Homeworld 3 developers Blackbird Interactive proved both their design chops and their love of the Homeworld franchise by creating Deserts of Kharak in 2016, a game that started out as a cheeky unauthorised take on the Homeworld space strategy formula on dry land and ended up a critically-acclaimed official part of the series with the blessing of new brand IP owner Gearbox. Eight years later, with the even more successful Hardspace: Shipbreaker in the books and a successful crowd-funding campaign, the third mainline Homeworld 3 game is finally here.
Given that long history and a protracted development with several delays, it’s perhaps no surprise that HW3 is a flawed but deeply fascinating game – one that successfully recreates the satisfying 3D ship battlescapes and impeccable space vibes of its genre-defining predecessors, only to be somewhat let down by an inexpertly told story and some mechanical stumblings.
Let’s start with the good stuff: the collection of missions that make up the 10-hour campaign are varied and fun, starting with simple skirmishes amongst basic strikecraft and concluding with massive fleet battles against well-equipped enemies. Along the way, you’ll escape natural phenomena, skulk around searching patrols and navigate within and along massive megalithic structures. Your fleet persists from one mission to the next, so there are clear incentives for keeping your best units alive and capturing the ships of your foes whenever possible. Each unit has an upgradeable ability to make it better in certain scenarios, and tends to excel against one unit type while failing against others, encouraging mixed fleets.
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