Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

79%
Game Brain Score Based on 9,898 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak Game Cover
A great tactical RTS with all the gorgeous aesthetics and atmosphere of the original series.
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Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a strategy game set on a harsh desert planet. Players lead a caravan across the dangerous terrain, fighting enemy forces and unearthing ancient artifacts. The game features real-time tactical combat and extensive base-building elements, challenging players to manage resources and adapt to changing environments. This prequel to the classic Homeworld series explores the history of the Kharak people and their journey to find a new home.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Windows
  • Epic Games
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

79%
Audience ScoreBased on 9,898 reviews
story2,128 positive mentions
optimization62 negative mentions
  • Engaging and immersive campaign with a compelling story that expands the Homeworld lore.
  • Beautiful graphics and sound design, creating a captivating atmosphere.
  • Unique gameplay mechanics with a mobile carrier as the base, allowing for strategic resource management.
  • Short campaign length, often completed in under 10 hours, leading to limited replayability.
  • Lack of key rebinding options and clunky controls, making unit management frustrating.
  • Multiplayer community is nearly non-existent, reducing the game's longevity beyond the campaign.
  • story6,030 mentions

    The story of "Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak" is generally well-received, with many players appreciating its engaging narrative that serves as a prequel to the original Homeworld games. While the campaign consists of only 13 missions, which some find too short, the storytelling, voice acting, and atmospheric cutscenes effectively immerse players in the lore of the Homeworld universe. However, critiques often highlight the predictability of the plot and the lack of depth in character development, leading to a mixed reception regarding its overall impact compared to its predecessors.

    • “The story is engaging and well written, it's comparable to the one in Homeworld 1.”
    • “The campaign has a great variety of missions and retains the persistent fleet mechanic from the classic games - you become attached to all your little vehicles and want to take care of them!”
    • “Deserts of Kharak boasts a fascinating story, wonderful atmosphere, and entertaining and varied campaign, but it's deeply marred by its lack of replayability, awkwardly fast gameplay, and relatively short campaign.”
    • “The theming, soundtrack, and art design do most of the heavy lifting, whilst the important parts of the technology, mission design, and story aspects of the game were apparently left on the cutting room floor.”
    • “But the actual story presented to us via these animations and cinematics is a garbled mess that two-thirds of the way through jackknifes itself.”
    • “The final mission is completely anti-climactic, especially compared to the previous few.”
  • gameplay2,102 mentions

    The gameplay of "Deserts of Kharak" has received mixed reviews, with many praising its engaging mechanics and solid integration of traditional RTS elements, such as the rock-paper-scissors unit dynamics and the emphasis on terrain and line-of-sight strategies. However, some players noted issues with AI behavior, repetitive gameplay, and a lack of depth compared to previous Homeworld titles, leading to a feeling of frustration at times. Overall, while the game captures the essence of the Homeworld series, it is seen as a more simplified and less innovative experience, particularly in its multiplayer and skirmish modes.

    • “I usually don't like RTS, but this one managed to keep me playing, mostly because of the setting but the gameplay is solid.”
    • “This game offers a unique blend of engaging gameplay and strategic depth that feels like a sandstorm of excitement with every move.”
    • “The gameplay is awesome, using a giant aircraft carrier on treads as a mobile base is very interesting, and I love it.”
    • “The lack of keybinding is frustrating and the gameplay feels like I'm on rails; it's a giant desert, why am I confined to canyons the entire time?”
    • “Gameplay is garbage due to enemy NPCs cheating and spawning infinite amounts of enemies in short amounts of time.”
    • “The gameplay in the campaign as a whole falls flat on its face as soon as you realize how absurdly stupid the units are and how loose your control is.”
  • graphics1,694 mentions

    The graphics in "Deserts of Kharak" have received widespread praise for their stunning visuals and cohesive art style, effectively capturing the essence of the Homeworld franchise. Players appreciate the detailed environments, impressive unit designs, and atmospheric effects that enhance the gameplay experience, although some have noted issues with performance and a lack of zoom functionality that can detract from fully enjoying the graphics. Overall, the game is recognized for its beautiful aesthetic, engaging cutscenes, and immersive sound design, making it a visually appealing title in the RTS genre.

    • “Stunning visuals: the game boasts stunning visuals that bring the desolate beauty of the desert to life, with detailed environments and impressive graphical fidelity that enhance the overall gaming experience.”
    • “The graphics are beautiful and the gameplay is fantastic.”
    • “The visuals are gorgeous (especially for an 'rts' that is seven years old), the atmosphere dense (paired with really cool cut scenes and production design) and a story that keeps one motivated.”
    • “You can't rebind the keys and you can't zoom out to acceptable levels, AI is pretty dumb and the story is as predictable as anything, and graphics reminiscent of console but it's still a good fun game!”
    • “The graphics are extremely dated, but at least the locations are always varied and interesting despite the game being set on a desert planet.”
    • “The graphics don't hold up in the close-up cut scenes but in the regular play camera this game is stunning.”
  • music851 mentions

    The music in "Deserts of Kharak" has been widely praised for its atmospheric and emotive qualities, effectively complementing the game's narrative and setting. Composed by Paul Ruskay, the soundtrack features a blend of middle-eastern influences and orchestral elements, creating a unique ambiance that enhances the immersive experience. While some players noted that the music could be slow at times, overall, it is considered a standout aspect of the game, contributing significantly to its emotional depth and connection to the original Homeworld series.

    • “The awesome soundtrack adds a lot to the desert odyssey vibe they were going for and instills a romanticized longing to travel the sea of dunes.”
    • “The music is awe-inspiring, creating a sense of tension and wonder that is rarely matched by other games of the genre.”
    • “The soundtrack, reminiscent of the original Homeworld games, is both atmospheric and emotive, effectively complementing the game's narrative and setting.”
    • “The music fits the theme, but is so slow that it will lull you to sleep while your main base holds off ten armored vehicles and your scavengers run around unharassed.”
    • “I dislike that switching off music disables the audio in the cut-scenes as well.”
    • “The artists, musicians and coders did their parts, but the writers phoned it in on this one and we aren't given any real reason to care about the characters or get invested in their situation.”
  • atmosphere518 mentions

    The atmosphere in "Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak" is widely praised for its immersive qualities, effectively capturing the essence of the original Homeworld series despite its ground-based setting. Reviewers highlight the game's stunning visuals, exceptional sound design, and emotive soundtrack, which together create a tense and engaging experience that enhances the storytelling and gameplay. Overall, the game is noted for its ability to evoke a strong sense of place and atmosphere, making it a compelling addition to the RTS genre.

    • “The atmosphere, cinematics, music, it's gorgeous.”
    • “Deserts of Kharak is a masterclass in audio design; the voice acting, ambient noise, sound effects, and music all come together to create an atmosphere you can lose yourself in.”
    • “The atmosphere produced, the environments you encounter, and the factions/units you get to employ are fantastic.”
    • “Pacing's bad and the atmosphere is disappointing and doesn't come close to living up to the original.”
    • “The game's nice visuals, audio and atmosphere is ruined by technical incompetence on every thinkable level.”
    • “While lacking in the true space 3D department of the series, it still delivers the Homeworld atmosphere and pace on a planet.”
  • optimization212 mentions

    The optimization of "Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak" has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues such as stuttering, low frame rates, and inconsistent gameplay, even on high-end systems. While some users noted that the game runs well on a range of hardware, the Unity engine's limitations seem to contribute to frequent performance drops, particularly during large battles. Overall, the game is seen as needing substantial optimization to enhance the player experience.

    • “Optimization: Deserts of Kharak runs well on a range of hardware, showing good optimization.”
    • “Great game, graphics, optimization (certainly better than a specific sandbox voxel game called Stormworks), decent controls.”
    • “Good player controls, graphics, and sound...the game runs really well...no stuttering or other issues.”
    • “Constant stuttering and slowing due to incredible lack of optimization.”
    • “The performance is abysmal even on fairly powerful hardware.”
    • “The game must be badly optimized because it runs poorly on good machines, especially in later levels with heavier armies.”
  • replayability192 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is largely criticized, with many players noting that it is minimal, particularly in single-player modes. While the campaign offers a compelling experience, it is short and lacks significant replay value, and the skirmish and multiplayer modes suffer from limited options and poor AI. Some players find a bit of replayability in multiplayer, but the absence of mod support and diverse gameplay elements significantly detracts from the overall experience.

    • “This is a great RTS with a good amount of depth and replayability.”
    • “The campaign may reel you in, but the multiplayer gameplay definitely lets you stay due to its near-infinite replayability.”
    • “Great unit balance, accessible but rewarding macro and micro mechanics, and the focus of gameplay on the carrier unit makes this an extremely unique and replayable RTS.”
    • “The replayability is very limited.”
    • “There is zero replayability in the campaign; it's a once and done kind of thing and the multiplayer is just barren.”
    • “The campaign is short, it took me about 8 hours to get to the last mission and there is no replayability value in the single-player campaign.”
  • stability162 mentions

    The game's stability has been widely criticized, with numerous players reporting a plethora of bugs and glitches that detract from the overall experience. While some users noted that certain issues were minor and did not significantly impact gameplay, many others described the game as "extremely buggy" and "unfinished," with persistent problems in both single-player and multiplayer modes. Overall, the consensus is that the game requires substantial patches and optimizations to address its stability issues.

    • “A great RTS title, with strong programmers behind its design who know how to create a great, bug-free RTS experience.”
    • “Bug-free gameplay with well-done map management and resources.”
    • “Overall: solid and fun gameplay and most of all bug-free on release!”
    • “This game is a buggy piece of junk that the devs abandoned very quickly after release.”
    • “Stay away from this unfinished, buggy game where patches make things so much worse.”
    • “I concur with many others: this game was released buggy and unfinished, then abandoned.”
  • grinding62 mentions

    Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often citing excessive micromanagement, slow resource collection, and unskippable cutscenes as major drawbacks. While some appreciate the depth and strategic elements, many feel that the gameplay becomes repetitive and cumbersome, detracting from the overall experience. Despite these criticisms, a few players noted that the grinding can occasionally feel rewarding, particularly when progressing towards significant objectives.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “It was more tedious and slow than it was entertaining.”
    • “Resource collecting is a slow and frustrating affair, which can severely limit your unit production unless you take the tedious route of spending an extra ten minutes at each resource node, traversing the map and ignoring objectives.”
    • “This would be a great game but the unskippable cut-scenes are tediously long and for me at least make the game unplayable.”
  • emotional49 mentions

    The emotional aspect of "Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak" is highlighted by its rich storytelling, compelling voice acting, and the player's deep investment in the narrative and characters. Many players feel a strong connection to the game's themes of survival and loss, often experiencing genuine emotional responses during key moments, such as cutscenes and gameplay events. While some fans note it may not evoke the same intensity as the original titles, the game successfully delivers a heartfelt and immersive experience that resonates with players.

    • “This game is about the emotional story, the setting, the effects, and the feeling of belonging to another advanced tech civilization on the brink of destruction.”
    • “It's an exceedingly rare experience for an RTS to tell a story well, for you to care about what happens to the characters, for you to get emotionally involved, and to be able to tell that story actively through the tiny units and voice-overs on the screen.”
    • “You really feel like you are working towards the survival of your people and you do get emotionally invested when you lose your units.”
  • monetization28 mentions

    The monetization aspect of the game has been heavily criticized, with many players labeling it a blatant cash grab that prioritizes profit over quality. Reviewers express disappointment in the lack of content and support, particularly regarding DLC and gameplay features, while some appreciate the absence of aggressive advertising. Overall, the sentiment suggests that the game's financial strategies detract from the experience, leaving fans feeling exploited.

    • “I really do hope Homeworld 3 happens and isn't made to be some online-focused game with microtransactions.”
    • “Simply this game is a cash grab, nothing more.”
    • “It is one of the most obvious cash grabs I have ever seen in a game.”
    • “It's ridiculous how developers are about cash grabs and taking advantage of the faithful like myself who preordered the game and have been a lifelong fan of Homeworld.”
  • humor26 mentions

    The humor in the game is generally well-received, with players enjoying the funny sound effects, unit chatter, and occasional graphical glitches that add a comedic touch. However, some find the repetitive nature of certain jokes and the annoyance of managing formations detracts from the overall experience. While the humor enhances the game, it can become tiresome over time.

    • “The games are hilariously short; I really wish an RTS would do some more drawn-out battles for once.”
    • “I really enjoy the max graphics settings and the awesome job on the humorous sound effect chatter.”
    • “Also, the talk back the units have with each other is hilarious and great.”
  • character development10 mentions

    Character development in the game is rated poorly, with a score of 2/10, as players feel it lacks depth and background stories for the characters. While the single-player campaign is described as fulfilling and the overall narrative is decent, it focuses more on creating a sense of place rather than developing characters, resembling short comic book stories with minimal character growth.

    • “Character development: 2/10.”
    • “The stories amount to a short comic book per game with little character development.”
    • “Lack of character development and background story.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

79% average critic score

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Play time

11hMedian play time
11hAverage play time
8-14hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 96 analyzed playthroughs

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