During a morning, I had the opportunity to discover the new Gearbox projects, starting with a quick overview of the mobile version. Little to say on this side, beyond a release forecast for this fall on Google Play and the App Store.
Some screenshots
Creation of a fleet:
Customizing Ships with Powerful Weapons and Defenses:
Execution of spatial strategies in real time:
Exploration of a vast universe:
Confrontation against different enemy forces:
Recruiting officers with unique strengths:
The serious things started with the presentation of Homeworld 3. Why not get in the mood with the trailer unveiled during the opening night of gamescom:
If you don't know Homeworld, it's a 3D real-time strategy game that takes you into a futuristic world. The first installment in the series was released in 1999. Followed by Homeworld Cataclysm in 2000. Homeworld 2 in 2003. The remastered version arrived in 2015. Before Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak in 2016. The game puts you in charge of a ship , called the mother ship. There is only one type of resource, which the missioned harvester ships will seek, and this in limited quantity. The whole strategy is based on the objective of losing as few ships as possible. This requires protecting your fleet well with training tactics and protecting your main ships.
The mother ship
This new game takes us into a whole new story. Chronologically, it takes place long after the discovery of the hyperspace gate network by Karan S'Jet and the golden age of commerce and galactic exploration. A whole new threat, planets and hyperspace gates are disappearing, known as the Anomaly. It is now Karan's successor, Imogen S'Jet, who holds the key to helping solve this galaxy-threatening mystery.
I had the opportunity to play during a getting started session with two missions offered.
We start with Facility 315, which teaches basic commands. I start by creating probes and sending them to different points in the area. Meanwhile, a module attaches itself to my mother ship. Collectors do their job and collect resources, allowing to create units. A hostile ship appears leaving groups of light attack ships behind. It is urgent to prepare a response force and launch the creation of 5 Interceptor-type vessels, in order to neutralize the attackers. As usual in license games, when the objectives advance, such as after skirmishes, a video sequence is launched. This is how this first mission ends.
The second mission is called Kesura Oasis. Of course, there's the inevitable resource gathering. But this time, I also capture two controllers, which will allow me to take control of the data tower. Ships come to attack, and the objective becomes the capture of a third control node. Heavy ships appear in the distance. Two space tunnels, hidden in the surrounding decor, allow you to sneak up to them stealthily and carry out a surprise attack. Thanks to this masterstroke, I unlock the construction of bombers, which will allow me to secure the last node against enemy attacks.
I couldn't learn more. The developers did not want to communicate about the types of ships available. A plan with keys was available, but they did not want to communicate about it either. Since I'm not the type to settle for what's given to me, I dug around a bit. To their surprise, I found a shortcut that allowed me to access the context menu of older versions, to give orders to ships or the selected group. Namely that I just mentioned the campaign mode, but Homeworld 3 will also offer a multiplayer mode, as well as a cooperative roguelike mode. No further details at this time. Last information gleaned: the title will be offered in buy-to-play with DLCs, without an online store or microtransaction.
Since gamescom, Homeworld 3 can be added to a wishlist on Steam & Epic Games, as well as a physical collector's version on Amazon. For a planned release in the first half of 2023.
