Homeworld 2 (Mac)
By Gerrit H. Dalman "Forged in Fire!" (Oklahoma) - reviews
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." (...)
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