Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is an excellent real-time strategy game. As a *Homeworld* prequel, it employs similar gameplay mechanics but on a smaller scale, shifting the action to a planetary surface—though this is by no means a drawback. The mothership and other units fit harmoniously into the overall concept. The desert setting looks stunning—even fantastic—with its dunes and rock formations blending together perfectly without feeling gimmicky. I recommend playing this game to better understand the *Homeworld* lore, or simply because it is a fantastic game in its own right. Personally, the only downside for me is that the enemy isn't tied to resource gathering and simply churns out units; consequently, there is no real race for resources—except in one specific mission, and even that is driven by the plot.

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak surprised me. I enjoyed it much more than the previous Homeworld games, and the presentation is one of its strongest points. The campaign feels very cinematic, and the game does a good job of making the expedition feel important rather than simply moving the player from one mission to another. The problem is that the campaign starts repeating itself too much. After a strong beginning, the missions increasingly follow the same structure: move through the map, search the wreckage for resources, build more units and fight the same types of battles again. Even when the objectives change, the gameplay loop remains very similar, and the missions are also extremely long. I kept expecting the next mission to introduce something different, only to find myself doing almost exactly what I had just done before. I also had some problems with unit control and accessibility. Sometimes units would simply ignore enemies that were extremely close to them, forcing me to select them manually and order an attack. This becomes particularly annoying when trying to make an incursion or move a group of units through an enemy position, because the units do not always react the way I expect them to. The way units are selected could also be more accessible, with a clearer HUD-based system similar to what I prefer in games like Company of Heroes or Men of War. I understand that this is a different type of RTS, and that is not necessarily a problem. However, I personally prefer RTS games that give me more freedom to build, fortify positions, conduct different types of attacks and approach battles in different ways. Deserts of Kharak is much more linear, with the campaign constantly moving from one mission to the next without giving me that same level of freedom. There is still a good game here. The presentation, atmosphere and narrative are well done, and I genuinely enjoyed the first part of the campaign. Unfortunately, the repetition eventually became too much for me, and after around ten hours I simply did not have the patience or motivation to continue the story. For what it offers, I think 5/10 is fair. [b]Score: 5/10[/b] (1) Trash(2) Horrible(3) Very Bad(4) Bad(5) Average (6) Fine(7) Good(8) Very Good(9) Great(10) Masterpiece