The core gameplay remains utterly identical to the original. Once more you are in control of the Hiigaran Mothership as it tears across the universe in a bid to ensure the survival of the race. Intercepted and harassed by various nefarious space races you must collect enough resources to build up a fleet strong enough to see you through the mission. As in Homeworld any ships that make it to the end of the level are carried on through to the next, as are any leftover RUs, or Resource Units. Research is again a vitally important weapon in the fight for survival and have seen fit to add a smattering of techs new to the Homeworld universe. The actual ships have a lot of upgrades available to them; such as speed, armour and improved weapons but their effects appear marginal. The Mothership is the same design although it has had a bunch of nobly bits glued onto the side. These nobly bits are often there because you built them since a new feature of Homeworld 2 is modules. In the last game there were modules, true, but this time round they can be targeted for precise destruction. So if you are getting swarmed by enemy fighters you can track down the vermin's carrier and blow away the facility with a bomber strike. And additional systems on the larger ships can be built and destroyed in this way and it certainly adds something new to click at.

The formations of yore are also gone. Now there are three strike formations for smaller craft, selectable from the toolbar, along with aggression setting levels. Not only does the sequel actually remove tactical options but the shape of the remaining formations is nowhere near as impressive a sight to behold. The ships seem very tightly packed together, something that leads to big problems when frigates and capital ships are involved as they spend more time bouncing off of each other than they do spitting laser death at the bad guys. Some of the ships retain special functions, such as the EMP pulse and the defensive field, but there aren't very many new toys to play with, no great number more than Cataclysm introduced. I found myself relying more on massive mixed groups to pound the enemy into submission than on tactical cunning, although as the game progressed and more options became available I relied on this 'tactic' with decreasing regularity.

The missions themselves are varied, with jaunts through spaceship graveyards, full on strikes and stealthy assaults on enemy bases shrouded in magnetic clouds. They are also rather familiar and I experienced the occasional sense of déjà vu as I was sure I had played strikingly similar missions during my last two Homeworld outings. The difficulty level is very similar to the first game's. There's no selection available, rather the enemy AI is dynamic. What this appears to mean is that if you finish one mission by tanning the baddies then you'd better be ready to get annihilated by overwhelming numbers on the subsequent level. There's some arcane formula which determines all this, but suffice to say, this game punishes you for doing well. The third mission was just stupidly difficult and I only managed to get passed it by ignoring all the orders and suggestions from fleet command and doing things slowly and deliberately. The AI of the actual pilots is really good. Ships will attack according to their strengths and apportion their numbers in an intelligent fashion. Once a fight is entered the player only needs to tweak the plan as circumstances change in the battlevoid as your ships can do a good job of handling themselves. It's just a shame there's no option to toggle a return to base once a damage threshold is reached.

If you manage to start a level with just the right amount of ships and resources for the computer to calculate a level of response which is not disproportionate to your skill you will enjoy the battles that you go through as you guide the Hiigarans to safety. If not, well, you're screwed and will invariably have to try again. The hit and miss nature of the warfare is very frustrating and smacks of lazy programming.

In fact the entire package seems both tired and uninspired. There's the usual options to get stuck into, although you only have the option of playing deathmatches. There's a skirmish mode as well as the obligatory unavoidable tutorial. There are some settings to tweak and once again you get to customise your paint jobs. But the graphics represent no great progression from the first time round, the sound is more marginal in its presence and the new interface is just plain crappy. How Relic took so long to release what is no more than a glorified expansion to Homeworld 1 will remain a mystery. The gameplay is still solid, the game still looks pretty. It's just a shame that the design changes that were made were the wrong ones and the atmosphere of one of the most compellingly attractive games has been spoiled by the needs of the marketing men. Homeworld 2 is not a bad game. It is, however, more than a little disappointing to see a title that breathed originality and innovation into a stale genre, (and it was a breath oh so sweetly scented) too content to rest on its laurels. I had been looking forward to this sequel for a long time. Unfortunately it was an anticipation that was unfounded.

68%

By Sam Gibson