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I have to admit I was extremely skeptical when they said the next Homeworld game wouldn’t be set in space. Homeworld was one of the few good Space real-time strategy games out there and is a beloved classic. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, however, is a worthy successor to the franchise. 

What Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak lacks in the 3D movement of the original Homeworld it makes up for with tight combat and unit design, and stunning desert vistas.

Background for Homeworld

Released in 1999, the original Homeworld was innovative from the start, with the biggest feature being its 3D plane of movement.

Pervading throughout the whole experience was a level of extreme polish. The voice acting for your ships, the visuals, and the story were all well-executed and showed a degree of restraint, not found in other RTS games at the time. 

The story of Homeworld was that you were the last survivors of a race whose planet was just destroyed.

Why? Well for violating an intergalactic treaty banning your people from space travel. It was also all your fault but to be fair you didn’t know you weren’t allowed to go into space.

You then proceed in an odyssey across the stars to reclaim your ancient homeworld. Rumored to be a lush paradise compared to the deserts of Kharak, the planet your people were banished to. 

Unlike most RTS games, in Homeworld, you’d carry your entire fleet from mission to mission. Meaning that preserving your fleet was paramount to success in the campaign. 

It also meant that if you didn’t know what you were doing the game was incredibly hard. You had no idea how to prepare for the next mission so you couldn’t prepare.

Alternatively, Homeworld could become easily exploitable if you knew what you were doing. 

Homeworld made space feel vast and mostly empty. Your ships were tiny specs in the vast ocean that was the universe. How could they translate that feeling of vast emptiness onto a planet?

It’s also important to recognize another reason why Homeworld is so beloved: there was nothing else like it. Few even came close. To this day most Space RTS games take place on a flat plane instead of a 3D grid. 

In the RTS space, Homeworld was an anomaly. Generally, RTS games were either base-builders like Starcraft and Age of Empires. Or war-focused games like Company of Heroes and Men of War.

Homeworld’s weird 3D design didn’t fit either category.

The original Homeworld also spawned two sequels: Homeworld: Cataclysm, and Homeworld 2. Each followed the same basic 3D gameplay structure as the original.

What is Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak?

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a prequel to the original Homeworld, taking place over 100 years before the first game. Instead of the vast emptiness of space, you’ll be traveling through less empty regions of a desert world. 

Whereas in the original you were searching for your lost home planet. In Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak you’ll be searching for a mysterious object identified in the desert, which will be the key you your survival.

Opposing you will be the fanatic Gaalsien, who wants to stop you from finding the artifact in the desert. 

Anyone who’s played the original Homeworld can probably guess what the artifact is and what it means for the Kushan people. 

Gameplay

The addition of actual terrain is probably the biggest difference, in terms of gameplay. It adds important elements like line-of-sight. Now that the game no longer takes place in a 3D space. 

Instead of your massive mothership, you’ll be controlling mobile carriers that glide across the desert and act both as your home base and a mobile war platform. 

The first thing that strikes you about playing Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is how easy it is to figure out how to play and what’s going on in the game.

The game features both the normal tactical RTS view and a zoomed-out strategic view which lets you see the entire map.

The Strategic overview is an amazing feature that makes the normal chaos of RTS games more manageable. You can quickly see how battles are going at multiple points on the map, and take action. 

The UI overall is spartan, like the original, your view is not cluttered by needless information. Instead, you’ll have everything you need readily accessed by keyboard shortcuts or clicking on the icon.

When attacked the side of your screen will flash red in the direction your units are being attacked, like a first-person shooter when you’re shot. This makes it easy to quickly react to attacks and coordinate your units.

Both the minimalist UI and reactive HUD exemplify the subtle ways Deserts of Kharak clues you into to whats going on off screen. These may seem like little touches but they truly contribute to your overall battlefield awareness. Something especially critical in multiplayer.

The UI also allows you to see elevation differences. Showing you where your units can hide behind hills, or use a height advantage to rain fire down on the enemy. 

All of this is exactly what I want from a UI. It gives you clear information and helps you determine the best tactics to use, without overloading you with information.

This is a massive difference from the original series, now you can hide behind large rock formations to spring ambushes, or use smoke screens to cover your approach. It’s a huge difference and Deserts of Kharak executes it well.

This also means that spotting is hugely important to victory. Some units, like Railguns and artillery, have a range farther than their line of sight. So sending recon units forward is the best way to get the most out of these units.

To build units you’ll have to collect resources from resource nodes using scavenger units, this is all pretty standard.

Where it gets interesting is when you factor in your carrier. This giant vehicle can move around the map freely. So your base never needs to stay in one place, and the enemy has the same advantage.  

From your carrier, you will launch fighters and vehicles as well as upgrade them. Your carrier also has its own power upgrades which can be diverted into different systems. This allows the carrier to be flexible. Do you want it to dish out tons of damage? Be an unkillable tank? Or perhaps heal nearby units?

The carriers are an amazing change from normal RTS base building mechanics. They add a sense of weight to the fighting, and committing your carrier to battle is an intense and highly-risky decision.

Losing your carrier in battle means losing the game. Although each carrier in Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a powerful war platform they are by no means invincible. 

Units in Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

Due to the effective UI, it’s easy to tell which unit is which. A problem all too common in RTS games is that units often counter each other but when you can’t tell them apart that becomes a problem.

Like many RTS games, Units have other counter units in Deserts of Kharak but they won’t instantly die if they meet their counters.

Instead, the game gives enough time for a battle to play out. You have strategic options to either reinforce, try, and retreat, or leave them to their fate.

This is very much unlike something like Starcraft II. Where if your units are caught up in a bad engagement they’re pretty much dead.

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak also has just the right amount of units. There aren’t too many where you aren’t sure what each one does. Each has a clear role and is used to its greatest effect in certain situations. 

This also means that each unit can be carefully balanced, and there aren’t any overly powered units. Well, there are but generally, each faction has its own overly powerful units and abilities that counter each other.

The upgrade system allows you to customize your units to play into certain strategies. These will make them more heavily armored, faster, or grant special abilities. 

Units can also use abilities like the AAV deploying a smokescreen to break the enemy’s line of sight. 

I often feel that too many RTS games become “clickfests” where the number of clicks you make per minute is more than your strategy or tactics. 

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak doesn’t fall into this trap. The game is fast-paced enough to be exciting but units are sturdy enough and engage at enough of a distance where proper tactics are critical. If you don’t crush the enemy then they can usually pull back to regroup. 

Strategic Concerns

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, is far less about finding the exactly right army composition to counter your enemies and much more about the strategy you employ to engage them. 

The line of sight mechanic means that often getting the first shot on the enemy is the key to victory. This means you’ll have to be careful with how you maneuver around the battlefield. 

Whereas the original Homeworld was directly snubbing the conventions of naval warfare that dominate the Space RTS genre. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak embraces it masterfully. 

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak also features air warfare, as you can deploy fighters and bombers from your carrier. Seeing these take off and return to your carrier is awesome. Unlike in many RTS games, they actually feel like fast-moving jets, not just tanks in the sky. 

Often I’ll think if I rush that ridgeline will there be an enemy behind it? What if I deploy a smokescreen, or send my light vehicles forward as bait? 

There are plenty of solutions to any strategic problem, and few of them involve simply more micromanagement. 

Units in Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak are constantly in motion, swirling and dancing around each other in a fight. This harkens back to the elegant fighter battles of the original game. 

They’ll also create sensible formations when you group them together but you’ll need to use command groups to really get the most out of them.

Although Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak look more like Supreme Commander or Ashes of the Singularity on the surface. But it’s constantly adapting what made the original Homeworld such a classic. 

Factions in Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak launched with two factions: The Coalition and the Gaalsien. Later they two others in DLC, the Soban, and the Khaaneph.

The differences between these factions seem minor on the surface but play out as significant differences when brought on the battlefield.

The Homeworld series has a surprising amount of lore especially for the politics of Kharak. Most of this was laid out in the Homeworld manual. It detailed the different clans, or Kiithid, of Kharak, their history, and religion. 

The Manual is amazing and really adds a huge amount of flavor to the Homeworld universe. It’s especially surprising since none of those Kiithid given detailed histories even appeared in the original game. So it’s great to see some of them detailed here. 

The Coalition, or the Coalition of the Northern Kiithid, are the main protagonists of the campaign. Their units stress all-in attacks where they can bring their superior firepower to bear. 

The developers said that their tactics are supposed to represent a Greek Phalanx or all-in Tank warfare. This makes sense as their units, and their carrier especially, can take a beating but require you to focus your efforts to break through the enemy. 

The major antagonists of the campaign are the Gaalsien, who’s vehicles use hover-technology. They focus much more on hit-and-run attacks, and swift strikes to weaken the enemy. 

The developers wanted their tactics to be more like nomadic warriors using speed and maneuverability to wear down their foes. Their carrier is much weaker than the coalition’s in a one-on-one fight.

DLC Factions

The Soban share much of the same unit roster as The Coalition, but with an increased focus on railguns. They’re considered the elite military clan of The Coalition and many of their units are quite strong. Their focus on railguns makes them more defensively focused than their Coalition counterparts.  

The Soban will want to keep the enemy at bay using their logistics modules while picking them off with their long-range railguns.

The Khaaneph are clanless scavengers and pirates. Much of their technology is salvaged with extra armor welded on. They emphasize using missiles, high explosives, and artillery to barrage their enemies. 

Even though they share similar unit types, the differences between the faction’s playstyles are significant. Tactically their units are almost identical but how they produce those units and how that affects the flow of the game makes them feel incredibly distinct. 

For example, the Coalition can spread across the map and hold resource points more quickly than the Gaalsien. But the Gaalsien can then use their maneuverability to strike at the overextended Coalition or flank them with Production Cruisers. 

In the original game, mothership was a massive base but it really had little use outside of unit production. In Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak the carriers are the stars of the show. Each Faction carrier has their own unique special ability. The Coalition can deploy a powerful one-hit cruise missile, while the Gaalsien can deliver a sustained missile barrage.

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak’s Campaign

While I think multiplayer is where the game really shines, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak’s campaign adds a lot to the experience. The campaign teaches the players tactics necessary to dominate in the other modes.

Thankfully for an RTS campaign, each mission does something different to change up the gameplay. In one mission you’ll be going blindly through a sandstorm. While in others you’ll be assaulting bases, or playing more traditional battles against the Gaalsien.

The story suffers from what most prequels do, you know how it ends. It’s not the mysterious odyssey through a strange galaxy that the original was. 

The characters aren’t all that interesting either, with much of the dialogue given to you by “Intel Officer” or “Captain” instead of an actual named character.

While the mission design was great. The missions themselves never fully pushed me with their difficulty. I found myself falling back on the same old tactics to get through each one.

It would have been nice to find a bit more balance between the campaign serving as an introduction to new players and as a challenging experience, which tests the player. 

Skirmish Mode and multiplayer

Skirmish mode has the traditional deathmatch where you face off against other carriers but much more interesting is Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak’s other mode: Artifact Drop.

In this mode, you’ll have to move across the map collecting artifacts and bringing them back to a point on the edge of the map. This allows for some creative strategies as you also have to stop your opponent from doing the same.

You can block your opponent’s exit or try and beat them to the artifacts while not getting tied down yourself. 

Even today, the game has a dedicated multiplayer scene. Caster’s like Dreamlands on Youtube commentate intense multiplayer matches which showcase high-level play.

Graphics

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is beautiful. The sweeping desert landscapes slowly become pockmarked by craters and burning vehicles as the battle progresses. 

The vehicle designs are also evocative of each faction’s focus, but they are simple enough to tell what the unit is at a glance.

Zooming-in shows some rough textures in the environment but overall watching these sweeping desert tank battles play out is gorgeous. 

Conclusion

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a worthy successor of the Homeworld series that changes up the formula without sacrificing what made the original great. 

The deserts evoke the same loneliness and desolation as the vastness of space. 

The game also keeps the pace of the originals, this is no Starcraft, you won’t lose if your composition is off. 

What Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is, however, is a very focused experience. Which gives you enough time to think, plan, and adapt your strategy as the battle progresses.

While the campaign had some difficulty and pacing issues, overall this is a great RTS, especially when going head-to-head with other players.

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