Homeworld 2 – Battlecruiser

I mentioned at the start of Evil Genius Week that the Homeworld games (not so much Cataclysm, although some people prefer it) are among my favourite games.

I’ve also mentioned that although I think the first is an all round better game, the visuals in Homeworld 2 are amazing.  Even today it often has some beautiful moments.  While a lot of the ships were carried across, they saw a redesign, and some a total re-purpose.  In the original Homeworld the biggest ship were; The Mothership (focus of the storyline, can take a lot of punishment and is the main production source), the Carrier (faster than the Mothership, can’t build as many different types of craft, easily replaceable), and the Destroyer (incapable of building, the strongest attack ship available).  Homeworld 2 saw the introduction of two new ships, the Shipyard and the Battlecruiser.  The Destroyer was knocked down a peg, and the Mothership could no longer produce all types of ships.  The Shipyard moves very slowly (even slower than the Mothership) and is meant to be static most of the time.  Too big to be constructed it is instead brought in through Hyperspace, the Shipyard can build one type of ship the Mothership cannot, the Battlecruiser.

Just like in the real world, as time goes on more and more powerful armaments are being developed.  What was once the most powerful, suddenly seems inadequate, this is what happened to the Destroyer.  The Battlecruiser takes a long time to reach. First you must build a research module, this allows you to install a the hyperspace module, that in turn will let you bring in a Shipyard.  Now you can research the Battlecruiser and build the Capital Ship module.  Once all of this is complete you can finally start building a Battlecruiser, you then have to wait several minutes before it is complete.  All of that whilst trying to stay alive, the Battlecruiser is certainly not an easy thing to obtain.

There are two main sides in Homeworld 2, the Hiigarans from the first game and the Vaygr.  There is a big difference between their smaller craft, but once you reach the biggest ships, the only difference is in design.  Both sides have a Battlecruiser and whilst I like the Vaygr’s (especially the huge front cannon and multiple missile launchers) the Hiigarans will always be my favourite.  Gone are the bulky craft of Homeworld 1 (neither a good thing or a bad), the new Hiigaran ships are much more slender (even the massive Mothership), the Battlecruiser huge in length and width, but in height it’s much smaller in comparison.

Sporting two front cannons, two ion cannons, an array of smaller turrets and pulsars around it’s fringes.  It takes a lot to overwhelm a Battlecruiser, when they congregate in a flock it’s amazing.  As if that wasn’t enough, the Battlecruiser can also take in and repair figthers and corvettes (although it can’t build any) through it’s launch bays, and is the only non-construction ship that can build modules.  It only has a limited selection on offer but they’re the most useful for combat.  The Hyperspace module allows the Battlecruiser to ‘jump’ across the playing field.  The Gravity Well modules prevents other ships from either, hyperspacing in too close making retreat easier, or jumping away making escape impossible for the larger craft.  Then there is the Cloaking device, I haven’t used this much myself, it’s too easy to research anti-cloaking technology) but it could be good for setting up an ambush in multiplayer against human players.  Lastly is the Fire Control module, this provides a strategic boost to any nearby friendly ships, coordinating attacks to better effect.

Ion cannons are my favourite weapon in all of the Homeworld games.  They’re very powerful, if a Battlecruiser or Ion Cannon Frigate can keep a lock even large ships are taken down quickly, but that is not why I like them.  It’s the sound.  I’ve mention the music in a previous post, but the sound effects are also one of the brilliances of Homeworld.  Ion cannons give a huge roar every time they’re fired, the sound is so distinctive, the accompanying lights-show is also great.

The other great sound comes when ships enter and exit hyperspace.  It has the same quality as the TARDIS in Doctor Who, when you hear the flowing sound you couldn’t imagine anyone coming up with it, and yet it feels so right.

The Battlecruiser packs all of this into a neat package, there are very few other games that feature a unit type that conveys the same feeling.