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Ever cried during a movie?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 26
Date: November 23, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I cried the first time I lost in Homeworld. The music, the immersive feeling, the stress of saving 600,000 inhabitants, must have all got to me, because when my last tray of 100,000 inhabitants exploded, I just curled up in a ball and tears started coming to me eyes. Just like waking up from a bad dream, or at the end of a sad movie: you know it's not real, but you cry anyways. Homeworld can give you such an experience. I'm a 26 year old male, married with 2 children. Computer programmer. Don't know any other game that can do this to me. I'm still learning about strategy, so I can get past mission 4. (Hard core gamers, don't laugh) Anyway, it's a great introduction to Real Time Strategy for newbies to the genre like me, who thought 3D graphics was only good for 1st person shooters and sims.

Intense!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: January 02, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The graphics in this game are absolutely incredible. When I first got this game, I thought the screenshots on the box were shots of the game intro, then when I played the game and saw similiar screenshots during the entire course of play, my jaw dropped! Absolutely incredible. How about the gameplay? Very good. When multiple events are happening, the game can be a little overwhelming at times, due in large part to the 3-D environment, but I was never overly frustrated and I'm getting more used to it the more I play, and am having big fun with this game! The music is beautiful as well. Very unique real-time strategy game, if you're into this genre you'll be very happy!

A very good game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: January 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

When I first started playing this game, I was awestruck by the amazing graphics. I installed it, everything ran smoothly, and even though the tutorial level was extremely long, I didn't tire of it simply because everything was so impressive looking, even at the meager 640x480 res I started at.

I played the campaign next, and although it was pretty cool that you had the same resources and ships from level to level, the levels themselves were extremely easy (I know that because I suck at RTS games and I didn't have to reload once on this one). It also was boring having to collect every last scrap of resources at the end of the levels in order to support your fleet through the next threat.

Even through all of this, I thought it was a very fun, addictive, game, but when I started playing multiplayer it dawned on me where this game really lacks -- there's not enough variety. The ships aren't varied enough, and even though it's 3D, there's only one terrain type -- space. There's just not enough variety for it not to get boring after too long.

So even with the stunning graphics, compelling music, and simple but effective cutscenes, the un-intuitive gameplay and the sameness of it all brought this still very good game down to only 4 stars.

Well worth your time and money

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: December 07, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I've been a somewhat lukewarm fan of RTS games over the past few years in that I've played them, and enjoyed them more than most other genres, but never really felt compelled to complete them when I ran into difficulties.

This game is different.

It's at least as hard to get through as any other RTS I've ever played, but it's so involving that I'm willing to go back over and over again to complete the mission and go on to the next episode in the story. It's gritty, yet beautiful.

The interface is not the easiest thing in the world to master, and I could suggest some improvements. Movement of ships over long distances can be a hassle. I didn't have too many problems with camera management, but in the chaos of battle I used the Pause function many times to try and sort out my forces. Playing this game does require some eye-hand-mouse coordination, more so than a lot of RTSs I've played.

But I think the gameplay and storyline make it well worth those small few glitches.

New ideas in RTS with a great plot...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: December 28, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I'm not an RTS (real time strategy) fanatic by any stretch of the imagination -- but I was eager for this game. This game plays extremely well as a single player game -- complete with new twists to the real-time genre: no buildings, you keep your fleet with you from scenario to scenario, full 3D space (with intuitive controls).

Homeworld takes the basic tenants of a real time strategy and slows the pace down a bit to provide fleet action that reminds you of scenes from your favorite sci-fi movies and TV shows.

The story is extremely well done with scripted in-game sequences and good storyboard artwork that makes the story compelling and interesting rather than "fluff" added at the end.

It's a solid multiplayer game - but only against other humans. Much like Total Annhilation, the AI simply isn't up to the task of taking on multiple, allied humans, even if you give it the benefit of numbers.

Overall - it's a great game. If the multiplayer AI were more vicious you'd see 5 stars from me.

HOMEWORLD - A Visual & Aural Feast

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: March 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

What can one say when a game sucks you in so completely that time seems to collapse in on itself and become meaningless? Homeworld is one those rare games that is so solid that it really evolves as you play it. It does this by providing the player with a rock-solid background story backed up by superior game play. I highly reccommend that players READ the manual before playing, because it gives you a tremendous amount of race history that builds up the mystique for the race that you become responsible for. Gameplay is relatively easy to master, and the learning curve is pretty flat. It takes some getting used to the 3D battle field and selecting ships to attack, and the fact that you cannot pause the action to assign targets to attack is annoying, but beyond that if you practice you will get the hang of it quickly. I say visual and aural feast because it is! The ship design is excellent, reminescent of Babylon 5 and Dream Pod 9's Mekton sourcebooks for the Jovian Chronicles RPGs. The music is both subtle and awe inspiring at the same time with its majestic and powerful choral accompaniments that tug at your emotions as sure as the importance of seeing the Mothership and her precious cargo safely to the homeworld. If you've come here to expect blood splattering on walls or pouring out windows, inconveniencing passersby with the spray, you will be disappointed. This game is not 'extreme' nor does it 'kick @ss', instead it inspires and propagates a whole host of emotions bordering on an intensity rarely seen in a game before. The story is equal to that of such epics as Starcraft & Broodwar, and Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight (I know it's an FPS and not an RTS, but I'm talking about story not game type). It makes getting the Mothership home an imperative and not just a reason to see the end cut scene. Additionally, YES has performed the title track for the game, and itself is a nine minute epic, (as is most of Yes' music), that compliments the game. When a supergroup like Yes pays attention to a video game, it must be something special. HOMEWORLD is for anyone who loves science fiction and good gaming all rolled into one.

To quote a line from pretty much every Keanu movie, "Woah"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: December 13, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Homeworld is undoubtedly the best game I have ever played. I've played many RTS before but never was I as deeply immersed in one as I was with Homeworld. I'd sit down to play a mission or a quick skirmish and find myself still at the computer hours later. It is nearly impossible to stop playing.

The graphics are simply stunning. On a p3 550 with a g400 I pushed the graphics as high as they would go and experienced no slow downs. Running it in a high resolution with 32 bit color is simply amazing. When I loaded up a saved game with a battle in progress one of my friends was convinced it was a prerendered movie until I started to control the action.

I have not experienced any problems with the AI like some of the other reviewers claim to have seen. The only times I've had collisions with slow moving ships is during a mission where the goal is to get asteroids out of their way and the other was when a ship was purposely hitting mine.

Good but not Great

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: March 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is beautiful and very intruiging at first. The interface is consice and the story starts off good. About the 4th mission I started to give up. All the missions are scripted. The AI usually won't do anything until it is triggered which gives you plenty of time to get an army, or not, together. Usually I would spend all my money and still not have a big enough fleet to complete even the 4th mission. Your ships, money, and resources carry over from one mission to the next so be careful. Bad management could leave the game unfinishable.

An excellent game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: November 11, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Being a fan of strategy games, I was impressed with Homeworld. The true 3d environment, superbly detailed ships, and well done story and music all combined to round out a very addictive game. However, with only 16 missions and one race to work with left me with a "thats the end?" feeling. Hopefully there will be a add-on or mission pack. Not taking away at all from the sheer beauty of the game, but maybe with different races (ala starcraft) or more diverse missions (I completed three of them in under 2 minutes), Homeworld truly would have been a star. In all, a very enjoyable, playable game worth your money.

Best Strategy Gameplay Out There

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 19, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Homeworld has a great mix of gameplay and graphics that redefines 3d gaming strategy. The maps are mostly huge and of course 3d. This creates long missions, making it long to even finish a skirmish. Even with it's great graphics and gameplay, Homeworld lacks a good storyline for both races. The movies in the games are poorly done. The soundtrack has some nice songs but not a lot. The songs soon get quite repetitive. Even with these tiny flaws the gameplay is what brings Homeworld up. Homeworld creates an intriguing interface with complex systems and research development. The manual even looks like an engineers manual. Homeworld is reccomended for those people who look for hardcore strategy gameplay and are willing to have a lot intelligence and patience

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