the-desert has style in spades, and a solid, albeit simple, RTS core.
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This is the definition of a real-time strategy game for real-time strategy game fans, and will satisfy those looking for a solid single-player RTS experience
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.
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.
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.
Deserts of Kharak is a radical departure from previous franchise efforts, but most of what makes Homeworld great survived the transition.
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 tells one of the better science fiction narratives I've seen in a real-time strategy game. While the campaign is short, I enjoyed most of the Homeworld-inspired gameplay. Skirmish and multiplayer modes beef up the content, but the overall content-to-price ratio doesn't quite even out. Minor gripes aside, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is one of the more compelling real-time strategy games I've played in some time.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a deep, exciting, varied RTS with all the right tools.
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.
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
Deserts of Kharak is a triumphant return to Homeworld, just minus the space part.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a prequel to the famed Homeworld Strategy series. It follows its inspirations closely, but adds its own touches to create something new and wonderful.
A great tactical RTS with all the gorgeous aesthetics and atmosphere of the original series.
While Blackbird's HD update of the original Homeworld titles may have shipped with a few nagging bugs, this original and inventive prequel reinvents the series in way I hardly even hoped could be possible. It's fresh but familiar. It's Homeworld, but it's something new. Like its story-chronological successors, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is amazing — there's simply nothing else like it.
Deserts of Kharak does manage to be standalone as well as prequel to an old series, and if you're tired of the twitchy frenzy which grips so many latter-day RTSes, Kharak is a smart and beautiful destination whether or not you still dream of Hiigara. It might be set on land, but by recent RTS standards it's nonetheless reaching for the stars.
It's Homeworld, but with sand, and it's the best new RTS game in years.