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Homeworld 3’s new Steam demo has atmosphere, but I’m not sure about the controlsTry out War Games mode, transfer your progress to the full game
Try out War Games mode, transfer your progress to the full game
Image credit:Gearbox Publishing
Image credit:Gearbox Publishing
If you already have your heart set on the game, you might feel like waiting till thespace sim’s full release on March 8th (Feb 8th update: it’s beendelayed till May 13th). But here’s the kicker, O would-be Commander Adama: any War Games progress you make in the demo -Steam link here- will transfer to the final release. Besides, I have a feeling you’ll want to give the controls a try before buying.
Homeworld 3gives you a choice of two, somewhat deceptively-named camera control schemes, “modern” and “classic”, which determine whether you’ll need to say, right-click to engage WASD camera movement, or whether you can mouse-wheel-zoom right through the ship you’re locked onto. Neither system feels intuitive, with much of the tutorial given over to belabouring their differences, and there’s been a certain amount of player pushback onthe Steam forumsandReddit.
Part of the problem is that Homeworld 3’s encounter design emphasises precise control more than its predecessors. One of the threequel’s headline selling points is the ability to have units take cover behind larger celestial objects, including your own capital ships. There’s also more in the way of micromanaging formations than I remember from Homeworld Cataclysm, the last Homeworld outing I played properly, with different groupings suiting specific combinations of little and large starcraft. Interceptors gain a defensive advantage when they fly in a V, for example.
Homeworld 3 | War Games – Gameplay TrailerWatch on YouTube
Homeworld 3 | War Games – Gameplay Trailer
There’s a slow-mo option to alleviate the stress of managing fleets. You can spin it up from almost-stasis to 25%, 50% and 75% of real-time. Slowing time also gives you a chance to admire each ship’s workings, of course - turrets swivelling, hulls blackening under fire, smaller ships emerging from hangar bays, all manner of greebly wonderment. The maps are as gorgeous as the ships. It’s been decades since the last brand new Homeworld game, but somehow no other space series has ever managed quite the same majestic underwater ambience, with cubic lightyears wrought in hazy shades of blue and purple.
Again, the full game’s out on March 8th. I would welcome reader thoughts on the demo. I can’t quite work out whether the controls are genuinely awkward or Is It Just Me, etc.
