Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 233 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 167 out of 233
  2. Mixed: 44 out of 233
  3. Negative: 22 out of 233

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  1. haiontop
    Feb 15, 2016
    7
    If you are a vet, the intro will make you wet.
    The voice acting is true to the original.
    Yet the music in later chapters is not as epic. The final mission is unimpressive, compare to the Homeworld 2's. Enjoyment trail as the game progress, so I was hoping that the end would be something a memorable. Combat is lacking depth, battlecruiser groups counter everything. No sub-module    If you are a vet, the intro will make you wet.
    The voice acting is true to the original.
    Yet the music in later chapters is not as epic.

    The final mission is unimpressive, compare to the Homeworld 2's.
    Enjoyment trail as the game progress, so I was hoping that the end would be something a memorable.

    Combat is lacking depth, battlecruiser groups counter everything.
    No sub-module to destroy, with guns that spin really fast and hit hard with blast radius render smaller-fast-mover-craft-group useless.
    In Homeworld 2, I remember using bombers to disable battlecruiser's engine, missle silo, then position away from main gun.
    Here there's nothing such maneuver, just amass group of 4 battlecruisers to win.

    Overall, if I give Homeworld 2 a 10 then this only deserve 7.
    Still, I'm glad there has been attempts to revive this great franchise.
    But please, if you can't give us hyperspace, then let us see some new innovative mechanic.
    Maybe the sequel could use some camouflage, boarders, sub-modules, line formation that snap on to dunes, etc.    … Expand
  2. akarnokd
    Dec 4, 2016
    8
    I liked this game, not many RTS' come out these days. I played the campaign and loved each mission, too bad it was that short (8 hours). I got it on 66% sale and since I'm not interested in multiplayer, it was a worth purchase at that price.
  3. Athena324
    Apr 19, 2016
    6
    Campaign is solid but other than that, I feel like I'm done. Combat feels like it is lacking in depth, units are a little boring. I was hoping for more. Just feels unfinished to me.
  4. Hector131
    Jan 21, 2016
    8
    Fun and graphically appealing. I don't know how long I will want to play it though. A relatively short campaign and only 5 Skirmish maps? Maybe the Steam Workshop will provide this game with longevity. The interface is seamless and intuitive if you've played any number of RTS games. Reminiscent of C&C Generals play style for me. Needs more units and/or factions. The two factions that itFun and graphically appealing. I don't know how long I will want to play it though. A relatively short campaign and only 5 Skirmish maps? Maybe the Steam Workshop will provide this game with longevity. The interface is seamless and intuitive if you've played any number of RTS games. Reminiscent of C&C Generals play style for me. Needs more units and/or factions. The two factions that it shipped with are too not noticeably different.… Expand
  5. Renovatia
    Mar 9, 2017
    5
    Hey guys, I have just obtained the game and played through the campaign twice already. Yes, it's that short. If you're a singleplayer minded person, then the full asking price for this game is not worth it I think. The first play-through I had no clue what I was doing but I beat the game at "normal" difficulty in about 8 hours. The second time I knew exactly the pro's and cons of the unitsHey guys, I have just obtained the game and played through the campaign twice already. Yes, it's that short. If you're a singleplayer minded person, then the full asking price for this game is not worth it I think. The first play-through I had no clue what I was doing but I beat the game at "normal" difficulty in about 8 hours. The second time I knew exactly the pro's and cons of the units and how to use them thanks to pro-commentary on YouTube. So I played it again, and again it took me 8 hours, but only because I wanted to exploit every little detail. I could have halved the time if I wanted to! And so can you.

    Next is the multiplayer: it's almost non-existent. What can I say. I don't care, but if you care then now you know.

    The AI is non-existent either. During the campaign everything is scripted, the AI doesn't even mine for resources. In singleplayer skirmishes against the AI, the AI does a standard job of attacking you early, but as soon as you settle down a bit you're in full control. At one point I decided just to spy on the AI, and it didn't even bother to exploit it's third resource location (out of 3 available). It was just sitting there to be finished off.

    Without giving spoilers away, I am going to demonstrate the simplicity of DoK's tactical setup:
    * Light Vehicles are fast and are made to hit ranged vehicles as Light Vehicles are too fast to be hit by them
    * Armored vehicles are excellent against Light vehicles
    * Ranged vehicles are good against Armored vehicles

    What do you notice? It's a straightforward rock-paper-scissor approach. Once you know this, the campaign even on hard difficulty will be a breeze.

    Then, you have additional cruiser based vehicles (expensive hard-hitters) but it's all rinse and repeat. Finally you have some flying gear, they are all meant to be hard hitters, just watch out for anti-air as they have no meaningful defenses. Major oddity: support cruisers (non-combat vehicles) have the most vicious anti-air capability of them all after an upgrade. Bit crazy right?

    DLC's are sold for "nominal" fees which offer nothing substantially. For example the DLC Soban "race" is nothing more but a copy of an existing race with a few minor modifications and the obvious graphic changes.

    The game is beautiful yet doesn't require much hardware (my I7 3820 with a GTX680 ran it on 1900 x 1200 like a boss on highest settings). But I suspect the producer planned to exploit the love for the old space based Homeworld game and made the price of DoK way too high (right now over $40 USD without any goodies).
    DoK is the prequel before Homeworld. Also, realize that DoK is a desert-based RTS, not space-based like the Homeworld series.

    The last good thing I have to say, is that in the campaign, the assets you have created are carried over. It's pretty unique. Also the mobile main base system (with extremely heavy defenses) is also fairly unique. But now a negative again: in my second play-through (when I knew what I was doing) I spent a lot of time making some of my units veterans (they can be promoted 5 times). But at one point those precious units weren't carried over! Another bug to note and another tiny disappointment to deal with.

    In short, the positives and the negatives:

    + Nice graphics, also when zoomed in
    + Offers good tactical overview (press space bar for full screen map with all functionalities)
    + Good ideas such as carry-over of units and resources and mobile main platform
    + Excellent performance
    + Very (very!) nice back chatter such as status updates, battle warnings etc.
    + Decent voice acting besides the back chatter
    + It's not one of those frantic micromanage (*click* *click* *click* *click*) RTS games.
    + Base units have a clear and distinct purpose
    + Tactical aspect of height if terrain really matters.

    +/- Advanced units pack a punch, but aren't that specialized. With just a bit of support they can hold their own in many situations.

    - Very short campaign
    - Non-intelligent campaign (every detail is scripted)
    - Almost non-existent multiplayer
    - Bad community management (reported bugs not fixed, no passion for this game)
    - Basic AI
    - Limited tactical possibilities
    - Relative high price all things considered
    - Non-inspiring DLCs
    - Long loading times of missions
    - No modding community

    5/10 because it needs a few notches extra to be worth the price. Thank you for reading all of this.    … Expand
  6. Avadon
    Jan 20, 2016
    8
    **Note: I have not finished the campaign yet, it's quite lengthy, but really enjoyed the part that I played. This is more of a heads-up, rather than a full review. Cautiously take into consideration.

    With the exception of Starcraft 2, pretty much all RTS games that have been released in the past decade have had lousy single player campaigns AND underdeveloped/unbalanced/poor online    **Note: I have not finished the campaign yet, it's quite lengthy, but really enjoyed the part that I played. This is more of a heads-up, rather than a full review. Cautiously take into consideration.

    With the exception of Starcraft 2, pretty much all RTS games that have been released in the past decade have had lousy single player campaigns AND underdeveloped/unbalanced/poor online components. Deserts of Kharak at least has a good single player campaign. It's not HW1-tier, but I'd say it's just as good as HW2's, in term of its effectiveness.

    Is it worth the asking price? The answer to that depends on who you are. If you are a big fan of the atmosphere and storytelling of the series and are mostly interested in the campaign and maybe a few online matches with a friend here and there, then DoK delivers. If you are a competitive player that doesn't really care about single player, and that's looking for a SC2 replacement (for some reason), this is not it. The depth and variety just isn't even in the same ballpark.

    I belong in the first category, so I will score this highly. It gave me a good campaign, and I've been growing increasingly sick and tired of ONLY Blizzard giving a crap about that extremely important aspect of RTS games, and then reading devs saying that people are not interested in the genre anymore. No. People are just not interested in bad RTS games. DoK is half-great, half-poor. If it receives post-launch support and even an expansion later down the line, it can become actually great. Let's hope for the latter.    … Expand
  7. Solsixxa
    Jan 24, 2016
    7
    This review was super hard to me to write. Only because i LOVE the Homeworld universe!. i even named my dog S´jet.
    Well, fineshed the game today, and wow its was mixed feeling all the way. graphics it beautiful. just as expected. my the story was... not horrible. but they could have done some much more.
    Why couldn't we see the Hyperspace core discovered? Seeing all clans unite in peace    This review was super hard to me to write. Only because i LOVE the Homeworld universe!. i even named my dog S´jet.
    Well, fineshed the game today, and wow its was mixed feeling all the way. graphics it beautiful. just as expected. my the story was... not horrible. but they could have done some much more.
    Why couldn't we see the Hyperspace core discovered? Seeing all clans unite in peace to find there real home.

    Game was SO easy!, i completed in hard, and had 5000 RU´s to spare. This game reminds me of the 90´game Dark Reign? anybody remember that?

    Well, if you are a hardcore homeworld fan get it. If you love the story of homeworld, and would like to se more, you will get disappointed. game seams rushed :(    … Expand
  8. Sjalka
    Jan 22, 2016
    8
    First of all - i find it very ballsy (is that a term anyway?) to release a polished RTS at that time ... considering that the RTS market is all but dead - or so it seems atm.

    Alright - so what do you get when you add gravity and a surface to Homeworld? - NOT just Homeworld with those features added ... you actually get a completely new gameplay. Although Homeworld played mostly on a    First of all - i find it very ballsy (is that a term anyway?) to release a polished RTS at that time ... considering that the RTS market is all but dead - or so it seems atm.

    Alright - so what do you get when you add gravity and a surface to Homeworld? - NOT just Homeworld with those features added ... you actually get a completely new gameplay. Although Homeworld played mostly on a flat plane ... it happens in space - and one of the major downsides of Homeworld was/is - that space can only give you so many tactical options. Maps mostly varied by background and available resources.

    Now however - we get real terrain - and not just cosmetic terrain - but one that matters. So the tactical aspect of DoK is much greater than Homeworld - at least from my pov.

    There is also the aesthetics of Homeworld with its kind of clean and modular - yet oddly realistic look - especially realistic scaling. - that works quite well for ground units. The sense of scale works much better than in games of the Total Annihilation / Supreme Commander series - that also features gigantic units along with realistically scaled smaller units.

    Graphics have been upgraded from Homeworld 2 (and/or the remastered versions) - but maintain their design aesthetics well. Music and sound is good - but the sound is not quite as powerful as the sounds in Homeworld.

    The AI works well ... but is still kind of predicatable and not able to mount massive rushes or other stuff that human players tend to do. But it is certainly on the better side of AIs ... and well worth it - even for single players without access to multiplayer battles all the time.

    Performance-wise it runs well on full detail on lower end computers - but then it is not really a "fast" game.

    I must say that i did not expect much - actually i expected a disaster when i first hear of this title - because i thought it would compromise mobile gaming with Homeworld. (not so sure why - but i think i do remember that mobile ports were at least mentioned in that article that i read about it some time ago)

    I d put this game up in the same league as C&C Generals zero hour ... but not quite there yet. (Zero hour beats it with its vastly more varied and asymetric factions and game modes) - and Deserts of Kharak does not have the maps and faction variety to shine (yet).

    It is a solid 8/10 though - with great potential - considering the Homeworld modding community.    … Expand
  9. zestyzooplankto
    Jan 21, 2016
    10
    It's a beautiful and satisfying game. Gameplay feel's a lot like those old RTSs you don't see anymore: Red Alert, Dune, etc. Graphics are beautiful, and of course the Homeworld vibe is incredible. Highly recommend this!
  10. Honelith
    Jan 24, 2016
    8
    Loving the transition to ground vehicular combat, very enjoyable. The campaign is surprisingly good with great little cutscenes connecting each mission, some great writing on the dialogue and the art style is fantastic, it's incredibly immersive and the radio chatter is amazing to listen to as it's so varied. Small niggles about the annoying camera controls, your viewpoint feels too closeLoving the transition to ground vehicular combat, very enjoyable. The campaign is surprisingly good with great little cutscenes connecting each mission, some great writing on the dialogue and the art style is fantastic, it's incredibly immersive and the radio chatter is amazing to listen to as it's so varied. Small niggles about the annoying camera controls, your viewpoint feels too close to the battlefield especially when hills and mountains come into view, it's missing vital features which every RTS cannot do without and several other things they need to tweak and fix, but judging by their official forum they're already hard at work on more maps and fixes and improvements.

    It's a good solid return to the brilliant setting of Homeworld and I hope BBI continue to add and improve upon it. It's a safe addition to the Homeworld series but I just wish BBI did more with the time they spent on this game, it's good but not as great as it could have been.

    So, basically. What's great is the story, voice acting, dialogue, music, gameplay, immersive both visually and through its audio and easily replayable either through mastering the harder difficulty of the campaign because the gameplay is so enjoyable or multiplayer to see how cunning other Homeworld fans can be!    … Expand
  11. Midnightmare
    Jan 26, 2016
    7
    Not a bad game.....but not as epic as everyone makes it. That sense of epicness you had in homeworld just isent there...I was kinda hoping for a strategy game not just another tactics game....And it kinda feels like a pretty standard paper rock scissor game...A decent one...just feels like something i played a billion times before.

    That being said! I dont care for campaigns....And i    Not a bad game.....but not as epic as everyone makes it. That sense of epicness you had in homeworld just isent there...I was kinda hoping for a strategy game not just another tactics game....And it kinda feels like a pretty standard paper rock scissor game...A decent one...just feels like something i played a billion times before.

    That being said! I dont care for campaigns....And i guess this game is kinda made for those people.    … Expand
  12. JonathanRL
    Jan 21, 2016
    10
    When it comes to franchises, I would feel that the most important thing is feeling. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak have plenty of feeling. It feels like a Homeworld game should while still inventing upon what makes the game good. It does not shy away from re-invention. It is not afraid to take risks.

    The music is terrific and adds a lot to the feeling - as does the story. While I have my    When it comes to franchises, I would feel that the most important thing is feeling. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak have plenty of feeling. It feels like a Homeworld game should while still inventing upon what makes the game good. It does not shy away from re-invention. It is not afraid to take risks.

    The music is terrific and adds a lot to the feeling - as does the story. While I have my doubts about some of it, it also explains other things without making them blatantly obvious. This is the Homeworld game we wanted. This is the game that is what Blackbird once told us it would be. This game is excellent.    … Expand
  13. Hseeker25
    Jan 23, 2016
    7
    Its bland and feels unfinished, no big ass vehicle in the end, just a brick with two turrets that felt realy underwhelming, its lacking in alot of aspects Its a okay game dont get me wrong but idk it felt realy empty.

    It could have been a good game if they added way more, now it feels a medioric year 2000 game.
  14. Pech_SOG
    Jan 22, 2016
    10
    Fantastic game. Epic campaign. I don't MP so I won't speak to that but in terms of a tour de force single player campaign, this is it.

    I am baffled by complaints with regards to pacing and graphics. The game is glorious, it really transports you to another world. If anything it feels right out of the Dune novels. In terms of pacing/combat, it is wonderful that it is not a click fest.    Fantastic game. Epic campaign. I don't MP so I won't speak to that but in terms of a tour de force single player campaign, this is it.

    I am baffled by complaints with regards to pacing and graphics. The game is glorious, it really transports you to another world. If anything it feels right out of the Dune novels.

    In terms of pacing/combat, it is wonderful that it is not a click fest. Allows you to take your time and enjoy everything that is occuring. And just wait till you get airpower! Incredible to watch from a distance and enjoy the show.

    Cannot recommend this enough if you are in search of a truly great single player campaign. (As good as HW1/2 of which I am a huge fan)    … Expand
  15. Wolfe117
    Jan 23, 2016
    10
    Haven't been able to stop playing since I started. Brings all the features of great storytelling and game-play from past Homeworld titles to ground RTS.
  16. monolith12
    Jan 21, 2016
    8
    Homeworld: Desert of Kharak is a great game a fantastic spin-off for the Homeworld franchise.

    Singleplayer campaign took me about 12 hours on the hardest difficulty setting, I got wrecked by the AI a few times and had to restart or reload from a save multiple times. The story is well written and executed, it is mostly fed to you through cutscenes and animatics. Even for fans of the    Homeworld: Desert of Kharak is a great game a fantastic spin-off for the Homeworld franchise.

    Singleplayer campaign took me about 12 hours on the hardest difficulty setting, I got wrecked by the AI a few times and had to restart or reload from a save multiple times. The story is well written and executed, it is mostly fed to you through cutscenes and animatics. Even for fans of the original titles (who kinda know how the game is going to end, after all it`s a prequel) there are plenty of surprises!

    Multiplayer/Skirmish is fun but it suffers a bit from the low map choice (5 maps at release). At least in "Artifact Retrieval" mode (basically capture the flag) the AI can be very, very challenging actually, I can not confirm the experience of some reviewers here. Note that keys can not be rebound at the moment, though the standard layout of the quickbuttons is okay and usable.

    Performance was good on an i3 and a GTX 650 Ti, FPS did only drop in very, very, very intense situations (lots of units and boom). No major bugs encountered, except for an UI bug that caused returning from the options menu to be quite a wait (30 secs+). Only ever had a single crash so far, this occured right before loading a new mission.

    Although the title obviously still needs some work I am satisfied with this purchase and excited for upcoming new content (free maps have already been promised, further DLC are "in the pipe").

    8/10 would recommend    … Expand
  17. StormTheGates
    Jan 24, 2016
    10
    A faithful recreation for a new generation of Homeworld fans. Brings the same importance of 3d positioning without the hassle of space.

    Going to be much better for old Homeworld fans than new members.
  18. hongkong_tea
    Mar 2, 2016
    6
    I expected a lot more from these people. Being a fan of HW, Relic and RTS games all I would say is that it's a good game, but not what it should have been.
    The original HW was flawless in so many ways, this game is just average in everything.
  19. Kiseki
    Feb 8, 2016
    7
    The game is very crude and the unit design isnt well thought out from a balance perspective. Its very small scaled compared to the original homeworld games. The progression into higher tiered units and the higher tier units themselves dont feel well thought out. But the animations are quite alright. Its not flashy or anything, just ok.

    The game retains the unique features of a homeworld    The game is very crude and the unit design isnt well thought out from a balance perspective. Its very small scaled compared to the original homeworld games. The progression into higher tiered units and the higher tier units themselves dont feel well thought out. But the animations are quite alright. Its not flashy or anything, just ok.

    The game retains the unique features of a homeworld game:

    1. You have a mothership carrier that serve as mobile base, builds units and have armaments of itself. The mothership in this game have level up points, you acquire them by gathering artifacts and you can allocate points to different systems - armor, repair, weapon damage, and range. A good system.
    2. All your remaining units and resources gets carried to the next mission. It makes the game flow better and the scenario more real. Unfortuantely the scenario themselves arent that well made.
    3. User interface and controls, you have a menu on the right to control your mothership to build units and research technologies and upgrades. The move command shows you a radius of movement. You can specify a number of commands which include attack a specified group of units. Unfortunately it does not feel good on planet surface as opposed to space. Homeworld was really special because you play space battle in a 3d environment, you specify 3 co-ordinates to move units instead of 2 co-ordinates on a 2d map.

    General features:

    1. Non-unique is all units in the game have some special abilities you can activate, I quite like them.
    2. Pace combat is slower than your average RTS, difficulty is easy to average. You can mine more resources than you know what to do with. You carry over resources from last mission and each mission they made sure there are enough resources for you to win. So your carry over resources stacks up over a number of mission and you just get richer and richer and can pump out more and more units.

    Problems I have with the game.

    1. User interface and control system. But the original homeworld 2 looked and felt better probably because because its set in space. It made sense in a 3d environment, and the textures also fit in better. you dont just specify where on a plain you want to move, you also select which verticalOn the surface, its nothing but a shell that offers a different visual display.

    2. Remaining units from each mission is carried forward to the next mission. It gives the game a good follow.

    My problems with the game:

    1. AI is really really bad, in skirmish you cannot play a game with uneven teams. e.g. have to be 1v1, 2v2 or 3v3. Only a few maps to play with as well. There are not many people who play the game so multiplayer you probably be hard pressed to find people to play with.

    2. Too many chit-chat in game, the script talks almost none-stop sometimes. But this can be good too depending on the person. It gives the game more realism with things happening real-time. no timeout.

    3. Some units fire like rail guns shoot through obstacles sometimes. sitting on top of a cliff and animation of the laser just shoots through ground. the ground takes no damage of course.

    4. Story was a bit weak. Ending was wrapped up too quickly and didnt have a lot. Didnt really feel a climax and finale.

    5. Units feels are too simple and not well thought out and designed.

    If this game is not homeworld I would probably only give it a 6. But been homeworld and with all its good and unique features 6 does not do justice. I think the crude feel of the game comes mainly been a small budget title and an old game running out of ideas.

    Having said all that I feel its still a worthwhile game to buy and support. Homeworld and its gameplay is really special.    … Expand
  20. Jayson2016
    Mar 31, 2016
    4
    I love it for the fact it's trying to revive the RTS genre and ending the Homeworld universe. However, there are too many negatives for me to give it a higher score. First off, the need for AI to gather resources is removed from this game, all enemy units are spawned using scripts. The ENTIRE enemy unit catalog consists of about 8 units (heavy railgun, assault railgun, assault platform,I love it for the fact it's trying to revive the RTS genre and ending the Homeworld universe. However, there are too many negatives for me to give it a higher score. First off, the need for AI to gather resources is removed from this game, all enemy units are spawned using scripts. The ENTIRE enemy unit catalog consists of about 8 units (heavy railgun, assault railgun, assault platform, sandskimmer, production cruiser, honorguard cruiser, missile platform, repair frigate, air units only exist in the last mission) and with those it ends up being a contest of how long you can survive the endless script spawns.

    As to the campaign quality, the animation hearkens back to the original, but has improvements as it should be. I loved it, but it was TOO SHORT. They could have fleshed out this story so much more, and extended the playthrough. The entire campaign takes anywhere from 9-12 hours to finish, and for 50 dollars for the basic version and 69 for the DLC packs, it is awful.

    They had so much potential to make this a game series better than the Starcraft empire but fell short, swing and a miss.    … Expand
  21. Grindmetal
    Jan 21, 2016
    10
    Simplesmente!!! Incrível!!! Muito boa história ,gameplay, graficos,perfomance ,atmosfera, etc...... Vale muito a pena jogar SP o MP muito divertido faz perder horas jogando o MultPlayer
  22. Fiasco69
    Jan 28, 2016
    2
    A tremendous disappointment. 16 years after the original, it pales in comparison to the original Homeworld. It is a $20 game, not a $50 game. I've replayed the SP missions in HW1, HW2 and Cataclysm multiple times over the last 10+ years. I doubt I'll ever play this one again after completing it.
  23. ZRaiyne
    Jan 23, 2016
    6
    The GOOD:
    1. Graphics. It's realistic and furnished to perfection.
    2. Atmosphere. It's great! Immersive story telling that bridges itself wonderfully with HW1. 3. Physics. It's definitely more polished compared to HW1 and HW2. 4. Combat. Combat looks and feels authentic (at first), much like HW1 and HW2. The BAD: 1. Interface. It's massively underwhelming. No escort patterns. No    The GOOD:
    1. Graphics. It's realistic and furnished to perfection.
    2. Atmosphere. It's great! Immersive story telling that bridges itself wonderfully with HW1.
    3. Physics. It's definitely more polished compared to HW1 and HW2.
    4. Combat. Combat looks and feels authentic (at first), much like HW1 and HW2.

    The BAD:
    1. Interface. It's massively underwhelming. No escort patterns. No siege arrangement line-ups. No smart-formation movement and strategies. No firing distance preferences. No distance info when you press the move or even in the zoomed-out view. No ETA for units who are ordered to move from point A to point B.
    2. Clipping. There are noticeable clipping issues with units and weapon line of sight firing. Eg. Harvesters stack with each other. No harvester docking animations.
    3. Path-Finding. It's decent if you group similar smaller units together. Mixing them up however with slower heavier units then it gets pretty bad; horrendous even in tight spaces.
    4. Units. Same unit types for both sides plus the fact that there are very few unit types present. It's like a demo.
    5. Detail. No main-ship and carrier sub-system building. No specific unit part targeting, eg. Sub-system targeting to disable movement, weapons, or research.
    6. AI (skirmish/MP). The AI is nothing but an auto-pilot attack everything rush type. It stops building units and harvesters midway even in the harder difficulty settings. Single player AI is mostly scripted.
    7. Maps (skirmish/MP). It has what, 5 very uninteresting maps? really?!
    8. HORRIBLE PERFORMANCE. For such a barren landscape with so few units, performance is horrendous. The latter missions plummet to single digits even when i turn off every video detail. I play the game at maxed everything and I have a good rig, mind you. I run Witcher 3 and every other game that's been released on ULTRA settings at 2560x1080 just fine.

    I'd give it a 6/10 for now, because it feels like a single player demo. Plus, it's unoptimized as fudge! Some missions run smoothly others take nose dive! It's definitely a step back from HW1 and HW2 when you look at it as a whole.

    Terrain height and line-of-sight gameplay isn't anything new in this genre. Company of Heroes, Dawn of War 2, Supreme Commander Forged Alliance/2, Ground Control 1/2, and even the classic Total Annihilation all have it. Company of Heroes and DoW2 do it better too as there is an angular projectile deflection modifier per shot that is taken into account. In this game, ballistics seem to perform like lasers.

    The game has... polish with its looks, most definitely, but so little content to be considered a true successor of the Homeworld franchise. (Until the paid DLC's come-out at least. LOL) It's way too expensive for its asking price with the content that's currently available in this initial release.

    I don't understand why such an old engine with updated textures taxes current generation gaming computers. I don't remember a game this unoptimized since Neverwinter Nights 2.    … Expand
  24. Azzanation
    Jan 21, 2016
    10
    Homeworld is one of those franchises that its story holds up really well. Being a prequel fits in so well. Deserts of Kharak plays just like Homeworld Originals except on land. It has always had one of the best RTS gameplay designs. The sounds alone are amazing. This game is a must buy for those who loved the Homeworld series and a must buy for RTS fans. Story holds up well, gameplay isHomeworld is one of those franchises that its story holds up really well. Being a prequel fits in so well. Deserts of Kharak plays just like Homeworld Originals except on land. It has always had one of the best RTS gameplay designs. The sounds alone are amazing. This game is a must buy for those who loved the Homeworld series and a must buy for RTS fans. Story holds up well, gameplay is fun and simple and the game design is top notch. While the visuals aren't super computer pushing, its enough to create an amazing atmosphere for this great game.

    I will be looking forward to the next Homeworld game.    … Expand
  25. Hecatone
    Jan 20, 2016
    3
    There are only 6 (although they are large) skirmish maps and you can only play as 2 sides/types which gets boring quickly. There also aren't very many units to choose from. Even on easy the AI just swarms you. The UI is decent but managing everything is overwhelming, without base building it's difficult to make a strong point where you don't have to micromanage... which wouldn't matterThere are only 6 (although they are large) skirmish maps and you can only play as 2 sides/types which gets boring quickly. There also aren't very many units to choose from. Even on easy the AI just swarms you. The UI is decent but managing everything is overwhelming, without base building it's difficult to make a strong point where you don't have to micromanage... which wouldn't matter because the enemy would just swarm you before you could research it anyway. The game looks pretty and the units (the few) are enjoyable and so is the story. The game isn't terrible but it left me just wanting to play Supreme Commander. If you get this game get it on sale or in a few years.… Expand
  26. pandorazero
    Jan 20, 2016
    8
    Well seen by a new series of Homeworld, studio Blatskbird did a good job on the game! To judge a game that has not come out it's not true test, but the first video game that can be done to understand the soul.
  27. SpyderSeven
    Jan 26, 2016
    7
    It was OK. I have both Deserts and Remastered on my PC and I always choose Remastered to have some fun.

    The units seem chintzy - the combat is cool, but everything is very deadly. Units feel less like tanks and more like missiles to be disposed of in combat. Gone are the cool and logical squadrons of small units; even the smallest throwaway buggy is produced one at a time. It feels like    It was OK. I have both Deserts and Remastered on my PC and I always choose Remastered to have some fun.

    The units seem chintzy - the combat is cool, but everything is very deadly. Units feel less like tanks and more like missiles to be disposed of in combat. Gone are the cool and logical squadrons of small units; even the smallest throwaway buggy is produced one at a time. It feels like a step towards StarCraft or Command&Conquer, the way the units interact with each other and react to your commands.

    The desert is ugly. It can't be ignored. I can appreciate the varied environments; a great job was done here to make the desert look interesting, but it's still a desert. In the best possible case, this is Homeworld without the stunning and unimaginably huge vistas.

    The sensor view doesn't work as well in the desert as in space. The various shades used by the map aren't particularly intuitive, but it's a workable setup.

    The graphics are similarly OK. Doesn't look particularly stunning, but it's good enough that you don't feel jarred. The art style is very appropriate for the Homeworld universe, but the same design language that produced the flowing lines and utilitarian towers of Homeworld's ships produces some believable but very uninteresting land units. The carrier Kapisi alone is an odd contraption, fitted with tracks that look much too small and a flight deck too large and superfluous for the futuristic craft it launches. It certainly doesn't invoke the beauty and awe of the banana ship.

    There are a weak points to the graphics, too. Some units clip together, some things seem like they could be fleshed out. Repairs are conducted by the ubiquitous "health beam" projected from support units and I found that supremely disappointing. Nanolathing was an awesome solution for Total Annihilation in 1997, but in 2016 it just looks like they didn't want to animate something more interesting.

    The campaign was decent. The story pulled you in enough, and the journey into the vast desert was interesting. That said, it wasn't AAA. It's slightly worse than HW2's story, and there are a few predictable and slightly cringe-worthy lines (this was my brother's ship...)

    Which brings me to our new main character. I like Karen S'jet from HW2. She's very practical, but she displays these perfect twinges of emotion which give a lot of life to a very stoic character. The new chick, Rachel, is loosely similar to Karen, but she feels more like a mediocre imitation than a sentimental recreation. None of the characters in past Homeworlds were enthralling, but they were more than talking heads in the old games.

    Overall, I'd recommend this game. It's not the Homeworld I've been waiting for, but it's a fine and entertaining RTS on it's own merits and one of the better releases in the genre from the past ten years.    … Expand
  28. Iracundus
    Jan 24, 2016
    6
    Lot of the appeal of this game frankly will be based on nostalgia for the Homeworld series. As a prequel, we know where this will ultimately end. However the story of how we get there is unfortunately a repeat of the Homeworld 2 game. Carrier/mothership is being outfitted when there is sneak attack by the fanatical Gaalsien/Vaygr. Carrier is forced to launch early and be outfitted at aLot of the appeal of this game frankly will be based on nostalgia for the Homeworld series. As a prequel, we know where this will ultimately end. However the story of how we get there is unfortunately a repeat of the Homeworld 2 game. Carrier/mothership is being outfitted when there is sneak attack by the fanatical Gaalsien/Vaygr. Carrier is forced to launch early and be outfitted at a secondary base. Then follows a series of missions against the enemy, including a base assault, then some battlefield archaeology and finding ancient relics, rescuing a brother/comrade, culminating in a showdown with the enemy flagship over the Game Ending Relic.

    While the cutscenes were nice, they could not make up for this rehash of the Homeworld 2 campaign, much like how the Force Awakens movie plot is a rehash and rearrangement of A New Hope.    … Expand
  29. Olrikus
    Jan 26, 2016
    9
    I'm in love with this game. While you can find it strange, I will try to explain why.

    I like this military drama story. Aside from that, I like how BBI used the Homeworld lore and added stuff to it. After a series of my recent disappointments like HotS (what they did to Kerrigan is abysmal if we take Brood Wars into account) and SW7 it is such a pleasure to watch the coherence with    I'm in love with this game. While you can find it strange, I will try to explain why.

    I like this military drama story. Aside from that, I like how BBI used the Homeworld lore and added stuff to it. After a series of my recent disappointments like HotS (what they did to Kerrigan is abysmal if we take Brood Wars into account) and SW7 it is such a pleasure to watch the coherence with HW1&2 story.

    Scenery is not as diverse as I wanted but it is okay for a desert planet. Unit design is sometimes cubic but I have no problem since it looks organic and intended: we have a really advanced and exotic race focused on hid and run tactics and slow but sure utilitarian design race. Which leads you to gameplay which is insanely addictive, watching the battlefield from a close distance can consume me for hours, excellent soundtrack adds to it and multiplayer... It is insane how many tactics you can use and how many builds you can choose since both races similar but plays different. Balance needs some tweaks but the core looks very promising now. The only thing I want to complain about is spawned enemy forces in campaign on higher difficulty, looks a bit cheap but who cares? It just intensifies the campaign :)

    It has small bugs but nothing game breaking and almost all titles have them these days so I am used to it.

    If you want a clone of Starcraft or Supreme Commander then this game is definitely not for you. And I am completely unsure about the e-sport part (since I personally don't care about it) so no input here. But if you can live with some rough edges and ready to invest into learning of this game's mechanics then you can find it just as fun as I am.

    Crossing my fingers and hoping for a long after launch support.    … Expand
  30. DukeBalek
    Nov 29, 2017
    10
    A mega surprise. At first i thought " meh...homeworld on ground ? weird" but as soon I launched it, I was stuck by the quality of the scenario and the artistic beauty of the cut scenes. The game it self lacks some depth in the gameplay, but overall it's quite addictive and fun. The sound is very good and the ambiance is perfect. Homeworld vets are going to really enjoy it. The game isntA mega surprise. At first i thought " meh...homeworld on ground ? weird" but as soon I launched it, I was stuck by the quality of the scenario and the artistic beauty of the cut scenes. The game it self lacks some depth in the gameplay, but overall it's quite addictive and fun. The sound is very good and the ambiance is perfect. Homeworld vets are going to really enjoy it. The game isnt built for mutiplayer (Sc2 is far better on this side), but the solo campaign is amazing (one of the best i played since.... Homeworld).. In fact, if the writing of a game is perfect , you can accept some defaults..
    I put 10 because of the surprise, because of the bravery to launch this kind of game, because it has been created with the hearth and with passion, and you can feel it directly after the first minutes. I also put 10 because of the 0 i saw or less than 5 ,with some crazy argumentations like"the cut scenes wich are not skippable".
    "Unskippable Cutscenes put the max score to 4. After 4 minutes of my time, I still could not play. Since they locked me out of the game with this choice, I can only give it Zero." are you serious ? this is the worst comment i red for many times.
    very good game, it reminds me the "Mad Max" game, wich was totally unexpected and revealed itself to be a great game    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

91
#91 Best PC Game of 2016
62
#62 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
87
#87 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 52 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 52
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 52
  3. Negative: 0 out of 52
  1. Ragequit.gr
    Apr 6, 2016
    85
    Although Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak doesn’t reinvent the wheel, there is no denying that it is a superb example of how modern Real Time Strategy games should look, feel and play. Accessible, intense and hauntingly beautiful at times, it manages to present a gripping tale of agony and desperation through one of the best single player campaigns the genre has ever witnessed.
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  2. IGN Denmark
    Apr 6, 2016
    80
    A rock solid take on the RTS genre, and a game not trying to be something it's not.
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  3. CD-Action
    Mar 30, 2016
    75
    People who brought us HD editions of original Homeworlds now offer a good RTS with an engaging but rather short (9 hours) story. [03/2016, p.40]
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