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Not Enough of Anything New (3½ Stars)

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 8
Date: November 04, 2000
Author: Amazon User

As of last year, Relic's "Homeworld" was perhaps one of the most original real time strategy games to have come a long in a while. However, despite winning PC Gamer's coveted `Game of the Year' honor, Homeworld didn't exactly break sales records, how could it when it ran up against such master pieces of software engineering like "Who Wants to be a Millionaire"? But it sold enough to generate a sequel, but instead of coming out of Relic, it was produced instead by Barking Dog, another Canadian game house and released under Sierra's banner. Though I suppose we should be glad Sierra is releasing anything these days given the financial woes the company has endured over past year. So bad was it that they cancelled the Babylon 5 space combat sim, among others. So, can Barking Dog catch and run with Relic's ball.

Yes and no.

"Homeworld: Cataclysm" is essentially the same game as the original, though they changed the menu graphics, it is still basically the same just more colorful. In either Single Player or Multi-Player you will control the same command ship- basically a Kiith Somtaaw mining vessel that is used as your primary base-gone is the awesome crescent shaped Mothership, it having been relegated to an orbital ship yard above Hiigara. The mining vessel assumes the role of the Mothership and can be modified by adding various research and manufacturing modules that enable the player to develop then build new ships, weapons, and upgrades. However, the ships that are built are a far cry from the wonderful designs of the previous game, replaced with uninspired vehicles that display a marked lack of creativity in their appearance.

In fact, none of the original vessels are present except in cut scenes and possessed by other Kiith. Instead of the Scout, Interceptor and Attack Bombers, we now have the Seeker Recon Fighter, which resembles a plumbing fixture. And the Acolyte Heavy Fighter that bears more than a passing resemblance to the old Salvage Corvette than anything else. The Resource Collector has been replaced by the bumper-car looking vehicle that is also a salvage vessel, repair vessel and delivers the new Infection Vaccine to ward off the effects of the `Beast's' Borg-like beam that it uses to take over your vessels. If fighters and non-combat craft are uninspired, the capital ships are even worse.

Gone is the Ion Frigate, replaced with the blocky Multi-Beam Frigate and there aren't any Assault or Support Frigates to speak of. Gone are well designed Destroyer, Missile Destroyer and Heavy Cruiser, replaced instead with a horseshoe-shaped Dreadnaught and Carrier. Also gone are most of the little corvettes, Cloaking Generator, Grav Well Generator, etc. Having said that, however, they have added some neat little touches like the Leech, which attaches itself to ships and damages them over time and the improved Drone Frigate. I really miss all of the original ships, because they were so beautiful, and I suppose I will get used to the new designs in time.

Game play is pretty much unchanged, except individually most of the ships can do more, such as the ability to link two fighters together or a holographic system that enables you to sneak into enemy fleets undetected. Most of the key commands are thankfully unchanged. Multi-player games now happen over a much larger arena, making them last longer, while resources may seem more sparse, asteroids contain more RU's (Resource Units) and with the addition of resource rich crystals, I found myself with 30,000 - 50,000 RU's at the end of a Skirmish vs. CPU game. Visually, the game is still a treat. Campaign missions follow the discovery and accidental release of a million year old techno-organic species dubbed the "Beast" by your Kiith, forcing you to eject a third of your ship as it becomes infected. It is then up to you to hunt down and wipe it out before it spreads across the galaxy. The Beast go around assimilating ships and crew and begins to spread like a massive virus, unfortunately it's already been done and they're called the Borg.

It's the little things that count. If you remember those great nebula sequences from Star Trek II or the clouded world of Neptune in Event Horizon, players will instantly see the inspiration for the presence of lighting flickering through gas clouds, down into the swirling vortex of black hole. The delicate ripples of thunder only adds to the overall mood, making games almost hypnotic. 3D lighting and effects are still top-notch, but it was the nebulae effects that really caught my attention. If anything, Barking Dog have improved the 3D navigation system, making it much easier to move and position ships around the map- I found myself missing my destination targets less in Cataclysm than I did in Homeworld.

The manual is not nearly good as the original, even though it details the fall of the Taiidani Empire, the shock the 550,000 hibernating Kushan suffered upon release from the cryo-trays, the problems encountered on resettling on their homeworld, and the continuing problems with Imperialist Taiidani raids into the Hiigaran sector of space. It lacks much of the `Wow' factor the original manual contained with its brilliant and inspired history of the Kharak, the Kushan and their Kiith families. Manual lay out isn't nearly as neat, wasting space to fill more pages, making it obvious the creators just didn't put all that much heart into it. Is it fair to compare to the two games? Of course it is, because they are essentially the same game, Cataclysm just has an inferior story. The urgency generated by the creation of the Beast just isn't there, and doesn't require any where near the same emotional involvement of the player as was the case with Homeworld. It just isn't that good.

let's be fair

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: February 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I think the concept of 3D strategy game is very fine. in fact there are only two up until now, which is the midst of 2002: homeworld, and homeworld catalysm.
I own both of those, and spent some time playing them. I quite enjoyed the new concept, all the flat-out 2D strategy seem to lose their color after I played the homeworld series. I forsee that if somebody actually used this idea of 3D strategy and explioted it to the limits, most 2D strategy games would simply go out of business. For the sophiscated players, I too, look forward to something like this ahead.
Now catalysm did not make the most out of this innovation. I am not saying it is not worth buying, as mentioned previously, I enjoyed them. But notice how some games lack new ideas but has a lot of goodies in it so people would like them? such games as Diablo2, which is really JUST button bashing and ONLY time consuming. no offense to Diablo2 lovers out there, I too, play that. But you must do a bit of comparison between the different qualities of each game. And for homeworld, it is strictly the opposite of Diablo2- It is rich in its ideas, but lacks the goodies to make it attractive, which in my opinion, explains why it is not even close to the popularity as Diablo2 or Quake for example.
It has no movies, has no 'class' (you see a lot about this from other reviews), has no characters(I intend to mean both), no impressive things to put into a movie-trailor type of show-off other then some regular in-game sequences. You will not like it if you only play Final Fantasy X or that sort of thing.
There are rooms for improvements. I definitly think there are vast potentials for this game and anything similar. The strategies are infinite and only bound to player's imaginations, and- button clicking speed which I meant to discuss.
I need to point out, that 3D micromangement can be a lot of pain since it involves a lot of 2D clicking over a 3D dynamic environment. I hope homeworld 2 puts in some scripting options so people can load up subroutines for groups of units, this should automate a lot of things and reduce the clicking (not my idea origin, forgot who but definitly a brilliant one)(Perhaps this would make the game seem like object-oriented or LISP programming?).
Whilest there are huge gaps to be filled by Sierra as for those neat little things to attract public, I hope the revolution continue. Homeworld is a great feat in real time strategy game for the new dimention it introduces. It woke up all the players out there getting bored at the present limits of gaming formats (RPG, fighting, fighting, shooting, shooting, shooting, shooting......). If you are bored too but have not played homeworld yet, get it.

Easily the best RTS I've ever played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 44
Date: August 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Imagine Homeworld with an entirely new fleet of ships and technologies. Now imagine these ships and technologies split between two new races, each with unique styles of play, and you'll have a good idea of what makes Cataclysm so fantastic for people who liked the original.

The single player in Cataclysm is more complex and challenging than in the original Homeworld. Being able to move your command ship was a huge plus and gave the player more options. I enjoyed the single player a great deal, at least until the last part of the last level, where it went from fun to extremely not fun quickly (it's plot-related, so I won't say why).

The multiplayer is the real selling point though; the maps involve much more interaction and strategy than in the original, and the ability to play different races makes the gameplay much more complex and interesting. I've never enjoyed multiplayer in the RTS genre until Cataclysm came along, and now I love it (provided I'm playing Cataclysm).

Homeworld Cataclysm the dream come true...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: November 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is a dream come true to me I've been waiting for the game price to go down for a while now. But it was worth the wait if you like Starcraft then you will love this game It's like Starcraft in that you need minerals but like starwars in how you fly in space and how every craft has it's own controls functions and weapons. The controls are simple yet hardish but that only adds to the fun. The storyline to this game is a lot different from the first. Although you can only have 17 missions they are very long and hard but extremely fun. You have an entire new armada of ships at your finger tips.

The interceptors will literally blow you away with upgraded mounted cannons on one side and at their bottom. even though you can only have the most basic of ships that are a mix of the first and new ones like your mining class mothership that later transforms into a huge towering destructive ship. Until you disable ships and bring them to your research vessel on board your Samtaw mothership your stuck with the most basic of ships. But this changes dramatically just within the first levels gameplay.

The multiplayer level to this game rules is astounding,amazing,stupendous,astonishing,and cool. Theirs a virus later on in the middle of the game that I swear does something new everytime I go up against it called The Beast. And if your thinking that the graphics are poor then well your wrong.The graphics in this one are even better. This game features a civil war same old same old the usual. The storyline is unique and interesting as well. I think this game is more than worth 9 bucks. In fact the only thing I disliked was that the other enemy in the storyline other than the beast has no new weapons while the beast is the only one with new amazing weapons.

do NOT get this game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 8
Date: May 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Compared to the original, this game is a bust. You basically have to destroy the "Beast", a creature that takes control over machines and humans. you have to battle your way to their mothership, while facing numerous attacks from rebels, and destroy it.

PROS: Great graphics, all new ships, 17 long missions, new abilities; interesting new objectives, and it is a sequal to homeworld, so it has to be a little fun

CONS: incredibly easy, even on the hardest skill level; levels get boaring after a while; the only way you can lose is to send your command ship headfirst into the enemy base completely unprotected; the "new" ships are basically re-named, re-done, versions of the old ones, it is so easy to replace ships that you can basically build millions of fighters, kamikazee them, and build them again, and since you never run out of resources the enemy can't stop you,capital ships are too strong(i think i only lost 1 destroyer the entire game), the new ships give you an unfair advantage, for example, in some levels you can use a ship called a leach to completely destoy the enemy carrier without even having to fight it, your command ship is too impervious to attacks and you barely have to leave an escort with it, you can't get the best ship in the game to use in multiplayer, and it is kind of anticlimax. there is no final video or anythign like that.

The absolute best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: August 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Don't be fooled by the fact its older. This game has every aspect of a good game, play, AI, action, adventure, choice, selection. If you want to have hours of fun get this!

The first time I saw it was on my friends computer, I was hooked instantly.

Trust me. Get this game!

Yuck!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 34
Date: July 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Having just played Homeworld and not really enjoying it, I tried this one, the second game in the series (I bought all 3 at the same time. Shouldn't have done that.)

And so far, I can't even get the game to play. I installed and uninstalled twice. I have downloaded updated drivers for NVIDIA GEFORCE FX 5200 128meg video card. I have changed all of the settings over and over again. And still can't play. I see the beginning story in the aftermath that follows the end of Homeworld, of them rebuilding. But as soon as I see the ship fly in on the first cutscene, I get kicked back to Windows.

My recommedation is if you have XP, don't get this game. So far, it's more trouble than it's worth. So now I guess I will try Homeworld 2.

Good, but not good enough.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: August 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Well. I must admit Cata. has masterful grafics as well as excellent ships and gameplay. However, Cataclysm really can't hold a candle up to it's older brother "Homeworld." If you are just looking to the Homeworld series I would recommend taking Homeworld. Now what is good about this game is it's originality. In one player you play as the Somtaaw, a mining "kiith" or family. The Somtaaw accidentally let loose a virus called "the beast" early in the game. You end combating the beast forthe remainder of the 17 missions. All of which are challenging and exiting. In multi-player you can choose to play as the beast or as the somtaaw. The beast's mother ship, carriers, and heavy Cruisers have an "infection beam" any small ship hit by it becomes under your control. However you can't just start building huge heavy cruisers right away. First you need reasearch it. And once you have researched all the technology required, you must have sufficient Ru's or Resource units to build it. You start the game with 4000rus a mothership and usually some "recon" and some "workers". Workers are the ships that harvest Ru's for you they bring back either 500 or 650 a load. (I'm sorry I can't remember). This may seem like alot but it cost 3700 Ru's to build a heavy Cruiser.
Over all Cataclwsm is a very challenging game that while it is very good, just can't surpass the original home world.

Way dissapointed

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: December 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The original Homeworld blew me away. From that amazing opening sequence with the Addagio for Strings music throughout the rest of the game. Everything about the game was revolutionary. Game play and intense storyline. Which is why I was greatly disappointed with Cataclysm. Cataclysm didn't invoke any sentiment and failed to completely draw me into the story as did the original. The Catacysm story is a complete waterdown compared to the original. The possibilities in ship building and technologies becomes limited compared to Homeworld. The game is a complete step in about every aspect from the original, except for some nice surrounding graphics. I was very very very very very very disappointed with this. A definitive second rate sequel. I wish I had never heard of this sequel, worse yet played it. I recommend sticking to the original Homeworld. This one will only mar the memory of the original.

Cataclysm Rocks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: January 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I couldn't wait to get this game, once I'd seen the previews on the Homeworld/Sierra site. All of my expectations were met and I could only come up with very few criticisms. The game-play is familiar and should be easy for newcomers to RTS. This one is really the epitome of real-time strategy. The addition of waypoints that all ships can patrol is a vast improvement over Homeworld. The story-line makes sense, the graphics are just as good (truly impressive if you've never played the game), and the soundtrack is good. I like the idea of a central, "unbeatable" enemy. The only criticism I have is the same for Homeworld - no add-in missions. C'mon guys, give us more to play with. Unlike most RTS fans, I like to play alone, and once you've done it, you've done it. A must buy for any game player, and if you don't like RTS, the game will make you a convert.

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