Homeworld 3 Single-Player Campaign Review

ign.com:

This review covers the single-player campaign of Homeworld 3. For thoughts on the multiplayer skirmish and War Games co-op mode, see the Homeworld 3 Multiplayer review .

Considering Homeworld 2 came out more than 20 years ago (and was remastered in 2015) it’s a welcome surprise how little had to change – and how little complexity had to be sacrificed – to bring this classic, large-scale space strategy gameplay up to modern standards and deliver a visually spectacular and mechanically varied campaign. Building and controlling an armada of strike craft, frigates, and capital ships in full 3D space is certainly a little tricker to wrap your head around than most RTS games, but thanks to the ability to pause and give orders at any time you can grow into command at your own pace. The payoff is more than worth it, and this campaign invites you to embrace your inner Admiral Akbar and walk into traps just to blast your way out.

Using a now well-worn template for soft-rebooting a series, this story follows a brand-new character who must seek out the original protagonist after they go missing – in this instance, 20 years prior. Despite that cliche, Imogen S’jet’s search for answers about what happened to Karan S’jet’s lost fleet is delivered with convincing emotion. That includes some very reasonable conflict between her and her second in command as he tries to keep her on the task of tracking down the looming new threat to Hiigara and the galaxy at large they were sent out after in the first place.

Thanks in large part to its fully animated cinematics (as opposed to the Homeworld series’ traditional hand-painted animatics), Imogen feels more human and relatable than Karan ever did, despite being hooked into the same fleet-controlling machines, wearing the same skin-tight wetsuit, and floating in another goo-filled tank with her eyes closed. But she gets to stretch her legs and emote more during the visions she has while the Mothership hyperspace jumps between missions, and