I picked this out of a bargain bin and wow was I suprised. This game is a funny one, at first you don't get what the fuss is about. Sure the graphics are amazing, but the single player seems slow and unimpressive. However, once you fight a battle later in the game you will be hooked forever. The battles are intense and your tactics must be spot on or your whole fleet will be space dust. There are all sorts of great tactical devices to use in battles too such as cloaking generators, gravity wells, shielded frigates, mine layers etc. All adding to the fun. Even now, 4 years later i still play this game regularly. I still find new ways of completing it and the great soundtrack and graphics make the whole experience an amazing one. The only downside to this game is that after you've defeated all the enemies on a level you must wait for your resource collectors to finish collecting everything which can take a VERY long time on some levels. You can move on to the next level if you dont want to wait but resources are so tight in this game that you cant afford to just leave it behind. In fact if I lose a Heavy Cruiser - the most expensive ship in the game, I reload the level (unless its the last level). An automatic resource collection feature would've been nice when you leave to the next level. Appart from that one flaw this is one of the greatest games ever made. Easy to learn but impossible to master it has me hooked forever! Forget about Cataclysm and Homeworld 2, this is the original and one of the greatest ever strategy games. Now, wheres the cd...… Expand

When I first got this game nearly a decade ago, I thought it was the single greatest video game ever made. It was down right gorgeous, the story was amazing, the soundtrack flawless, and the multiplayer community was the best bunch of misfits I'd ever had the pleasure to be a part of. I just recently started it up again for old time's sake, and I still consider it the greatest game ever made. Homeworld is the single most cinematic gaming experience I have ever had.… Expand

I bought this game when i was 10 and thought it was awsome. I couldn't get far in the single player player campaign though because it requires a huge amount of skill and strategy. however I thought that the multiplayer was great (and still do). I came back a few years later and attempted the single player campaign again and it was ninja gaiden hard. Every level your up against a fleet much larger than your own, but this game is just so addicting you just can't stop playing, you don't care how hard or how long it takes to get to the end. The story line is also engrossing. you can't help but not feel bad for these guys. and of the 3-15 days you put into restarting levels and having more of your fleet survive to the end of the level so they carry over to next level. (yes they do that).However when you finnaly get to the last level and the second there seems to be slightest chance you could win against a fleet 5 (yes)5 times the size of yours, (lots of both strategy and skill involved) your heart skips a beat. once you are about to finnaly ahnillate the enemy it's almost impossible not to start a victory dance. You have just put so much effort into it that you can't help but celebrate.… Expand

Great! The 3D effects are awesome!

This game was one of the first and best fully 3d RTS games and it succeded in creating a great game experience as well as a great story, which is something usually missing from aRTS.

I've been waiting for a good space game since playing Elite many years ago. Although a diiferent idea from Elite the game is superb! Graphics, Excitement and stratergy all combined to make this a classic. A must buy for all space game lovers.

This game changed the way I viewed computer games... more than just a way to kill time, it was truley compelling and satisfying, an amazing virtual world in which you could control an entire fleet through a gripping story, with complex strategies and gorgeous graphics to boot. Oh, and a note on the visuals in this game - they were so ahead of thier time, they still hold impressive to this very day, rivaling anything you'll see on many of today's consoles. Amazing.… Expand

As easy to learn as it is hard to master, 7 years later I'm still learning about it.

Excellent gameplay with balanced units between races. Includes a great storyline and single player missions that can actually be quite challenging. The MP aspect is well-done, with many custom maps that have been and spread through the community over the years, I have been a fan of this game for many years and as a veteren RTS gamer I can say this game ranks in my personal top three.

Flashback: I used to play this game back when it was out. I waited for reviews before picking this up. 2 weeks later, Homeworld became my only desire for weeks on end. Even now, it taunts me from the CD shelf. If you've never played Homeworld and you're into this kind of game, you've been missing out. A classic gem. What are you waiting for?

Absolutely astonishing gameplay. The simple interface is nice and allows beginners to easily adjust to the uniquely great gameplay. Hotkeys speed things up and the option to remove certain effects from the game such as bullet effects can speed things up for the people with older computers. Even with the graphics engine I would still prefer this game to almost any present day console game. Long and tedious missions actually require you to think instead of just building a huge fleet and bombarding the enemy, because of this it stays away from a stereotypical approach to gameplay. Soundtrack is one of the best I've heard in any videogame, right up there with final fantasy and halo games. A well placed music track of Adagio for Strings really shines. The soundtrack and the game are definately worth your buy.… Expand

To put it simply: no, there has not been any other game like Homeworld since Homeworld. Or since Homeworld 2. I was never into space strategy games, but Homeworld changed that for me. One of the best games to come out of the Golden Era of PC gaming (that is the end on the 90s). I am looking forward to Sins of a Solar Empire as a spiritual sequel.

Although I also enjoy it's two sequels, Catacylsm and HW2, this original has an undifined touch of score and epicness.

This game is easily a top 10'er of all time. It brought 3d strategy to life in endless back drop up galaxies and stars. The manuevering of vehicles, the unit voices, the brilliance of the explosions and lasers ripping through the screen. The controls were simple, smart, easy to use. The single player campaign made you feel you the responsibility to progress. Homeworld was a game that alot of people dreamed of for a while, and it finally came. Dune II, Warcraft, C&C, and Homeworld are the founders of present and future RTS games. Of course the god father of RTS is the board game RISK!… Expand

From the opening with Angus Dei to the closing credits with Yes' "The Ladder", this game is an experience unlike any other. I was eight years old when I started playing, and the (at the time) top of the line graphics coupled with a totally unique (and, 10 years later, an asofyet not replicated) gameplay engine amde this game the best I have ever played. I became a relic nut after it. The intrigueing storyline chronicling the journey home of a set of exiles along wiith the beautiful animations that serve as cutscenes will draw anyone in in a heartbeat. If you're a fan of RTS games, this is a must buy, regardless of the date on the calander.… Collapse

This is a space opera. The design is directly inspired by those sci-fi book cover you can find at second hand bookstore, the music is just beautiful and fit so well the atmosphere and the action of the game. For many players, the game looks too complicate as you are dealing with a 3 dimension tactical map, but if you hang on and master it (not that difficult, just need some practice), then the payback is huge. The other thing player find very difficult is that you start a mission with what you had in the previous one (or what you lack of). But there is nothing better to let you feel in total immersion, and catch a COS "completion obsession syndrome", where you will try to take over as much as enemy ship before getting to the next level (i finished the game with a hundred ion fregate (at 5fps, back on my p3 667). I played it again, this time on a 1080p projector... wow. Do yourself a favor, buy this game, wait the night to come, put your best headphone, launch the game all lights out, and listen to "ave maria".… Expand

When I got this game, so what if it was ripped off from a freind. God way to try games out before buying it yourself, no? Anyways, I was amazed by the graphics. Even by todays standards I still call them incredible. The only true problem in the game is such a long single-player.

Finally, comes a game that does what should have been done ages ago... removes the "bulking up" for attack and allows tactical stike forces. But quickly gets overcomplicated and hard to control... it's not like it's a bad game, but learning all that I can learn to play the game isn't that much fun. And the control system feels... tacked on... as if you were never ment to play, but only to watch.… Expand

I played this game 3 times, that tells you everything you have to know. Absolutely loved this game. The story line was fantastic, tactical gameplay and upgrade systems where also top notch. Not really seen another game of its type since. Really wish someone would bring another game like this onto the market. This is a MUST PLAY GAME for sci fi tactical gamers.

I was waiting for this game some months, and bought it right away after it's release. It's a deep strategy game, with great graphics, story and awesome sound (not only music).
Full of that kind of details that make a good game a great one. Unfortunately I have never found again a RTS game like this. Highs: everything except it's low
Lows: Sometimes can be slow (worse when replaying missions)

A extremely important moment in gaming history. Relic took the RTS format and added an additional dimension in a space strategy game that arguably has yet to be bested. The singleplayer experience is moving, challenging and memorable. Quite possibly one of the best games ever.

first off you have to understand that for its time of release, 1999, that games and especially RTS games were still in the beginning phases of development. that being said, this is an amazing game. i am going to say my only complaint right of the bat. The interface, overlay, and lets face it, is really hard to manage and get used to. right when i started this game i had no idea how to manage the overlay, and it took a long time to get used to it, it is not friendly at all. Now that, that is out of the way i can get to the real game. the strategy, lets first take into account where we are, SPACE. Homeworld is a SPACE game. that's right, tapping into a brand new theme for a game, this is revolutionary, and for me amazing, i love space. and they do it fantastically. i have nothing to say other than that, you just need to play it, NOW. That is if you can find it. I have always thought that this game was underrated, and never got the attention it deserved. so go play it, after you can find it
9/10 -out of this world, literal...… Expand

I can't praise this game highly enough. This game should get 20/20 it is probably my favourite game of all time. BRING ON HOMEWORLD 3. How can anyone give this game less than 10.

this is one of the most definitive RTS games in gaming history. Wanna know why? keep reading.
PLOT, SCRIPT, NARATIVE AND WRITING: On the dessert planet of Kharak due to a satellite malfunction the people who live there discover an ancient startship in a dessert along with a hyperspace engine and a stone with coordinates with to what appears to be their planet of origin, called Hiigara curved on it. The Kharakian clans put aside their differences and collaborated to build a huge mothership that would take them to Hiigara. A neuroscientist named karan developed a system that connected a human being with the mothership as its living computer. Karan volunteered and became the ships living computer and commander. First trials are about to begin, and this is where the game begins and where my spoiling ends. The writing of the game has a poetic direction. The narrator, the characters all feel like they are coming from inside a poem of sorts. This whole direction of narrative is very original and effective in contributing to the game's atmosphere. The voice acting seemed dull at the beginning, but this changed fast. It has a subtle emotional tension that works really well.
GAMEPLAY AND MECHANICS: The mothership is your primary base of opperations. There you can build all sorts of ships, from the smallest scout to the biggest battlecruiser, but it cannot move and while it is very durable it can't dish out any real punishment. There is also the carrier, a unit that has more limited building capabilities and the research ships that are used to acquire new units and tech and which you can only have six at any given moment. And now lets see the part of the game that really made it stand out. Its unique, for an RTS, 3D space navigation. Now there is an extra dimension to navigate. This opens up new possibilities in tactics. Send ships, not just around, but also above and under your enemy, a function that i believe was greatly appreciated by those who liked multiplayer. This mechanic is implemented excellently in HW and really works, but it has some minor quirks. You see, to move your unit you can't just right or left click somewhere in the map. You must either select the appropriate option from a menu opened by right clicking the unit or units whom you wish to move and then left clicking on the map, and you must keep pressing shift in order to choose directional height. Fear not though. The tutorial does an excellent job on teaching you the ropes and the movement system is relatively easy to get used to.
There is also a world map mode accessed by pressing spacebar. From there you got an over all view of the entire map so you can monitor various fronts, you can see where resources are denser and you units appear as green dots(enemy as red while colour varies in multiplayer). One of the best features of the game is the fact that whatever you have(units, resources etc.) carries on to the next mission. You must be effective in the missions ahead as it would be unpleasant if you have ended up on the next mission with very low resources and with a very small ineffective wing of interceptors vs a full enemy fleet. Missions themselves are very unpredictable in nature, and I wont say more about this element so I dont spoil them. Lastly many missions will make you fill like you fighting against all odds, and you do. Enemy forces will often outnumber your's quite a bit and you will be like â… Expand

Massively ahead of it's time, and few modern releases even get close to this for it's gameplay. Never playing this game is as much a crime as never playing Deus Ex; it should be taught in frikkin schools.

One of my all time favorite Strategy games, and i think one of the first of its kind. It has its own style and i would go ahead and say even today it could be enjoyed by someone who never played it before

Half RTS, half space aquarium, Homeworld is one of the few essential titles any strategy fan needs to have played. Even replaying this amazing game more than a decade later it is still unsurpassed as far as game play, graphics and sound is concerned. The single player campaign is on my list of essential sci fi literature along with Alien, Star Wars and Starcraft. And on top of the spectacular pacing of the story comes great visuals, tremendous sound and tough as nails tactics. At every turn you feel as if you really are way out in space, and some of the scenarios are breath taking and feel really lethal.

If any negatives can be found they are negligible. However for people unaccustomed to RTS games Homeworld will be very tough to get to grips with beyond the first couple of levels. I have also identified a graphical bug which causes the occasional star to stick on the edge of the screen after it should have disappeared off screen. And finally in the original Homeworld there is a powerful compulsion to remain in each zone until every last resource has been gathered by your slow moving harvesters. This is an artifact of the gaming community in the classic PC era, which was composed of very patient people, quite unlike today. It was expected that games would reward patience as well as skill, planning, overview and tactical ability. Personally I loved it, since it gave me a welcome break between the hectic missions during which I could watch the backgrounds and listen to the relaxing music. It`s the closest I ever got to an aquarium.
If none of this turns you off then go get Homeworld with all appropriate haste! It is one of the most flawless games ever released for the PC.… Expand

An excellent game with awesome graphics for its day (And even now). The races were too similar for my tastes, which is the only bad point in the game. Great visuals, great SFX, great soundtrack, geat campaign

Homeworld is a marvelous game which aged very well. What really stands out are story, gameplay and music/ sound which create an incredible deep atmosphere which isn't reached by any other RTS till now.