Today, I would like to spend sometime talking about Homeworld 2, a space 3D RTS title from Relic, the famed developer responsible for Warhammer 40K series and Company of Heroes. As the sequel to the groundbreaking game Homeworld, Homeworld 2 initially attracted a considerable amount of hype when it was announced. However, the game didn't sell too many copies. As the result, Homeworld universe fell into obscurity and Relic went on for bigger and better things.

Being a big fan of the franchise, I felt sorry for Relic. Oh, and just to prove how big a Homeworld fan I am, here is a belt buckle I made based on Homeworld 2's logo. It was even mentioned on relicnews:

I believe that the failure of Homeworld 2 could have been the result of several misguided design decisions:

1 - Formations.

In Homeworld, players were able to organize ships into formations, such as broad, claw, wall, or sphere formations. This feature was removed from Homeworld 2. In a developer interview, it was explained that formation added no real bonus during attack runs so the feature was left out. Instead, ships in Homeworld 2 automatically align into certain type of "ideal battle formation" when combined with other ship types. Theoretically, this would reduce micromanagement and therefore lower players' stress level, but it also reduces player's choice of tactics since all ship behave similarly during combat. Also, Formation from original Homeworld serve other useful purposes, such as fleet organizations. Without formation feature, Homeworld 2 become a game of number, in which players simply build ships and move them to the enemy bases, then watch the battle unfold with very little control from the player's end.

2 - Shipyards.

The idea sounded cool on paper: a battlecruiser so massive that not even Mothership could construct, and a separate shipyard must be built for it. In practice, however, this made very little sense and added no fun to the gameplay. Judging by a shipyard's size and capability demonstrated in-game, a shipyard is more powerful than Mothership in every way. This made Mothership obsolete, and reduced the dramatic effect of having Mothership serving as the most important ship of the fleet and its symbolic status as the last hope of your race was lessened. Also, shipyard's AI was truly screwed up. If you have ever built more than one shipyard, you will know that they get stuck into each other a lot when trying to align themselves with Mothership.

3 - Strike Craft with Unlimited Fuel.

This idea was actually not invented by Relic, but by Barking Dog Studio, which produced Homeworld: Cataclysm. Strike Craft (such as fighters and corvettes) used to have a fuel limit in the original Homeworld, and they must be refueled after certain amount of time in service. Considering strike crafts were designed for maximum maneuverability in mind, they were excellent against capital ships. Removing the fuel limit on strike crafts means that players could send them across the entire map and attack enemy's base directly, which removed a lot of tactical depth from the game.

4 - Recycled Elements.

Video game sequels are naturally based on their predecessor, but Homeworld 2 featured many things that any veteran players could tell that they were the same thing with a different name and appearance. Examples: the crew transport escort mission was a direct copy from a level in Cataclysm; the Dreadnought was a direct copy of the Siege Cannon from Cataclysm; Movers/Keepers were identical to the swarming little buggers from the Kadesh mission in the original Homeworld... just to name a few. In short, Homeworld 2 didn't do much to keep the game fresh.

5 - Broken Level Designs.

The original Homeworld was criticized for its linear progression and its trial-and-error approach to solve a mission. Players usually need advanced knowledge of the level, build the right ships, then replay the next mission and hope that the fleet is properly prepared this time. In Homeworld 2, the problem remained, and in fact was even compounded since missions were automatically advanced as soon as all objectives were achieved. Homeworld 2 won't even give time for the players to reorganize and rebuild the fleet before rushing the player into the next big thing. Also, the game scaled the enemy fleet size according to the player's fleet size, which means players were actually punished for maintaining a large fleet through superior tactics; if you lose few units in a mission, you could expect the next level to be hell.

Overall, these are the weaknesses I felt while playing through Homeworld 2. The franchise featured a great storyline as its backbone, and I was attracted to its universe for the longest time.

Homeworld 2 felt like a rushed product, and it was a shame that Relic and Sierra did not treat this title with enough respect. If the game used another 6 months and ironed out all its wrinkles, the game could have done much better and we might even hear about Homeworld 3.

Finally, some suggestions from me to improve Homeworld 2, if Relic ever decides to remake the game one day:

1 - Include the Death Star and Darth Vader. Getting sued by George Lucas will give you a lot of publicity in no time.

2 - Bundle each copy of the game with a free color inkjet printer. Now the fans can print out paper model layouts and make their favorite Homeworld ships.

3 - Offer a $50 rebate. People love rebates.

4 - Make a "You can win a date with Karen Sjet" contest. People who bought the game can mail the game boxed to Relic, and a lottery will take place. The winner will have his house run over by a bulldozer and know how the Hiigaran felt when their homeworld was decimated.