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Review for the Alaska Apple Users Group

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 59 / 59
Date: October 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Homeworld 2 is sequel to PC Gamer's 1999 Game of the Year, which was never officially released on the Macintosh (...). Like it's predecessor, Homeworld 2 is a stunningly beautiful strategy game driven by an enthralling and moving story. The innovative 3D approach inspired a series of similar games for Windows, but this is, fittingly, the first to make it to the Mac.

Long after the events of the first game, the Hiigaran people find themselves once again in a prophetic war of galactic-scale. The plot is captivating and does a phenomenal job of tying the individual missions together. The story unfolds through smoothly integrated scripted action with in-game dialog and complementary cut scenes between missions. The latter do not detract from the atmosphere either - they are uniquely artistic with simply animated grayscale visuals.

There is no overstating it: this game is stunning. The nebular backgrounds are lit by nearby stars, fighters leave elegant trails as they maneuver, engines glow ominously, and stylish ship hulls are dramatically lit. Even the violence of weapons, fire, and explosions are stunning.

It even sounds as good as it looks. Homeworld had an award-winning soundtrack and the sequel has a great one too. Sound effects are high quality and active stereo makes you really feel a part of the action. Orders from fleet intelligence and fleet command are well acted and the responses from your ships are varied enough to prevent annoyance.

You command the fleet to victory from the mothership with few allies and a determined foe. The basic mechanics of the game are like most strategy games. You have to harvest resources in order to research new technologies and build more ships to help you achieve victory. The sci-fi environment and plot tie-ins even make that model seem more natural and less tedious than in most strategy titles.

Unlike other games in the genre, the action unfolds in true 3D space. You can - and must - maneuver vertically as well as laterally. This makes battles much more interesting. There is still "terrain" to be exploited in the form meteors that can provide cover and clouds that can be harmful or hide from the enemy. All of this makes the tactical play very unique.

As difficult as the number of units and 3D environment could be to control, Homeworld's approach made it pretty simple and the sequel is even more so. By automatically forming squadrons of fighters, for example, you don't have to worry about banding dozens of individual units. The interface makes selecting ships, assigning formations, and issuing move and attack orders easy. A tactical view makes seeing the big picture a snap and moving vertically is as simple as holding a single key.

There is a bit of a learning curve, but once you get started you're likely to be hooked for a while. Even after completing the single player missions (which should take some time) you can replay them to improve your fleet or try a different tactic.

Though multiplayer games are a lot of fun, they are restricted to other Mac users only, since the Windows version uses GameSpy. That also leaves the Mac version without a built-in game browser. Though supported by GameRanger (...), not a lot of people are playing online yet. You also have the option of playing multiplayer games against one or several computer controlled fleets just to test yourself. Realistically though, most of the replay value comes from repeating the campaign missions.

Homeworld 2 is an impressive game. Missions load very quickly and performance is great even near the low-end. Despite it's level of detail I was able to turn the graphics all the way up on a machine that drags Halo and Battlefield 1942 through the dirt without suffering a performance hit until literally hundreds of spacecraft were visible.

Homeworld 2 is a must have for any strategy gamers out there. I highly recommend it for anyone with an attention span longer than ten minutes and an interest in space, science fiction, or who just wants to see something beautiful on their screen. But as Lavar Burton says, "you don't have to take my word for it." (...)

No Tiger Problems Here

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: August 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I don't have much to add as far as the content of this game, but I would like to say that I have been playing Homeworld 2 steadily over the last few days on 10.4 Tiger, and so far I have not encountered any problems whatsoever. So to all you potential buyers out there, don't let the previous reviewer scare you - Homeworld 2 runs just fine on Tiger. You now have no good reason not to buy this game.

A beautiful game, but not a $50 game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: November 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

HW2 is all of the things everyone else says: It's visually stunning, without crushing your processor, the music and sound effects in general are amazing, and the actual gameplay is quite enjoyable. The pace is generally slow and stately, with bursts of frenetic combat. You definitely feel the hugeness and majesty of space while you're playing it, and that, combined with the fact that you never see a human face or figure, create a strange sort of detached, lonely intensity to the game.

The controls are demanding, no matter what anybody says. Maneuvering your fleet from one point to another in the 3D space is a real hair-puller-outer, never mind trying to use the waypoint systems, and the fact that you have to micromanage I find more frustrating than challenging. Things like having your workers automatically repair damaged units nearby and the like, which games like WC3 have managed to make a matter of course, don't seem possible with this game. The fighting units are not particularly diverse...they seem to go big, bigger, biggest, with the minelayer and the capture vessels being the only ships with unusual functions (and the minelayer seems to be a favorite target of the enemy AI, so you never really get to see it do its thing).

The missions in the Single Player mode are really compelling, but don't cry out for a replay once you're done, and the Melée mode doesn't stray much from the typical RTS formula of build up your forces and technology and then go fight. I don't play online so I can't testify as to the value of the game in that area. And I have yet to find the community of modmakers and custom-map makers that other RTS games like Warcraft, Total Annihilation and so on have inspired, which would definitely give some legs to this game.

In summary, the imagery and sound are superb. If the developers of this game had been a little more engaged in the gameplay dynamics and the replayability of the game it would be a 5-star AAA game all the way. But as it is, I can't recommend paying more than $20-$30 at the most for this game. I have seen this game for as little as $15 used, and at those prices it's definitely worth it.

Does not work on Mac OS X 10.4

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: May 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Great game! Unfortunately it does not work on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and there are no patches available from Aspyr yet (as of May 2005). I had to set up a second partition on which I installed Mac OS X 10.3 just to play this game. However, HW2 is totally worth it. I played the original Homeworld back in 1999 and also Homeworld Catalyst. Homeworld 2 boasts a new in-game menu interface which does not look as nice as I would have expected from Relic but is easier to use and more effective than the menus in the original Homeworld. Missions are more difficult now. This can be frustrating at times but also makes sure you play the game for a long time.

Good Port Solid Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I would first like to commend ASPYR for their awsome port over to Mac, with some of their games I find they didn't do a good jo or left things out, not in this case. The graphics are top notch and the enviroments are absolutly gourgeous. As for the story it could do better and the gameplay does get a little repetetive but the way the engine works is absolutley awsome. Another problem with the gameplay is(and I know making a 3D universe for a RTS is difficult) I found the camera angles to sometimes get a bit annoying and often made me use the sensors to play the game (sensors are kinda like the mega map). Overall though it's a top notch title and a top notch port.

Plot is Weak, But Gameplay Is Unique

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm an RTS (Real-Time-Strategy) fan, and am quickly getting bored of the same old games being rehashed as either a StarCraft or Age of Empires clone. But to my delight I found Homeworld 2 a very unique gaming experience: 3-D! I downloaded the anemic demo, and was surprised to find that the game is more extensive, although not extremely hard. The hot-key and mouse (my best purchase for my Mac was a two key mouse--you should get one anyway!) input has a high learning curve, but once you get it, you'll find it was worth the wait.
The disadvantage is that there are few HW2 games posted on GameRanger...I hope to see that change once the word gets out that Homeworld 2 is a refreshing game in a genre that is full of "copycats."

a wonderful challenge, amazing sound!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: July 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game presents a tough challenge, but highly enjoyable.
The sound in this game is amazing! be sure you've got a good sub on your sound system, because it'll make teeth-rattling use of it!

definitely a good buy!

If you've got time to learn it.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 14
Date: August 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game if you have time to kill and don't mind learning the convoluted controls.

Great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have been playing this game for about 2 months now and it is one of the best space games I have ever played. The graphics are great and the battles look amazing. I have not had any problems playing it on my Dual 2.7ghz G5 There is also a very cool Battlestar Galactica mod for this game that is awesome.

Amazingly good, but not perfect (Works on Intel too!)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I must say, being a fan of Real-time strategy games, I was instantly interested in Homeworld when I found it here on Amazon. I caught myself thinking, however, what more Homeworld could offer me. Being that I had already played Age Of Empires, Star Wars: Empire at War, and dabbled in Command and Conquer and Civilization, I thought that Homeworld would not change much from the basic RTS system. However, convinced by some interesting YouTube videos featuring the gameplay, and by the fact there are very few Mac games out there, I bought the game, and I was very pleasantly surprised.
The gameplay is immensely fun and features far more actual strategy then RTSs such as Age of Empires. I'll list everything out plain and simple:
1. The graphics are amazingly good.
2. There are only 2 different civilizations from which to play, however, each has ENTIRELY different units and an entirely different structure for building and advancing them.
3. Strategy gameplay is enhanced by features such as capture ships, shielding ships, cloaking, minelaying, and especially surprise attacks Via Hyperspace jumps.
4. It is in full 3d- ships can move vertically as well as horizontally.
5. The ability for camera angles to follow certain units allows for stunning battle visuals.
6. A sensor overlay allows for quick map overviews in only a click.
7. The AI is quite good and all units act with intelligence.
8. Homeworld actually features a storyline and tactical missions with objectives far from simply "destroy the enemy." Players must keep track of rapidly changing objectives and quick skirmishes. It is also diffucult, and will take probably take 12-15 hours to complete.
While Homeworld is an incredibly good game, it does have it's problems. Here are a few of my complaints:
1. The camera sometimes seems to get stuck far below or far above your units, and vertical camera movement is difficult.
2. The controls are difficult and require some practice to master- although they allow for very unlimited movement.
3. The maps for the multiplayer and single player v. CPU do not very much, and maps have little in terms of background details, realistic to space but not as fun.

Overall, the gameplay of Homeworld 2 is amazing. Even better, it works flawlessly on Intel Macs, and is much better then similar games such as SWEAW. I would wholeheartedly suggest it over Empire at War. (Its cheaper too!). I cannot attest to online gameplay, but the singleplayer is absorbing enough to buy it solely for that purpose. I give HW 4 stars of 5, because of its downsides listed above, but it is an amazingly beautiful game.

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