Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak Critic Reviews

While Blackbird’s HD update of the original Homeworld titles may have shipped with a few nagging bugs, this original and inventive prequel reinvents the series in way I hardly even hoped could be possible. It’s fresh but familiar. It’s Homeworld, but it’s something new. Like its story-chronological successors, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is amazing — there’s simply nothing else like it.

A great tactical RTS with all the gorgeous aesthetics and atmosphere of the original series.

Homeworld was always about loneliness. It was always about clarity and focus. Kharak isn't new in that regard, but it is special. It shows us that when you get things right -- and excel -- that formula isn't easy to exhaust. Kharak does its part to add to that, though. Its use of voice acting and efficient visuals is a brilliant addition that's far from superficial. It helps narrow the scope of what you need to manage, so that it can load you up with as much as your brain can handle. It’s a fast, daunting experience that's tough to shake, making Kharak as intoxicating as Homeworld has ever been.

Despite the low-profile launch, at least when it comes to marketing, Deserts of Kharak deserves all of your attention. It's pure RTS bestowed with an amazing mission design, and it will take you back to the golden age of the genre. Multiplayer servers are underpopulated, but hopefully word-of-mouth will take care of that.

Deserts of Kharak is a triumphant return to Homeworld, just minus the space part.

Homeworld: Deserts Kharak not only sets a new standard for RTS games, it proves that there is a lot more the genre has to offer yet.

Put simply, I love Deserts of Kharak. It succeeds where so many RTS games fail, giving a multitasking commander all of the information, unit options, and control flexibility needed to remove needless barriers between what your brain wants your army to do, and what it’s actually able to execute at a moment’s notice.

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak tells one of the better science fiction narratives I've seen in a real-time strategy game. While the campaign is short, I enjoyed most of the Homeworld-inspired gameplay. Skirmish and multiplayer modes beef up the content, but the overall content-to-price ratio doesn't quite even out. Minor gripes aside, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is one of the more compelling real-time strategy games I've played in some time.

Even though it’s set on the surface of a planet, Homeworld: Desert of Kharak brings you all the fun, the strategy and the sense of dimensions of the Homeworld saga. One of the best strategy games of the year, flawled only by minor bugs.

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a good mainstream real-time strategy title that offers a solid prequel story and shows that the core ideas of the series can easily be adapted for planet-based warfare.

As a RTS Homeworld: Deserts Of Kharak doesn’t actually have much new, but it’s still one of the better releases for the genre in a long time. In many ways it feels like a modern Westwood classic, but most importantly it evokes the same feelings of complex strategy that you might have had when playing the original Homeworld games.

This is far from a reinvention of the RTS genre, but it is certainly a much needed rebirth for this series. At long last, the king has returned.

Deserts of Kharak, as a experience, is outstanding, engaging and recommended for all the Homeworld fans. We think the multiplayer could've been even better, but it's very enjoyable as a whole.

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a fantastic Homeworld game, and a fantastic RTS game in its own right. It’s a great middle point between the classic formula and the rather intimidating full three dimension movement of the franchise, as well as just being a damned good RTS in a time when games in the genre are an increasingly rare sight.

Although Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak doesn’t reinvent the wheel, there is no denying that it is a superb example of how modern Real Time Strategy games should look, feel and play. Accessible, intense and hauntingly beautiful at times, it manages to present a gripping tale of agony and desperation through one of the best single player campaigns the genre has ever witnessed.

Deserts of Kharak boasts an unprecedented beauty in its setting and world design, and its hand drawn-style cutscenes only add to that.

Deserts of Kharak achieves its goal: It’s made me tentatively excited for a forthcoming Homeworld 3. By staying largely faithful to the aesthetic of the originals, by recreating the harsh lived-in realism of that universe and the do-or-die exodus and the vast scale of the classics, Deserts of Kharak manages to feel like a proper part of Homeworld canon—even though it’s set on the surface of a planet.

Homeworld is not an easy name to tackle, and yet Blackbird Interactive did a great job, maintaining some of the brightest ideas seen in the series, and adapting its gameplay in order to support the new location. It is not as memorable as its predecessors, but it’s still a strong and narrative driven rts, that will be appreciated by fans of the genre.

While the story sometimes sticks too close to familiar ground, Deserts of Kharak is a fun and challenging RTS title that's a worthy addition to the Homeworld franchise.

Still, Homeworld: Desert of Kharak is an accessible and well-made strategy game with outstanding production values and a legitimate claim to being part of the legendary franchise.