Exploring the Stars
Developed by Stratosphere Video games and Revealed by Gearbox, Homeworld Cell is the most recent sport within the long-running Homeworld collection. Nonetheless, the similarities between Homeworld Cell and the remainder of the RTS franchise are slim. Combining that with finicky controls, repetitive missions and normal buggyness ends in one thing removed from essentially the most satisfying real-time technique expertise.
Homeworld Cell takes place 15 years after 2003’s Homeworld 2. Through the intervening years, the normal clans have seen their political energy wane on the homeworld of Hiigara. Slightly than proceed taking part within the new authorities, the clans got down to declare new territory within the neighboring Nimbus Galaxy. After a Progenitor assault practically wipes out ther expedition fleet, gamers take management of the remaining ships as they discover this new galaxy.
The participant’s fundamental vessel is their Flagship, which fills an identical position to the Mothership in different Homeworld video games. It’s the centerpiece of the participant’s fleet and defending it have to be a primary precedence. Not like the motherships, nevertheless, Flagships are usually not fully self-sufficient, and gamers should journey to house stations to assemble new ships.
Homeworld Cell gamers are initially restricted to their Flagship, one Escort, and three Squadrons carried on the Flagship. The latter embrace Interceptors, anti-ship Bombers, and Collectors, which collect assets from asteroids and restore the bigger ships in your fleet. In the meantime, gamers can restore their Squadrons by docking them with the Flagship. Moreover, gamers can enhance ther fleet measurement by constructing bigger and extra superior Flagships. Later within the sport, gamers may also assemble extra turrets and different exterior modules on their Flagship.
Star Wars
Homeworld Cell includes a galaxy map with over 100 programs to discover, every containing a number of zones. The true-time technique fight takes place on a 2D aircraft with asteroids and different background objects organized to provide the phantasm of a 3D house. That is commonplace follow for a lot of house RTS video games, so it’s not shocking. Nonetheless, some Homeworld followers could also be disenchanted that the cellular installment lacks the 3D play house of the principle collection.
Nonetheless, which will have been for one of the best, given the problems I encountered with Homeworld Cell’s controls. The sport options an Outliner alongside the correct hand of the display screen, which lists all ships, asteroids, and different interactable objects. Gamers can use this to problem fleet assault orders on enemy ships or ship their Collectors to assemble Ore from a particular asteroid. This works for most simple fight encounters, although it doesn’t permit gamers to problem orders to particular ships of their fleet.
Gamers can problem extra exact instructions by clicking and dragging a ship’s icon to the specified location. Nonetheless, the ships are small and transfer rapidly throughout the display screen, making them onerous to pick. Half the time, I couldn’t see the enemy behind my finger and ended up deciding on the empty house they’d simply left. I can think about this working higher on a bigger display screen like a pill, however the controls had been a large ache on a smartphone.
The interface icons are additionally onerous to decipher. You’ll decide most of them up ultimately, however I nonetheless don’t know what some ship stance icons are presupposed to symbolize. I admire that Homeworld Cell doesn’t muddle the display screen with icons as some cellular video games do. Nonetheless, I can’t assist however really feel like Stratosphere Video games went too far within the different course.
Mounting Frustrations
The sport’s missions additionally contribute to creating Homeworld Cell a irritating expertise. The sport’s story consists of a number of chapters, every with a listing of targets for gamers to finish. Nonetheless, there’s not a lot of a story connecting one chapter to the subsequent, only a collection of primarily disconnected duties.
A few of these targets may also be tedious, and mining is especially dangerous. The sport will ask you to gather hundreds of items of Ore, which is a sluggish and time-consuming course of. You’ll be able to’t simply go away the sport operating and go AFK, as you might want to keep alert for randomly spawning enemy fleets. Nor are you able to get the assets one other means, as the target insists you mine Ore your self. And that’s when the targets replace accurately. Generally they simply don’t, and the one option to repair them is to give up the sport and restart.
I additionally encountered no scarcity of connection points. Your mileage will in all probability differ on this, however I used to be continually getting disconnected whereas taking part in Homeworld Cell.
General, whereas I didn’t hate Homeworld Cell, I felt I may have preferred it extra. The visuals and sound design are good, and I typically caught myself having enjoyable. Nonetheless, the awkward interface and padded missions actually dragged the expertise down.
Is It Hardcore?
Not Actually.
Homeworld Cell has a number of good factors, however the awkward controls and padded mission construction makes it a poor heir of the collection legacy.
