ON CHOW:
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Publisher: Sierra Studios Developer: Relic Release: Fall 1998 Those wondering what the next big thing in real-time strategy will be need to take a good look at Relic's Homeworld. This is a game of full-scale space battle, as ambitious by design as it is promising in execution. It plays out in incredible 3D detail that grants you nearly infinite control over zoom functions such that you can witness dozens of ships dogfighting at once or scrutinize the paint job on a single interceptor. The various ships, of which there are over 100 types, are each highly detailed with moving parts, engine trails, and multiple weapons systems. The audio in the game promises to be equally impressive, with a dialogue pool consisting of thousands of sentence fragments that are combined seamlessly in real time to make battles in Homeworld sound as cinematic as they look. Fleets of spacecraft can be ordered to assume multiple tactical groups, from wedge to X-shaped formations. Damaged ships may be sent back for repairs at the mother ship or nearest support frigate. The continuous single-player campaign starts each mission with the resources and remaining spacecraft from the previous one to lend the game a sense of continuity, while campaign difficulty will cater itself to the player's skill. Homeworld is a remarkable-looking game that contains all the popular features of real-time strategy, but sets them in a true 3D environment; you even need to issue a Z-axis coordinate for movement orders. This gives Homeworld an unprecedented potential for strategic depth, as it effectively allows you to strike the enemy not only from the sides, but from above and below. Even resource gathering is more sophisticated than other real-time strategy games. Whereas you can harvest resources from asteroids, nebulae, and gas clouds, you can affect these sources of income in various ways should the circumstances call for it. For instance, you can break apart asteroids into smaller fragments or ionize gas clouds thus turning them into deadly obstacles. If the up-and-coming development house Relic can pull everything together for the final product, it's certain to have one of the most impressive, if only most impressive-looking, games of the year. |
