REVIEW: ‘Homeworld 3’ Brings It Back Home (PC)

Homeworld 3 is developed by Blackbird Interactive and published by Gearbox Publishing. Its release follows up on 2003’s Homeworld 2, although it retains many key players in the series’ development, including Game Director Rob Cunningham, Writer Martin Cirulis, and Composer Paul Ruskay. It adheres to the series’ roots to satisfy the dedicated fans who have waited decades for its release while bringing it into the modern era with meaningful additions.

The Homeworld series is built on a complicated story and gripping deep gameplay. Homeworld 3 continues the series’ trend in these areas by offering a solid story that is vastly overshadowed by great gameplay. The story is a blend of Dune, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica. Fans of the series will find the narrative treading familiar ground. There is a new alien threat to discover and defeat, a fleet to nourish and command, and the newest S’Jet descendant taking center stage.

As someone who played the previous mainline Homeworld titles but is far from familiar with the series’ lore, I find the story a tough to sell. The story’s core is too familiar to be gripping in its own right, even though its presentation and small moments sometimes elevate it. More dedicated fans of the setting will likely find more to love here. There is a lot of nods to assumedly previously explained lore and likely references that flew right over my head.

Mechanically the story mode is also little more than an elongated tutorial. Missions are largely repetitive exercises of gathering some resources to build up a fleet, travelling to some objectives, and then engaging enemies in some dog fights until only one of you is left standing. It is still worth playing through for dedicated fans or anyone who wants to have more than a speedy tutorial to get their bearings.

Where Homeworld 3 really shines is in its mechanical density and the more gameplay-focused game modes. Gameplay in Homeworld 3 is focused on players controlling a fleet of space ships in real-time strategy matches where players have to gather resources, build ships, research upgrades, and fight against enemies. Think of Age of Empires or The Settlers in space and you’re mostly there. This means that on top of the usual RTS fare players also have to consider more unique features of the setting, like thinking in all three dimensions when it comes to positioning, movement, and combat.

Homeworld 3 takes better advantage of its unique setting than its mainline predecessors. Players must now consider debris and objects on the map during every encounter. Asteroids provide extra cover. Tunnels through said asteroids allow ships to reposition in the middle of an encounter quickly. Turrets can be set up on hard surfaces to cover sight lines and try to control where the enemy will approach from.

How players interact with the varied maps and how they approach games generally boils down to how they manage their fleet. By gathering resources, players can build and control dozens of ships at a time. Each is chosen from a wide variety of options that can further be upgraded to perform better or narrow their proficiency to cover a specific role on the battlefield. There are so many decisions to make at any point during a game of Homeworld 3 that the possible approaches feel endless.

Multiplayer matches have a history of being the strongest part of Homeworld titles, but unfortunately, I could not play one ahead of the game’s launch. However, I was able to spend a significant amount of time in the new War Games mode. War Games takes Homeworld and throws in a dash of roguelike inspiration. Playable with up to two other players, the mode is a quick way to jump into the game and blow some ships up, especially for players who don’t feel compelled to try their skill against other human players in traditional multiplayer.

At the start of War Games players choose a starting fleet that acts as a foundation to be built upon throughout the run. With that fleet they collect relics by completing simple missions like controlling an area for a small duration.  After a few side missions, players face off against a fearsome boss, and then the cycle repeats.

Each relic allows the player to choose from three perks offering passive buffs or even unlocking new units to build during missions. The mode offers a solid way to put some more hours into the experience. I can only imagine it gets more fun with friends added to the mix. However, the mode falls a tad on the easy side and will likely leave the more hardcore Homeworld fans sticking with the challenge to be found in PvP.

Overall, Homeworld 3 takes an admirable approach to keeping what worked previously in the series and adding to it in smart and meaningful ways. The modernization of the series has yielded amazing benefits that make it feel like the definitive Homeworld experience unless you are looking to go back and experience the whole story for yourself. It isn’t easy to make a sequel worth a decades-long wait, but Blackbird Interactive has managed to pull off just that.

Homeworld 3 releases on May 13, 2024 for PC.