Homeworld: Cataclysm Demo

Although the video games industry is split into a large number of fandoms, mentalities, and opinions, there are a couple of games that are universally regarded as brilliant, regardless of what side of the barricade of you happen to be on. In the case of real-time strategy games, everyone agrees when it comes to Starcraft, Dune, and Homeworld as being some of the most important revolutions in the genre.

Homeworld: Cataclysm is way more than a simple expansion pack, however, since it really refines the series down to its core, while still managing to maintain the same feeling and gameplay. There are some major changes in the mechanics, on the other hand, especially when it comes to how the matches evolve and how the players can take advantage of their fleets.

Story-wise, the events continue from where the original title left off, with the Taiidan Empire in full civil war and the main campaign centering around a mining vessel that must be a part of the war, with you in command. The conflict evolves in a very interesting manner along the way, though, so you are in for quite the ride if you decide to play the career and see where the events lead you.

Albeit somewhat controversial, the changes brought by this expansion have withstood the test of time and proved that they were meant to stay. Hence, things like the newly introduced population cap might have upset some players, but the new limit means an increase in strategy, since you really have to carefully consider every new unit and weigh its usefulness for the fleet. Moreover, the fuel for the ships has been removed entirely, which only leaves more room to come up with better strategies, now that the armies are much smaller.

Graphically, there aren’t too many changes, although the stand-alone nature of the game means that a few new features could be implemented as well. Everything is a lot more detailed and the 3D objects seem to have multiplied by quite a lot, although the game is still not in full 3D. The soundtrack deserves a mention as well, since it blends incredibly well with the atmosphere and it comes very close to the score from the original game.

All things considered, Homeworld: Cataclysm is truly a masterpiece, since it pushed the RTS genre into the right direction and it perfected a few mechanics that are still used even today. Hence, no real-time strategy fan should miss this for the world, even if space is not your favorite subject.