This bladelike vessel is both the HQ you must protect and the factory floor of your war machine.
In previous games, these battles took place in (mostly) empty space.
But in Homeworld 3, space has terrain now.
These, uh, space-scapes provide a dramatic backdrop to the action.
But they play a direct role in the game too.
At a basic level, the presence of terrain makes moving your fleet around slightly easier.
But terrain has more specific uses too.
It’s a great idea in theory.
But it’s more incidental in practice.
Opportunities to use cover and tunnels are relatively scarce.
But your Mothership at least seemed massive, helping you understand how “big” other ships were.
Now, though, even your Mothership frequently appears tiny compared to the massive structures that constantly surround you.
Ion the prize
Fortunately, the fundamentals of Homeworld are as robust as ever.
Turrets can be extremely useful, although deploying them can be a little fiddly.
Then again ‘a little fiddly’ could surmise Homeworld 3 in general.
Nonetheless, Homeworld 3 makes some unforced errors.
It walks back Homeworld 2’s innovation to have smaller units grouped into squadrons by default.
When everything comes together, though, the rewards can be enormous.
Even with the diminished scale, Homeworld 3 canpop offin tremendously satisfying fashion.
Campaign supernova
Visually and audibly, Homeworld 3 is a space game with vision.
The same can’t quite be said for its narrative, despite showing some early promise.
The first half of the story is enjoyable, mysterious, and convincingly written.
Yet while Homeworld 3’s story may stumble, the individual mission scenarios are more consistently compelling.
Sadly, these missions were also the buggiest I played.
But Homeworld 3 saved its worst bugs for last.
Essentially, it’s a randomly generated mini-campaign that can be completed in around an hour.
Its campaign could be bigger, its story better, its controls a little more refined.
Homeworld 3 was reviewed on PC, with code provided by the publisher.
