01-21-2016, 10:27 AM
First impressions: Deserts of Kharak. AKA I'd prefer a full SP review but it's 5AM.
So Deserts of Kharak is Gearbox's contribution to the venerable Homeworld franchise, except there's no spaceships. So it begs the immediate question of "is this a good Homeworld game?"
HAHAHAHAHA no. Well perhaps that's a bit harsh, Kharak hits all the same thematic and styling notes that made Homeworld so captivating, and the story takes an awkward number of cues from the original, but the UI has fallen behind a bit, with no easy access build queues and a stiflingly close max zoom-out it feels a bit clunky for an RTS, especially considering how it rewards careful timing and management. However when you do manage to bend the bizarrely difficult UI to your will the game is strikingly fluid in ways that not even it's ancestor managed. The combined arms feel a bit lacking in polish as strike fighters lack any visible weapons yet fire missiles that have an actual blast radius roughly half of their visible blast radius, but the degree of automation found in these air strikes where you merely point them in a general direction and then forget about them is admirable, and the results both instant and gratifying.
The central concept of the giant mothership that builds everything and anything has been supplanted by the giant sand carrier, which is literally an aircraft carrier on tracks, which is acceptable if a bit lacking in the grandeur of the mothership, doubly so since these carriers are apparently common across Kharak and you are only special in that 5 carriers were sent on this expedition and you're the only one that got anywhere.
If you were expecting giant WW1 esque land ship tanks to replace cruisers you can forget about that as Kharak forgoes the traditional unit classes in favor of a sometimes frustratingly soft rock-paper-scissors system of LAV v Railgun v Tank and back around again, I suppose it makes sense but with the carrier being presented as a pseudo-battleship it feels like a missed opportunity.
Speaking of the carrier as a warship it does all your research for you, no more annoying research vessels, there are no animations for salvagers depositing resources (which totally shattered my immersion), and you redistribute allocated power points to 4 combat subsystems that increase armor, enable repair of nearby friendlies, activate heavy weaponry, and augment the range of lighter weaponry, then further upgrade those effects, which is a neat mechanic even if it did give me Star Trek Online flashbacks.
As I said the combat is pornographically fluid, LAVs drift through the sand and drive circles around each other as they chatter away, tanks casually exchange fire as tanks do, railguns perch themselves perfectly atop a nearby dune and pick people off when suddenly another group of LAVs ramps over an opposite dune and beelines towards them, you get the idea it's mechanically sound and very pleasing to watch and control.
Deserts of Kharak is not really worthy of being called a prequel to Homeworld but I think barring a UI made for people with a hotkey fetish it can be called a new Homeworld for a new generation of gamers, hitting all those right notes with majestic and awe-inspiring set pieces and disgustingly fluid gameplay coupled with some improved pacing leading me to think that Kharak will be remembered fondly when it is as old as Homeworld now is.
So Deserts of Kharak is Gearbox's contribution to the venerable Homeworld franchise, except there's no spaceships. So it begs the immediate question of "is this a good Homeworld game?"
HAHAHAHAHA no. Well perhaps that's a bit harsh, Kharak hits all the same thematic and styling notes that made Homeworld so captivating, and the story takes an awkward number of cues from the original, but the UI has fallen behind a bit, with no easy access build queues and a stiflingly close max zoom-out it feels a bit clunky for an RTS, especially considering how it rewards careful timing and management. However when you do manage to bend the bizarrely difficult UI to your will the game is strikingly fluid in ways that not even it's ancestor managed. The combined arms feel a bit lacking in polish as strike fighters lack any visible weapons yet fire missiles that have an actual blast radius roughly half of their visible blast radius, but the degree of automation found in these air strikes where you merely point them in a general direction and then forget about them is admirable, and the results both instant and gratifying.
The central concept of the giant mothership that builds everything and anything has been supplanted by the giant sand carrier, which is literally an aircraft carrier on tracks, which is acceptable if a bit lacking in the grandeur of the mothership, doubly so since these carriers are apparently common across Kharak and you are only special in that 5 carriers were sent on this expedition and you're the only one that got anywhere.
If you were expecting giant WW1 esque land ship tanks to replace cruisers you can forget about that as Kharak forgoes the traditional unit classes in favor of a sometimes frustratingly soft rock-paper-scissors system of LAV v Railgun v Tank and back around again, I suppose it makes sense but with the carrier being presented as a pseudo-battleship it feels like a missed opportunity.
Speaking of the carrier as a warship it does all your research for you, no more annoying research vessels, there are no animations for salvagers depositing resources (which totally shattered my immersion), and you redistribute allocated power points to 4 combat subsystems that increase armor, enable repair of nearby friendlies, activate heavy weaponry, and augment the range of lighter weaponry, then further upgrade those effects, which is a neat mechanic even if it did give me Star Trek Online flashbacks.
As I said the combat is pornographically fluid, LAVs drift through the sand and drive circles around each other as they chatter away, tanks casually exchange fire as tanks do, railguns perch themselves perfectly atop a nearby dune and pick people off when suddenly another group of LAVs ramps over an opposite dune and beelines towards them, you get the idea it's mechanically sound and very pleasing to watch and control.
Deserts of Kharak is not really worthy of being called a prequel to Homeworld but I think barring a UI made for people with a hotkey fetish it can be called a new Homeworld for a new generation of gamers, hitting all those right notes with majestic and awe-inspiring set pieces and disgustingly fluid gameplay coupled with some improved pacing leading me to think that Kharak will be remembered fondly when it is as old as Homeworld now is.
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I answer questions. snark provided free of charge.
Most hated member of the nexus, irritation and/or ragequit guaranteed or your money back.
"IF I DO NOT RETURN INFORM MY HUMAN COHABITANTS THAT I FEEL STRONGLY FOR THEM"