Rating: Summary: Better than to original and highly addictive Review: I don't understand the complaints about this game. I played it first, before Homeworld and went back to play Homeworld later. Maybe it's the order in which I played the two games, but I found that the interface alone was enough to convince me that this game is better than the original.The interface is more evolved as I would expect and a lot of the little annoying bits to Homeworld's interface are gone in this game. You can set waypoints as one of the other reviewers stated, but on top of that, you can do everything from the sensor manager that you could from the regular mode in Homeworld. Also, when in sensor mode, selecting ships doesn't automatically zoom in the way Homeworld did. You can also select a group of ships and attack a group of enemies all from the sensor manager - this is highly desireable, since you don't have to zoom in and lose track of ships in another part of space. I would say that the Homeworld interface is 4 star and this interface is 5 star, far superior. Someone also mentioned that the graphics weren't as good as Homeworld. I find this unusual, since they use the same gaming engine and they look pretty much identical to me, and I've played them almost side by side and both are installed on my computer. Also, I find the story line excellent, it might not be the Battlestar Galactica story of homeworld, but it is just as engrossing with the release of "The Beast", a bio organism that is intelligent and that threatens to take over the universe. It's your job to escape and try to destroy the beast. It's very cool. What I love about both of these games is how most of the action is at the macro level, controlling fleets of ships and squadrons of fighters, but at any point, you can zoom in and watch the action in an "over the shoulder" view from any ship and see an individual fighter engage against a squadron of other fighters or even a large capital ship. I love watching destroyers firing their ion beams... it's so movie like that I feel like bringing the popcorn. Other feel that same and I can sometimes have an audience of 2 or 3 people over my shoulder sometimes. In fact, the overall movie like quality is what made the game great for me. The way that you can direct the camera while letting everything proceed automatically (these 30 ships attack those 22 ships and let them go) is immersive. It really has a Star Wars feel when you see a space battle. This is especially fun when you have large numbers of capital ships on both sides with multiple fighter squadrons. In a situation that large though, you almost always have to direct some of the action, since some small battles finish and you have to re-deploy to other parts of the battle. The challenge is in finding the balance of which ships to use against which enemies, as fighters are fast and hard to hit, but do less damage, whereas the larger frigates and super-capital ships do tons of damage but are vunerable to large groups of fighters. All in all a completely superb game. It is 100% of what I wanted in a computer game and have never found elswhere, although there were a lot of these features in games like "Master of Orion", but that was really more concerned with administration aspects of running multiple colonies and space battles were 2D and cartoony. A great game, but not as neat as this.
Rating: Summary: Okay, but I liked the original better Review: Okay, so this game has a great plot and excellent story line. But the graphics are lacking. The first Homeworld game did a great job but this one was like a step back. Don't get me wrong, I liked the game, it's just not as good as I expected.
Rating: Summary: Easily the best RTS I've ever played Review: Imagine Homeworld with an entirely new fleet of ships and technologies. Now imagine these ships and technologies split between two new races, each with unique styles of play, and you'll have a good idea of what makes Cataclysm so fantastic for people who liked the original. The single player in Cataclysm is more complex and challenging than in the original Homeworld. Being able to move your command ship was a huge plus and gave the player more options. I enjoyed the single player a great deal, at least until the last part of the last level, where it went from fun to extremely not fun quickly (it's plot-related, so I won't say why). The multiplayer is the real selling point though; the maps involve much more interaction and strategy than in the original, and the ability to play different races makes the gameplay much more complex and interesting. I've never enjoyed multiplayer in the RTS genre until Cataclysm came along, and now I love it (provided I'm playing Cataclysm).
Rating: Summary: The absolute best Review: Don't be fooled by the fact its older. This game has every aspect of a good game, play, AI, action, adventure, choice, selection. If you want to have hours of fun get this! The first time I saw it was on my friends computer, I was hooked instantly. Trust me. Get this game!
Rating: Summary: Best PC game I've ever played Review: This is the best PC game I've ever played.
Rating: Summary: Good, but not good enough. Review: Well. I must admit Cata. has masterful grafics as well as excellent ships and gameplay. However, Cataclysm really can't hold a candle up to it's older brother "Homeworld." If you are just looking to the Homeworld series I would recommend taking Homeworld. Now what is good about this game is it's originality. In one player you play as the Somtaaw, a mining "kiith" or family. The Somtaaw accidentally let loose a virus called "the beast" early in the game. You end combating the beast forthe remainder of the 17 missions. All of which are challenging and exiting. In multi-player you can choose to play as the beast or as the somtaaw. The beast's mother ship, carriers, and heavy Cruisers have an "infection beam" any small ship hit by it becomes under your control. However you can't just start building huge heavy cruisers right away. First you need reasearch it. And once you have researched all the technology required, you must have sufficient Ru's or Resource units to build it. You start the game with 4000rus a mothership and usually some "recon" and some "workers". Workers are the ships that harvest Ru's for you they bring back either 500 or 650 a load. (I'm sorry I can't remember). This may seem like alot but it cost 3700 Ru's to build a heavy Cruiser. Over all Cataclwsm is a very challenging game that while it is very good, just can't surpass the original home world.
Rating: Summary: Hmmmm.... Review: Well, it's not bad, I'll say that. The problem is when I got my new PC with WinXp the game doesn't work right. The models are not visible and the menus are unreadable. Something's wrong and I don't know what. However, the price is right and the game is fair enough. It didn't stay on my old machine, but Homeworld did... Overall, Homeworld just seems more open-ended in that your imagination seems or engaged in each battle with each map in the original game, not just another duel with The Beast...
Rating: Summary: Awesome game Review: It all comes down to this....you have to get this game. It's such a good price, spend the cash get the game, and sit at your computer playing this for the rest of your life. there is ONE and only ONE problem with this game, SOME of the cinematics are black and white cartoons, not 3-D models. you can do so much with this game, controls are a bit tough to master at first, but once you have them down pat, you won't stop playing. the gameplay is 3-D, which isn't what you would expect for such a price,the graphics are exelent. this is the first space strategy game to demonstrate the vastness of space, your open to all new flanking tactics now, lure your enemy some where, then come down on top of him. anyone who has seen star trek II the wrath of khan will enjoy doing things like that.... basically, you have this one, lare command ship, and throughout the game you upgrade it, you research new weapons, armor and other technologies. build fighters in your command ship, or build larger ships on the outside, like a carrier(for your fighters), or destroyer ect. i recomend this game to anyone who has a computer, and a remote intrest in any strategy games. This game will knock your socks off!
Rating: Summary: wow! Review: I played the first Homeworld. It was pretty good. The plot wasn't very creative but very well done. The interface was easy to use (once you got the hang of it). There was only one problem with it. The early mission were way too easy and the later missions were way too hard. Cataclysm, which picks up where homeworld left off, does much better. The plot concept is kind of lame (brave crew of the Kuun-Lan mining vessel vs. the ancient "Beast" which is bent on galactic domination), but it was done so well that It doesn't matter. The mothership can move, which is a nice improvement. The graphics are at least a bit better. The plot moves faster. I actually liked the Support unit system. In the original, they stopped your fleet from getting too big by limiting the resources you could get, the problem with that being that if they manage to take out your fleet, you lose, whereas now you can build more ships (resources are definatly not a problem!). I liked cataclysm more then homeworld, and anyone who says that it "lacks the charm of the original" can pout.
Rating: Summary: Definately one of my favorite games Review: This game is in my mind one of the best games by sierra. It is definately involved and takes some memorization but once you have it it's awesome. It has excellent graphics but a somewhat limiting interface. you cant scroll freely through the environment but have to stay focused on one of your ships. theres a limit on the amount of ships you can make which is a bummer but the ships that you can make are spectacular.
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