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Description
In 1999, a game came out that introduced several revolutionary gameplay elements.  Even today, with increasingly prettier graphics astounding players, this game remains unmatched in its sheer beauty, both in the visual and in the emotional.  This game was Homeworld, and when it was released, little did fans realize how such a simple game could produced such an engrossing universe.

In order to somewhat grasp the depth of the Homeworld phenomenon, it is important to understand a little backstory.  Homeworld told the story of a race of people who had lived on a desert world called Kharak for many thousands of years.  These people remained divided into semi-religious tribal groups until the discovery of a guidestone deep within the remains of an ancient ruin.  Through the guidestone, the people discovered that Kharak was not their true home, and their real home Hiigara, was out there among the stars.  A massive mothership was built to carry the colonists to their new home.  It took 60 years to build.  As a final act of sacrifice to her people, the scientist Karen S'jet sealed herself off as the living brain of the mothership and became Fleet Command.  However by rediscovering hyperspace technology and using it, the people attracted the attention of their ancient enemies that had banished them to Kharak.

The game picks up after the visually appealing comic book like intro and continually spins the tale of these voyagers.  Indeed, the entire game unfolds like a good space opera.  The first mission actually takes place on Kharak and involves several trial runs followed by a test of the hyperdrive system.  Third mission in, and you're treated to one of the most soul-shattering scenes ever in a video game, which begins with the words "Kharak is burning" while the music for Agnes Dei swells in the background.  After rescuing the surviving colonists in the cryotrays, the true test begins.

Before I continue, let's describe a bit what kind of game Homeworld is.  Many space strategy games are of the 4X variety, which stands for explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate.  Homeworld is different in that while there is resource gathering, there is no empire to expand.  Rather, it is more like a military exploits journal.  It is just you and your fleet of starships and starfighters as they make their way from one star system to the next and fight whatever sought to destroy them.  One of the things I found remarkable about Homeworld was that unlike many other strategy games, in which you had to build fresh units after each stage, Homeworld featured a persistent fleet concept.  Any ship that survived a battle stayed to the next mission, and a smart player could amass a bigger than average fleet to make the final battle easier.

But of course, Homeworld is most famous for its three dimensional space battles, and to this day, I haven't found a single space strategy game that even came close to copying this revolutionary element.  One of the elements that assists in making this such a great system is the minimalist menu system.  The interface is tucked out of the way until you need to make an order, giving you a clear view of the action, and even when using it, the clean layout means you'll never get information overload.  The player is also in complete control of the camera.  The player can zoom in and out and pan around any unit or group of units.  Finding and zooming in on a unit is easy to do as well.  When done around a large space battle, it gives the game a very cinematic, Star Wars feel, and the 3D element opens up a new level of strategy.  Movement of a unit or group of units is first done on the 2D plane, and a flat disk is superimposed on the action to signify the "level" of the action.  Pressing the shift key then allows you to move the units up or down along the third axis, and handy vertical lines are drawn to show the height of both your units and the enemies.

Homeworld features a wide variety of ship types, with each type featuring its own strengths and weaknesses.  Fighter ships are fast and maneuverable and cheap to produce.  But they need to be formed into squadrons and die quickly.  Frigates form the backbone of your fleet.  They're cheap enough to mass produce but sturdy enough to launch an assault.  There are many types of these, from support frigates that repair and refuel to basic assault frigates to ion cannon frigates.  Destroyers and cruisers make up your capital ships and feel like the star destroyers of the game.  They're powerful but expensive, and their guns are ineffective against fighters.

However don't make the mistake in thinking that Homeworld is a cold, plotless strategy game in space.  The tremendous voice acting of the characters, which are the admiral and fleet command and even the pilots of the ships, while delivered matter-of-factly, still manage to give the game a movie-like quality.  While it's true that the graphics have long been surpassed since this game came out, the minimalist, boxy designs of the starships combined with the depth of outerspace still give this game an untouched artistic beauty.  Homeworld can either be enjoyed as a magnificent strategy game with some of the most breathtaking space battles you'll ever see or as fantastic space opera about the exodus of a star-crossed people.  But Sierra didn't stop with just a mere computer game and saw fit to expand the minds of players by including documents of Kharakan history and of the different tribes.  While being unnecessary to read, they still provide a look into the game's fascinating universe.  A game of such majestic depth deserved a sequel, and one was rightfully provide.  Even so, anybody who considers himself or herself a fan of science fiction and of strategy games absolutely must have a copy of the original Homeworld in his or her game library.

Game rating: 95

Description
In 1999, a game came out that introduced several revolutionary gameplay elements.  Even today, with increasingly prettier graphics astounding players, this game remains unmatched in its sheer beauty, both in the visual and in the emotional.  This game was Homeworld, and when it was released, little did fans realize how such a simple game could produced such an engrossing universe.

In order to somewhat grasp the depth of the Homeworld phenomenon, it is important to understand a little backstory.  Homeworld told the story of a race of people who had lived on a desert world called Kharak for many thousands of years.  These people remained divided into semi-religious tribal groups until the discovery of a guidestone deep within the remains of an ancient ruin.  Through the guidestone, the people discovered that Kharak was not their true home, and their real home Hiigara, was out there among the stars.  A massive mothership was built to carry the colonists to their new home.  It took 60 years to build.  As a final act of sacrifice to her people, the scientist Karen S'jet sealed herself off as the living brain of the mothership and became Fleet Command.  However by rediscovering hyperspace technology and using it, the people attracted the attention of their ancient enemies that had banished them to Kharak.

The game picks up after the visually appealing comic book like intro and continually spins the tale of these voyagers.  Indeed, the entire game unfolds like a good space opera.  The first mission actually takes place on Kharak and involves several trial runs followed by a test of the hyperdrive system.  Third mission in, and you're treated to one of the most soul-shattering scenes ever in a video game, which begins with the words "Kharak is burning" while the music for Agnes Dei swells in the background.  After rescuing the surviving colonists in the cryotrays, the true test begins.

Before I continue, let's describe a bit what kind of game Homeworld is.  Many space strategy games are of the 4X variety, which stands for explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate.  Homeworld is different in that while there is resource gathering, there is no empire to expand.  Rather, it is more like a military exploits journal.  It is just you and your fleet of starships and starfighters as they make their way from one star system to the next and fight whatever sought to destroy them.  One of the things I found remarkable about Homeworld was that unlike many other strategy games, in which you had to build fresh units after each stage, Homeworld featured a persistent fleet concept.  Any ship that survived a battle stayed to the next mission, and a smart player could amass a bigger than average fleet to make the final battle easier.

But of course, Homeworld is most famous for its three dimensional space battles, and to this day, I haven't found a single space strategy game that even came close to copying this revolutionary element.  One of the elements that assists in making this such a great system is the minimalist menu system.  The interface is tucked out of the way until you need to make an order, giving you a clear view of the action, and even when using it, the clean layout means you'll never get information overload.  The player is also in complete control of the camera.  The player can zoom in and out and pan around any unit or group of units.  Finding and zooming in on a unit is easy to do as well.  When done around a large space battle, it gives the game a very cinematic, Star Wars feel, and the 3D element opens up a new level of strategy.  Movement of a unit or group of units is first done on the 2D plane, and a flat disk is superimposed on the action to signify the "level" of the action.  Pressing the shift key then allows you to move the units up or down along the third axis, and handy vertical lines are drawn to show the height of both your units and the enemies.

Homeworld features a wide variety of ship types, with each type featuring its own strengths and weaknesses.  Fighter ships are fast and maneuverable and cheap to produce.  But they need to be formed into squadrons and die quickly.  Frigates form the backbone of your fleet.  They're cheap enough to mass produce but sturdy enough to launch an assault.  There are many types of these, from support frigates that repair and refuel to basic assault frigates to ion cannon frigates.  Destroyers and cruisers make up your capital ships and feel like the star destroyers of the game.  They're powerful but expensive, and their guns are ineffective against fighters.

However don't make the mistake in thinking that Homeworld is a cold, plotless strategy game in space.  The tremendous voice acting of the characters, which are the admiral and fleet command and even the pilots of the ships, while delivered matter-of-factly, still manage to give the game a movie-like quality.  While it's true that the graphics have long been surpassed since this game came out, the minimalist, boxy designs of the starships combined with the depth of outerspace still give this game an untouched artistic beauty.  Homeworld can either be enjoyed as a magnificent strategy game with some of the most breathtaking space battles you'll ever see or as fantastic space opera about the exodus of a star-crossed people.  But Sierra didn't stop with just a mere computer game and saw fit to expand the minds of players by including documents of Kharakan history and of the different tribes.  While being unnecessary to read, they still provide a look into the game's fascinating universe.  A game of such majestic depth deserved a sequel, and one was rightfully provide.  Even so, anybody who considers himself or herself a fan of science fiction and of strategy games absolutely must have a copy of the original Homeworld in his or her game library.

Game rating: 95