Rating: 
Summary: No! Please! Don't buy this!
Review: The title should say it all. The requisite for the number of stars you give a game is "How much fun is this game?"Amazon.com doesn't recognize negative numbers. Cataclysm is not all bad; very few things in life are. The graphics are pretty darned good, and the control interface has, yes, been improved. Not enough to justify the release of this monstrosity in either case. I bought the original Homeworld the very day it was released. It has now been on my hard drive continuously since that point. It is without any SEMBLANCE of a doubt the best strategy game I've ever played. The game had class; it had flair. The graphics were just _astounding_. The voices were, as computer games go, done very well. The ships were amazing. I spent hours drawing them and designing new additions to them and the like. But that's just me. Anyway, the missions were perfectly scripted and added to the already spectacular game. I remember, I put off the last mission for 4 and a half months because I didn't want the game to end it was that...good! I cried when I had finished the last mission and the thought crashed into my head: "This is it. There isn't any more." So then, obviously, I was near tears again when Cataclysm was announced and I saw in it my psychological salvation. What actually happened when I installed and ran the game was near sacriledge. They took a great game and utterly destroyed it. They removed every last shred of je ne sais croire that Homeworld had (tons of it, by the way) and replaced it with utter, run of the mill garbage. The original game had just the right FEEL, just the right everything. Its creators knew what they had to do and went above and beyond it. Sierra has always been able to tell a story (some of the time, granted, that story is the best part of the game...:P) flawlessly. Homeworld had such a great storyline it could've been (well, "Battlestar Galactica" was, I guess) the basis for a [5 star] movie. Cataclysm's story has promise, and was written very well-just read the manual and you'll see what I mean. But it can't be a part of the Homeworld series. In order for it to work, it needs to be a whole separate game to avoid soiling what the original was. Cataclysm just isn't good. The points I make and more are in the other reviews. Those who give it 4 or 5 stars don't know what they're talking about. Or I'm overly sentimental. Oh well. Please don't buy this game. Please. The only thing its good for it using as a skeet and knowing, as little fragments fall to Earth, that you have destroyed a great evil to the gaming universe. -Baikal
Rating: 
Summary: Way dissapointed
Review: The original Homeworld blew me away. From that amazing opening sequence with the Addagio for Strings music throughout the rest of the game. Everything about the game was revolutionary. Game play and intense storyline. Which is why I was greatly disappointed with Cataclysm. Cataclysm didn't invoke any sentiment and failed to completely draw me into the story as did the original. The Catacysm story is a complete waterdown compared to the original. The possibilities in ship building and technologies becomes limited compared to Homeworld. The game is a complete step in about every aspect from the original, except for some nice surrounding graphics. I was very very very very very very disappointed with this. A definitive second rate sequel. I wish I had never heard of this sequel, worse yet played it. I recommend sticking to the original Homeworld. This one will only mar the memory of the original.
Rating: 
Summary: Insanely Addictive!
Review: What do you get when you combine flawless real-time strategy, gorgeous graphics, a wonderfully intuitive interface, perfect balances, and insanely addictive gameplay? Well, my friends- The answer is simple- Homeworld: Cataclysm. The strategical depth of this game is so intense, that the experience is far more than the sum of it's parts. 17 Single Player missions force you to use different tactics in every mission. You can't just waltz in and blow everything up. You MUST use the proper mix of ships to ensure victory. The Multiplayer is practically a game on it's own. I've spent many hours playing online day and night. I've even joined a clan to maximize my playing pleasure. :-) Please, buy this game if your between the ages of -infinty to infinity. Trust me. You won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: Fails to carry on the Legacy
Review: Cataclysm is simply not the mind-blowing experience that Homeworld was a year ago (or even today :). The core gameplay has been tampered with too much. Granted, Cataclysm manages to improve many aspects of the first game, but the sum of the parts do not add up to a complete whole. Changes are made to the very basic way you can play the game, and at first they seem exciting, but after a few battles they quickly become tedious. For example, the technology tree now adds "upgrades", which means you must take time out of the fight to search the map for outdated ships and stop what they are doing to upgrade (downright annoying). Also, there are many new technologies which must be micro-managed for them to work, such unlink ships to fire missles, then linking them again to attack once the missles run out. Overall, all this forces you to micro-manage every battle you have, instead of concentrating on the big picture. A fight in two seperate places usually means that you'll lose in the place you can't watch over. The graphics engine has been improved for the better. The game can now handle more ships on-screen at the same time before slowing to a crawl. Progress bars tell you the status of research or building without having to go into those respective screens. The almost useless "fog of war" has a single redeeming factor - it adds a sense of depth the sensors screen, and you can more easily tell the relationship of different positions in 3 dimensions. Too bad you can't use the old ships in Homeworld with the Cataclysm engine. Finally, the worst offense - the story in Cataclysm is nowhere near as good as Homeworld. The feeling of mystery and strangeness present in the first game is just not there in the second. The voice work is over-acted, and even the music is a step down. Given that the single-player campaign was much harder and more frustrating, the story barely motivated me to finish it. If you loved Homeworld and want some change to a comfortable game, give Cataclysm a try. Just don't except lightning to strike a second time.
Rating:
Summary: Not Enough of Anything New (3½ Stars)
Review: As of last year, Relic's "Homeworld" was perhaps one of the most original real time strategy games to have come a long in a while. However, despite winning PC Gamer's coveted 'Game of the Year' honor, Homeworld didn't exactly break sales records, how could it when it ran up against such master pieces of software engineering like "Who Wants to be a Millionaire"? But it sold enough to generate a sequel, but instead of coming out of Relic, it was produced instead by Barking Dog, another Canadian game house and released under Sierra's banner. Though I suppose we should be glad Sierra is releasing anything these days given the financial woes the company has endured over past year. So bad was it that they cancelled the Babylon 5 space combat sim, among others. So, can Barking Dog catch and run with Relic's ball. Yes and no. "Homeworld: Cataclysm" is essentially the same game as the original, though they changed the menu graphics, it is still basically the same just more colorful. In either Single Player or Multi-Player you will control the same command ship- basically a Kiith Somtaaw mining vessel that is used as your primary base-gone is the awesome crescent shaped Mothership, it having been relegated to an orbital ship yard above Hiigara. The mining vessel assumes the role of the Mothership and can be modified by adding various research and manufacturing modules that enable the player to develop then build new ships, weapons, and upgrades. However, the ships that are built are a far cry from the wonderful designs of the previous game, replaced with uninspired vehicles that display a marked lack of creativity in their appearance. In fact, none of the original vessels are present except in cut scenes and possessed by other Kiith. Instead of the Scout, Interceptor and Attack Bombers, we now have the Seeker Recon Fighter, which resembles a plumbing fixture. And the Acolyte Heavy Fighter that bears more than a passing resemblance to the old Salvage Corvette than anything else. The Resource Collector has been replaced by the bumper-car looking vehicle that is also a salvage vessel, repair vessel and delivers the new Infection Vaccine to ward off the effects of the 'Beast's' Borg-like beam that it uses to take over your vessels. If fighters and non-combat craft are uninspired, the capital ships are even worse. Gone is the Ion Frigate, replaced with the blocky Multi-Beam Frigate and there aren't any Assault or Support Frigates to speak of. Gone are well designed Destroyer, Missile Destroyer and Heavy Cruiser, replaced instead with a horseshoe-shaped Dreadnaught and Carrier. Also gone are most of the little corvettes, Cloaking Generator, Grav Well Generator, etc. Having said that, however, they have added some neat little touches like the Leech, which attaches itself to ships and damages them over time and the improved Drone Frigate. I really miss all of the original ships, because they were so beautiful, and I suppose I will get used to the new designs in time. Game play is pretty much unchanged, except individually most of the ships can do more, such as the ability to link two fighters together or a holographic system that enables you to sneak into enemy fleets undetected. Most of the key commands are thankfully unchanged. Multi-player games now happen over a much larger arena, making them last longer, while resources may seem more sparse, asteroids contain more RU's (Resource Units) and with the addition of resource rich crystals, I found myself with 30,000 - 50,000 RU's at the end of a Skirmish vs. CPU game. Visually, the game is still a treat. Campaign missions follow the discovery and accidental release of a million year old techno-organic species dubbed the "Beast" by your Kiith, forcing you to eject a third of your ship as it becomes infected. It is then up to you to hunt down and wipe it out before it spreads across the galaxy. The Beast go around assimilating ships and crew and begins to spread like a massive virus, unfortunately it's already been done and they're called the Borg. It's the little things that count. If you remember those great nebula sequences from Star Trek II or the clouded world of Neptune in Event Horizon, players will instantly see the inspiration for the presence of lighting flickering through gas clouds, down into the swirling vortex of black hole. The delicate ripples of thunder only adds to the overall mood, making games almost hypnotic. 3D lighting and effects are still top-notch, but it was the nebulae effects that really caught my attention. If anything, Barking Dog have improved the 3D navigation system, making it much easier to move and position ships around the map- I found myself missing my destination targets less in Cataclysm than I did in Homeworld. The manual is not nearly good as the original, even though it details the fall of the Taiidani Empire, the shock the 550,000 hibernating Kushan suffered upon release from the cryo-trays, the problems encountered on resettling on their homeworld, and the continuing problems with Imperialist Taiidani raids into the Hiigaran sector of space. It lacks much of the 'Wow' factor the original manual contained with its brilliant and inspired history of the Kharak, the Kushan and their Kiith families. Manual lay out isn't nearly as neat, wasting space to fill more pages, making it obvious the creators just didn't put all that much heart into it. Is it fair to compare to the two games? Of course it is, because they are essentially the same game, Cataclysm just has an inferior story. The urgency generated by the creation of the Beast just isn't there, and doesn't require any where near the same emotional involvement of the player as was the case with Homeworld. It just isn't that good.
Rating:
Summary: A sequel that actually is better than the original
Review: Since Homeworld is already one of the best (if not the best) real-time strategy games out there, it would have been easy to just cash-in on the success. Lucky for us, Homeworld did not fall in that category. While the original Homeworld gave out a feel of an epic battle between legendary enemies and the survival of a world, Cataclysm gives a more "personal" approach. Where Fleet Command in Homeworld was a woman lacking any form of emotion when she speaks (hooking yourself to a super-computer might just do that), the voice of command in this game actually has personality. He sometimes anger, sometimes panic, and sometimes is at awe at what is happening around his ship. You really feel closer to your troops. Also, most ship/fighter also comes with their own voices and expression (a worker ordered to harvest REALLY didn't sound very... motivated). You actually feel for them! What also helps is an equally engaging story. Although very standard in the Science-Fiction genre content-wise, it is very well delivered. As Hitchcock once said: "It is not the cake that is important, but how it is delivered". And although player already knows the story just by scanning the cover box, that third mission really delivered the chills! I really wish game developers put as much effort in establishing a good story... I must also point out the VERY improved interface. Where Homeworld stumbled with a lack of waypoints and user-unfriendly order issuing scheme (especially from the Sensor Manager), Cataclysm refined the game to near perfection. Unit wise, we get a more dynamic fleet. Where in the original game, only research vessels could link together to form... a bigger research vessel, in Cataclysm, linking up two Acolytes (heavy-fighters) creates a slower, more powerful corvette. One can acknowledge the tactical advantage of this (speed toward the enemy, linking-up, pummel the enemy, unlink...). Also, the Command Ship actually "evolves" when you gradually turn it from a mining ship into a battleship through the missions. There is also a ranking system (i.e. ships get better with experience), so there is (supposedly) less incentive of engaging in suicide missions. Personnally, I failed to noticed any difference in performance between a rookie and a wing leader. A superb effort from the Barking Dog Studios for bringing to the Homeworld universe a worthy sequel!
Rating:
Summary: Cataclysm--better than the original
Review: Forget Starcraft, Warcraft, Ground Control, Tiberian Sun, what have you. Once you play Homeworld, I assure you that you will never, EVER want to play those games. The reason is simple: after homeworld's immersiveness, flexibility, and strategy, everything else is too simple, too boring, just not fun. The 17 missions isn't a drawback, each will take you around an hour to beat. When you've beaten the game, play the multiplayer against the computer or fellow humans for much more excitement. The two playable races, Somtaaw and Beast, are opposites in playing style, so once you've mastered one, the other presents a challenge. The 3D enviroment lends a new breed of strategy, much more complex then other RTS's "Build a million units and do an all-out strike". In homeworld, a handful of properly used units can defeat a bluntly controlled deathfleet. Stop reading reviews and BUY THIS GAME!!!
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Disapointing
Review: When I saw the first HW: Cataclysm ad in PC Gamer, thrilled would hardly describe my reaction. As release date got closer and closer and more details were leaking out about the game, it was beginning to sound even better than the original. What I got was hardly what I had expected. Homeworld was a first, a daredevil of sorts in the gaming world. The first game to ever take RTS, add a third demention, add incredible graphics, art, music, and storyline, and pack it all down into the awesome cuve of your Mothership's hull. You watched as Kharak, the only home you ever knew, burned for the pursuit of Hiigara, your true home. You annihilated the fleet that destroyed your world, watched as your long lost cousins opened fire on you, and saw a minuscule ship haul off something as big as a Missile Destroyer faster than a scout could run at full burn. You cared about that interceptor that just streaked across the sky in a giant fireball, the wing of scouts calling for backup. In cataclysm, you feel nothing. That wing of Acolytes you just sent out to destroy an enemy frigate, as they get butchered from an ambush, your Command Ship as it cries "We're under attack!" provokes no responce from even the least hardened RTS player after they realize that they can rebuild the Acolytes and that the Com. Ship can take care of itself. The music is made up of wannabe remixes of the original soundtrack, the new interface clutters up the screen with redundant information that detracts from the gameplay, the plot is uninvolving and the missions unmemorable. I sense that Cataclysm was developed for the "Gamer who played homeworld only for the MP" with a tacked-on single player game just to get the full Homeworld crowd buying the game. The voice-overs are poor, repedative, and almost laughable at times ("They'll never hit me!" or "'Bout time, there's a rattle in the manifold") over and over again. The graphics show a great improvement over Homeworld, although the ships hardly add anything to the excitement. The storyline, like the music, is a near buthchery of the original universe, making the powerful Kiith families shunning the less powerful Kiithid and forcing them to be half mercenaries half exiles. I would think that someone who watched their home burn would be a little more receptive to the remnants of their race. Even through all this though, I still manage to enjoy Cataclysm and what it did bring to the table in the way of graphics and new weapons, although I can never think of it as I did the original. HIGHS: Nice new graphics, solid gameplay, nice concept LOWS: Everything else BOTTOM LINE: Cataclysm is one of those "Ohh, ahh! Um... now what?" games that appeal for a limited amount of time and then wear off into nothing but sheer gameplay. And while gameplay is good, gameplay alone is not enough to keep a game afloat. SCORE: 45%
Rating:
Summary: Homeworld's sequel doesn't fail to delight
Review: Wow! Usaually sequels are not as good as the prequel, but Homeworld: Cataclysm is like nothing I've ever seen. New, better ships, awesome technologies, and a gripping storyline that equals if not surpasses Homeworld's. This product I highly recommend to fans of Homeworld, Command and Conquer, and and other RTS game, because you haven't played RTS until you've played it in 3D!! A must own.
Rating:
Summary: I didn't think it was possible!
Review: After playing (and aboslutely falling in love with!) Homeworld, I was as excited as a young child on Christmass day when I heard that Homeworld Cataclysm was comming out. When it came out I immediately picked up a copy. I must say that what I thought was impossible was done very well. The day before I started playing I would have sworn it would be impossible to top Homeworld. The game was just TOO MUCH FUN and was just written TOO WELL to be beatable! Oh baby was I wrong! This game is just so much fun! Not only is there more than 2 sides now, there's FOUR! Beast, Kushan, Taidain Rebels, and Taidain Imperials. Plus the Bentusi are back, and you learn more about them! This game is just TOO FUN TO LET PASS! If you have not played Homeworld yet, I seriously recomend that you get Homeworld AND Cataclysm, and beat Homeworld first. Then you have a better idea on how things work in Cataclysm. But either way, if you like RealTime Strategies, this game is an absolute MUST HAVE!
|
