Homeworld 2 - It wins. (Homeworld 2 (PC))

Member Name: Lazers

Product:	Homeworld 2 (PC)
Date:	19/10/08 (5 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Detailed textures, scale is realistic, fighting is fun, and the ships respond accordingly.

Disadvantages: The sound is tacky, and the learning curve is high.

Well, Homeworld 2. I start the game with mixed feelings, wondering about whether it really has improved over its predecessor, Homeworld.
The game loads up quickly, and I'm presented with the menu screen, which looks modern, is responsive, and theres no loading time between menu options.
Homeworld seems to be set to lowest graphics by default, but i want the full experience, 2 minutes alter and a quick restart, I'm looking at the quick battle screen, i don't want to jump into the main story just yet.
It looks like there's a new race, the Vaygr.
I select them as my enemy, on the lowest difficulty setting, and put my self as the race from Homeworld 1, the Hiigarans.
I star the game without customizing my ships, but you can select badges, the colors of them, and stripe position.
The game loads, remarkably quickly, and my mothership (Which looks like a giant armoured banana, but that's a good thing!)
hyperspaces into view, along with a carrier.
I select my carrier, and zoom in, and am amazed by the level of detail, and the sheer size of my mothership from this perspective.
So, I manufacture some fighters, 3 squadrons of 6 each, and sent them into the enemy motherships direction.
The combat is fluid and amazing, my fighters diving and ducking this way and that way, dodging fire from the larger ships, but taking heavy damage from their fighters.
Before long, their all destroyed, and I start some research. Two hours later (Yes, this game isn't exactly "quick" for a quick battle.) I have everything researched, a considerable amount of the games currency, RUs, and i build some capital ships, some frigates, and some destroyers. Each scaled and textured in a very realistic way. i set the hyperspace direction, and away they go.
Immediately, the fighting starts. i zoom into my destroyer to see the turrets spinning this way and that, zoom into a frigate to see it buckle and explode, and zoom into a capital ship to see it destroy an enemy carrier.
This game is detailed, fun, and realistic. the sound could of been better, with a bit tacky sounding "zap" for the lasers, and "Ptyoo.." for the cannons, but it didn't detract too much from the experience, nd i soon found myself tuning it out, as the battle came alive.
There really isn't anything BAD about the game, but some things could do with improving, such as the sound, and perhaps tuning down the learning curve, which is quite high for new players.
But still, this game gets 2 thumbs up!

Summary: This game surely improves over its predecessor.