This was one of the hardest games I remember working on. The game environments were a real challenge with the tools we had at available. Glad this game is still enjoyed! Cheers!
You worked on it?! Enjoyed ?! I finished 5 times now... it's perfect, the theme, environments, music, gameplay, everything perfect to the letter! Cheers to you! Big props for making it feel exactly like it was part of Homeworld universe!
I wish more games had this. Even though some instances panicked voices are needed for context in the fighting, it’s the little back and forth in those games behind the scenes of all that chaos just makes it work.
I completely agree Voice acting is an overlooked but extremely important factor for rts games imo, both for setting the tone of the game and for situational awareness I love the funny lines of C&C or Company of Heroes but Homeworld is really the game that gives me that whole "battle communications chaos" immersive feeling
@@yaouch.2691 There's also Age of Empires that gives you the whole historical and culturally diverse feel with its voicelines. Every civ using its own language, sometimes even older versions of said language. :)
@@TheDarkkilla12 radio chatter is honestly one of my favorite game design elements. Black Mesa Source and Half Life 2 did great jobs breathing life into the worlds by including it.
One of the most grim things about this game is pretty hard to notice. When you finish the campaign, Rachel talks about how the discovery of the origins of the people of Kharak become common knowledge and unify their people to eventually build the Mothership and escape their doomed world. Having finished the game, it's likely that you'll want to play more and will check out the skirmish mode shortly after this. Fascinatingly, all of the skirmish maps have a blurb that describes them as a recreation of a historical scenario where factions from either tech tree fought each other for control of territory, resources and artifacts- and most if not all of them are dated years after the main campaign.
@@michaelandreipalon359 if only the main game had more single player content, honestly it's hard to justify the price tag for the limited amount of single player content. That is if you're only interested in single player
Having the antagonist be actively trying to stop the plot of the first game from happening is one of the best ideas for a prequel story I have ever seen.
@@EverianKalim It's like a bitter gut punch when it finally clicks in place that your enemy was absolutely right the entire time. But one you weirdly enjoy.
@@EverianKalim It's a textbook "No-Win Scenario" Options are, whether they knew it or not, die slowly as the planet becomes uninhabitable in totality, or go all in on Hiigara at risk of extermination for wrongs committed countless generations ago.
I quite like the idea of the Hyperspace core hoovering up starships that stray too near. It contextualises why the Taidan are so enthusiastic about nuking the planet to begin with. The Hiigaran's are the ancient bogeymen, they were banished to a dying world with no support or technology to back them up. Yet that planet is essentially the Bermuda Triangle of space now, ships go there but they don't come back, so even in their diminished state the Hiigarans must still be massively dangerous. Then one day the Turanic Mercenaries the Empire pays to watch the planet (it's too risky to post actual Taidan fleet resources where they might just disappear without trace) reports the Hiigarans are building themselves a fleet. They're still a paranoid and failing empire, but it makes sense to me that one of their last plays would be 'look the Hiigarans were coming back and we protected you,' rather than doing it purely for intimidation.
The intro makes me think mandy, his gondola and the techpriest escaped ISH and the Ring cycle only to end up in Arrakis Sadly techpriest lad didn't survive the crash, his soul forever bound to the gachimuchi volus torture chamber
the animator that that works with Mandy really knows how to capture the essence of his "huh thats happening" vibe with all the crazy stuff happening around him.
Glad to see a piece on DoK! I had a blast working on mission design for this game. Still at BBI, and still working on Homeworld (3!); looking forward to more content!
Hey Mike! The Homeworld series has always attracted some fantastically talented people. Hope you're taking care and not overworking yourself. I'll never forget being a kid, reading through Homeworld 1's manual and getting all excited for the planet's history and different cultures, and then WHAM, space nukes. There's a lot of nostalgia for this series! Deserts is a really solid and well designed title, and I was sad to see it didn't pick up more of a following. I've seen a lot of people excited for 3. Wishing you folks the very best, have a happy holiday.
Did my time on tanks with the 1st Cav. Yeah, the radio chatter, complete with breaks in radio discipline are spot on. Some real talent went into this production!
Thanks for acknowledging the VAs and the great writing they were given to work with. I swear to god, my units being so professional and confident makes me feel more confident given I have no idea what im doing. Also, its just cool and something I wish was more widespread.
I love Deserts of Kharak cutscenes, they're some of the best in video games, expertly directed to showcase just how big and epic those machines are while also getting the player invested in the story, the world and even the characters. “The only sound I want to hear out of the Sakala now is her hull exploding.”
My favorite was actually Rachael standing at a table with said table holding the remains of her brother. That always made me tear up a bit. You can see the sadness of Rachael about the fate of her brother while also being in awe at what he managed to do before finally passing on. And yes that one line always gave me chills. As you can year the anger and all out betrayal in the voice of Captain Roman S'jet as he says that.
The sad part is the "villains" were right all along Goingo into space indeed brought the wrath of Sajuuk, that almost wiped out their entire civilization....
True! The entire time I was playing the game I was filled with a sense of irony, the Gaalsien might be religious fanatics but their prophecy was indeed true - space travel would mean the arrival of the Taiidan and the end of kharak.
They were working under taidann agents. Burning of Kharak was a last resort for Emperor, his empire was dying and he can not stop the most brutal race in galaxy, which even Bentusi Respect. Whole HW plot is a bentusi sadness of their actions. They allowed exiles to get the core, tech and then helped them after kharak was destroyed. From enemies, they became allies. and btw. Hiiagarians burned homeworld of Taidann. x))
@@voidimperial1179 The choice was to accept the "punishment", slowly wither away but live for generations to come until the inevitable extintion, or risk it all on an adventure that may save the race but condemn billions to a very sudden death. Isnt an easy choice and i understand both partys. There is merit in both views, thats what makes the setting so tragic.
@@voidimperial1179 An expanding desert means nothing to the Gaalsien, they are already adapted to live in a desert. They are basically fremen, right down to their Dune style masks and suits.
Interesting note: this was not originally a homeworld game, but merely the folks who worked on Homeworlds' passion project. The Gearbox said 'Money!' and shunted the whole group into the universe again, and forced them to double time production.
Yeah, the game was originally going to be called Shipbreakers. A name that Blackbird obviously liked almost as much as Homeworld because they hung on to it for later...
The audio, in both the main Homeworld series and Cataclysm, were what taught me how important atmosphere is to any work of art. Huge props to everybody who worked on these games.
That intro: A+++. One for the little guy, one for the egg frying from environment joke (living in a place where the local news frys an egg on the sidewalk every summer, this joke just doesn't get old for me) and one for the entirely silent skit being done so well. Great stuff mate!!
A friend of mine was pretty obsessed with this game, he went on to make Nebulous Fleet Command, I never realized until now how similar the presentation of these two games are despite one being planetside and another in space.
A point with the voice acting is how emotional some of the unit attack callouts are. You featured the "Rain fire on 'em!" but it always makes me a little giddy when my railguns crest a hill and it sounds like the crews are chomping at the bit to engage
Man, I began my homeworld journey with Kharak Still remember myself bursting into tears seeing it burn "They were right... They were right this whole time"
I wish I could get that experience, but I've been playing HW since release in 1999. The foreshadowing was a bit too much for me at times, but for the most part that feeling of "they have no idea what's coming" was still incredible. Just seeing that cutscene with the Taiidan carrier caused more than a few goosebumps.
@@fonesrphunny7242 Bricks were shat the moment the Taiidan theme started playing xD Addendum: The scene where S'Jets truck crests the Dune and drives into the Khar-Toba is taken straight from a cutscene of the first Homeworl, camera angles and all ^^
The Steam version of Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak was recently updated to use the Epic Online functionality for multiplayer, opening up multiplayer to Steam/Epic crossplay. Unfortunately the Epic Online system acts like a DRM and won't let you run the game at all without an internet connection, so if you hate DRMs this game just went in the bin.
@@Davoren84 Its all memes all the way down the first short is commonly used and was used in Samurai jack, the ship, the mechanicus body. im not sure what the green/grey bits in the foreground are, the evangellion shot, the star wars references are many.
I will say given that the Galsieen have been living for who knows how long in the deep desert it probably can sustain life with their advanced technology, because they don't seem like a small Kith either if they can be that strong, it really shows that they aren't really wrong, they can in fact live in Kharak even if the easy to live in areas are dissapearing, specially if the desert is actually covered in advanced technology they can repurpose and study for their own use.
Deserts of Kharak was my first Homeworld game, apart from other Homeworld titles, I fear I will never find more glorious and well made "proffesional chatter" that is in Deserts of Kharak I just simply love it, it is SO immersive!
I wish there was a mini show, maybe in a format similar to Tartakovsky's Primal or Samurai Jack, that had this Mandalore intro animation style. A freaking masterpiece
I absolutely adore this game. It was clunky, disjointed, repetitive and light on content. But this is one of those rare games where you can see the devs built the world long before they ever started building the game. The story of Homeworld is engraved in someone's brain somewhere. An entire fictitious universe that they created and spun a whole series of games about but this right here was the story that they always wanted to tell. They were finally given the opportunity, and it's just tragic that they didn't have the time and money to let the game cook a little longer. I remember reading somewhere that even before the original Homeworld, this story came first. The story of pioneers and salvagers breaking down shipwrecks on alien worlds. Then they came up with Kharak as the most inhospitable planet in the galaxy, gave it a really cool backstory and decided to make a whole game around that lore. The goal was never to make boatloads of money; just for a few friends to share this incredible story they'd spun outside their little friends group. Homeworld evolved from a game about salvagers to an incredible story about a pilgrimage across the stars and they had to make up everything after that as they went along. The original story of Kharak though was always on their minds, and after years of building a fanbase they finally got to tell it. Plus, let's be honest... What could be cooler than LANDSHIP AIRCRAFT CARRIERS?
I’ve thought of this many times. Show the different factions bridges with the captains of ships showing conflict on board and between ships in some cases. Think it would end up being a mix of battle star galactica, stargate, and Star Wars.
D-did he get the VA for the Kuun-lan captain for a bit? I know it's unlikely but Mandalore's life has more anomalies and twists of fate than the SCP foundation.
Am I glad that Mandy is a fellow enjoyed of not just this soundtrack, but also the flutes~ seriously some of the Gaalsien themes just get my blood pumping.
12:12 It's been years and it still hits like a hammer. That's not something to joke about you sick man. Seriously though, I felt a sudden wave of sorrow when I heard "Kharak is burning". Seems like Homweorld left scars deeper than I realized.
Drich's fanfiction 'Commander' drops a Supreme Commander ACU into near-Kharak orbit. After having devoured the Universe At War techbase. And she decreed 'no.'
Having motifs from previous games used as you learn about the wider world (essentially information that would *lead* into those games) is just brilliant. You get that nostalgia hit in multiple directions on multiple levels and that blitz leads to a great effect.
When you started mentioning the expedition guide I got kinda excited, I really like Homeworld and what Deserts of Kharak was doing with it so hearing I could get a deeper understanding made me intrigued. Then you told me they basically went, "lore sold separately" filled me with a disgust I rarely feel. Glad you finally covered this. It's short, a little clunky, and lacking in variety but it really deserves to be recognized despite all that.
Love that you mention Ground Control. I remember playing through GC1 back in the day. I played as the leader of the first faction (the girl) and then as the Deacon Stone (IIRC) the leader of their enemies. Since they were a religious cults, I imagined the game would end in some sort of spiritual goal having been archived. Instead I got a bucket of ice cold water when the final cutscenes rolled around. In a good way.
Yo, I just wanna say I really appreciate all the effort and detail put into your subtitles. It makes your videos so much easier to follow when English isn't your first language.
Kharak was a game i instantly fell in love with, its visuals, story, sound and solid strategy square really drew me in. it's a shame the full potential of this game and the setting wasn't fully realized
Your story critique is always on point on homeworld series i think. Homeworld lore is somehow one of my fave scifi even though it is very minimally told. Manual and cool drawn cutscenes. I hope they improve homeworld 3 lore and story to be the best it can be.
Rather than Homeworld I am quite convinced that his game is a massive homage to the first Ground Control. I went in not expecting much from it and had a massive nostalgia trip.
This game felt like a thrust into the setting that hit its mark. It didn't get to do everything it wanted or craved, it didn't get the full round of polish, but it completed its core objectives.
When this came out I pretty instantly loved it. For a game that came out so much later than it's other titles it surprised me how hard they went into making it feel that way. Same as why I have faith in HW3. But man is 13 missions short. Really wish it had some dlc or an expansion. But never had any idea how well they sold.
This game reminds me so much of Ground Control 1 with the faction visual design, blocky tanks with treads for Crayvan Corp. and anti-grav energy hover thingies for the Order.
Deserts of Kharak was very good, It's actually the first Homeworld game I managed to finish. I love the way they make the desert feel like an ocean, and the gigantic land carrier is awesome.
Bought this game a few days ago out of pure boredom looking for a new RTS to play and man, it is amazing. The lore of Homeworld is so interesting and the brooding atmosphere of DoK just hits hard. Always thought space Homeworld looked to difficult to get into, but now I'm an hour into the remasters and it's fantastic. Wish Catalcysm gets a remaster as well as the story and sheer terror of it intrigues me more than the other games.
At first I was "Oh nice I love these animations." Then I saw the Mechanicus and thought "Cool continuity!" And the animation is a long one too making it even better!
Something you didn't mention is that this wasn't originally meant to be a Homeworld game. Rather, it was homeworld-_inspired_ - Khadrak was originally called Hardware: Shipbreakers, but Gearbox granted permission to use the Homeworld ip partway into development.
Even with it's shortcomings, I think Deserts of Kharak was essential to revive the franchise. Simply alone for that I love this game. And it it to this day special and does something other games haven't done in such a way. Thank you for the amazing review!
Nice to see another Home world review since it introduced me to the series. Now I'm wondering if you'll end up reviewing the Homeworld TRPG that came out.
@@danieladamczyk4024 Modiphius published a Homeworld Tabletop RPG that covers events of Homeworld 1,2 Cataclysm, and Deserts of Kharak and and you can play in that Universe. i can't really say much cause I have not bought it but it looks like a great book when it comes to exploring the lore of Homeworld.
I did. And this is obvious ripoff. Gliding faction represents Viron and other one human race (forgot the name). That was such a glorious game at the time. On the other hand, this brings nothing new.
Finally! And may I say fellow mandalorian that I love that you finally covered the latest homeworld? I just recently listened to the ost and it's beautiful
Another great review Mandy... Can't wait for the Ground Control review. This game is a lot more interesting than my initial impression gave it credit for when it first came out, I might actually give it a shot!
It feels like now whenever I see Sci-Fi games set on Desert planets, this and Highfleet. After watching Dune's part 1 and 2 and getting into the first book, all I can think now is "oh so it was always Dune."
I really love this channel. I love the deep reviews of games that came out a while ago. From this relatively new game, to ones that have come out 20+ years ago. I havent played this since 2016 and this has made me reinstall and play again. It would be fun to go through this, then play through the Homeworld Remastered
Deserts of Kharak on GOG - gog.la/ihatesand
You can tell how stable this year has been when the sand game video comes out in December.
Amogus
How dare you tempt me like this 😱
- Oh cool!! ....Oh fuck, it's GOG.
Rain world.... someday
Hey it works for an Australian Christmas, this is exactly how it looks outside my home
This was one of the hardest games I remember working on. The game environments were a real challenge with the tools we had at available. Glad this game is still enjoyed! Cheers!
Thank you!
I really enjoyed this one, the hard work paid off!
Singularly responsible for me grabbing the TTRPG and wanting to DM, I love everything about this game and what it brings to Homeworld
Superb game. Thanks for all your hard work!
You worked on it?! Enjoyed ?! I finished 5 times now... it's perfect, the theme, environments, music, gameplay, everything perfect to the letter! Cheers to you! Big props for making it feel exactly like it was part of Homeworld universe!
"'Professionals under stress' voice acting" man that's exactly what made Homeworld feel so real and weighty. Thank you for identifying it for me.
And the way Cataclysm didnt use it really helped push the theme that you werent professional military in that game.
I wish more games had this.
Even though some instances panicked voices are needed for context in the fighting, it’s the little back and forth in those games behind the scenes of all that chaos just makes it work.
I completely agree
Voice acting is an overlooked but extremely important factor for rts games imo, both for setting the tone of the game and for situational awareness
I love the funny lines of C&C or Company of Heroes but Homeworld is really the game that gives me that whole "battle communications chaos" immersive feeling
@@yaouch.2691 There's also Age of Empires that gives you the whole historical and culturally diverse feel with its voicelines. Every civ using its own language, sometimes even older versions of said language. :)
@@TheDarkkilla12 radio chatter is honestly one of my favorite game design elements. Black Mesa Source and Half Life 2 did great jobs breathing life into the worlds by including it.
One of the most grim things about this game is pretty hard to notice. When you finish the campaign, Rachel talks about how the discovery of the origins of the people of Kharak become common knowledge and unify their people to eventually build the Mothership and escape their doomed world. Having finished the game, it's likely that you'll want to play more and will check out the skirmish mode shortly after this. Fascinatingly, all of the skirmish maps have a blurb that describes them as a recreation of a historical scenario where factions from either tech tree fought each other for control of territory, resources and artifacts- and most if not all of them are dated years after the main campaign.
If only the game has singleplayer campaign DLC.
@@michaelandreipalon359 if only the main game had more single player content, honestly it's hard to justify the price tag for the limited amount of single player content. That is if you're only interested in single player
Makes sense there would still be squabbling. Didnt it take them almost a century to build the Mothership?
@@coldblowcode I bought it for $5 on sale.
That's why I want a sequel
Having the antagonist be actively trying to stop the plot of the first game from happening is one of the best ideas for a prequel story I have ever seen.
Not to mention having them literally be the embodiment of "Why are you booing me? I'm right!"
Now stolen for my novel
And if you knew the first game you start to realize everything your doing will end with your planet getting destoryed
@@EverianKalim It's like a bitter gut punch when it finally clicks in place that your enemy was absolutely right the entire time. But one you weirdly enjoy.
@@EverianKalim
It's a textbook "No-Win Scenario"
Options are, whether they knew it or not, die slowly as the planet becomes uninhabitable in totality, or go all in on Hiigara at risk of extermination for wrongs committed countless generations ago.
I quite like the idea of the Hyperspace core hoovering up starships that stray too near. It contextualises why the Taidan are so enthusiastic about nuking the planet to begin with. The Hiigaran's are the ancient bogeymen, they were banished to a dying world with no support or technology to back them up. Yet that planet is essentially the Bermuda Triangle of space now, ships go there but they don't come back, so even in their diminished state the Hiigarans must still be massively dangerous. Then one day the Turanic Mercenaries the Empire pays to watch the planet (it's too risky to post actual Taidan fleet resources where they might just disappear without trace) reports the Hiigarans are building themselves a fleet. They're still a paranoid and failing empire, but it makes sense to me that one of their last plays would be 'look the Hiigarans were coming back and we protected you,' rather than doing it purely for intimidation.
"But unfortunately Kharak is burning"
Unexpected emotional damage
lol
TOO SON MANDALORE!!! TOO FUCKING SOON
*Adagio for Strings starts playing*
@@mercy9487 It will never not be too soon.
@@bluecaptainIT Adagio for Strings will always make me think of Platoon.
Agnus Dei, on the other hand...
"There's also temperature to worry about and unfortunately Kharak is burning." I see what you did there.
adagioforstrings.mp4
The Taiidani 'bout to drop the hottest bars on Kharak's bombass.
@@peebins1238 uwu
There is nothing left for us here... Lets go...
@@peebins1238 And the D.J. will not survive the interrogation...
The intro makes me think mandy, his gondola and the techpriest escaped ISH and the Ring cycle only to end up in Arrakis
Sadly techpriest lad didn't survive the crash, his soul forever bound to the gachimuchi volus torture chamber
I think this is picking up from the Mechanicus video rather than the Ring video, although I REALLY wish this was the case.
@@peppermillers8361 The Ring was such a nightmare it brutally forced it's way into canon
his legs are ok, though.
@@peppermillers8361 Technically, it’s picking up from the Total War: Warhammer 2 video, as it showed Mandy and the techpriests fighting Necrons.
@@TheArch1v1st oh yeah, my mistake. I was thinking of that animation, but forgot where it was.
the animator that that works with Mandy really knows how to capture the essence of his "huh thats happening" vibe with all the crazy stuff happening around him.
Glad to see a piece on DoK! I had a blast working on mission design for this game. Still at BBI, and still working on Homeworld (3!); looking forward to more content!
I'm really looking forward to seeing the giant space structure idea brought to life after two decades. Best of luck to you all!
Bring it! I'm so ready to sink my teeth in. Been all in on HW3 since the initial Fig launch.
Hey Mike! The Homeworld series has always attracted some fantastically talented people. Hope you're taking care and not overworking yourself. I'll never forget being a kid, reading through Homeworld 1's manual and getting all excited for the planet's history and different cultures, and then WHAM, space nukes. There's a lot of nostalgia for this series! Deserts is a really solid and well designed title, and I was sad to see it didn't pick up more of a following. I've seen a lot of people excited for 3. Wishing you folks the very best, have a happy holiday.
oh man im so hyped for 3... thanks for yalls effort and passion
It was great fun!
And the sense of scale and weight of units and buildings was just right too.
"It'll be fine. Desert invasions always goes well." - famous last words
Exact same vibe as “Let’s invade Russia during the Winter”
@@scrungobeepis5443 Or "ever go against a Sicilian when death is on the line"
The entire Bush administration would like to have a word with you.
@@krillnyetheshrimpguy6152 junior or Senior?
@@DieJG to be fair, that does usually go well.
Did my time on tanks with the 1st Cav. Yeah, the radio chatter, complete with breaks in radio discipline are spot on. Some real talent went into this production!
Join salvage, they said. Stay out of contact, they said.
1/8?
Ah yes, Deserts of Kharak. As my housemates described it back in the day, Homeworld: Now with actual world!
Thanks for acknowledging the VAs and the great writing they were given to work with. I swear to god, my units being so professional and confident makes me feel more confident given I have no idea what im doing. Also, its just cool and something I wish was more widespread.
I love Deserts of Kharak cutscenes, they're some of the best in video games, expertly directed to showcase just how big and epic those machines are while also getting the player invested in the story, the world and even the characters.
“The only sound I want to hear out of the Sakala now is her hull exploding.”
Chills from that line
My favorite was actually Rachael standing at a table with said table holding the remains of her brother. That always made me tear up a bit. You can see the sadness of Rachael about the fate of her brother while also being in awe at what he managed to do before finally passing on. And yes that one line always gave me chills. As you can year the anger and all out betrayal in the voice of Captain Roman S'jet as he says that.
*Famously Anakin Skywalker's least favourite homeworld game*
A wild spiffing Brit, quite the find
The sad part is the "villains" were right all along
Goingo into space indeed brought the wrath of Sajuuk, that almost wiped out their entire civilization....
True! The entire time I was playing the game I was filled with a sense of irony, the Gaalsien might be religious fanatics but their prophecy was indeed true - space travel would mean the arrival of the Taiidan and the end of kharak.
They were working under taidann agents. Burning of Kharak was a last resort for Emperor, his empire was dying and he can not stop the most brutal race in galaxy, which even Bentusi Respect. Whole HW plot is a bentusi sadness of their actions. They allowed exiles to get the core, tech and then helped them after kharak was destroyed. From enemies, they became allies. and btw. Hiiagarians burned homeworld of Taidann. x))
Yeah but the desert is expanding. Go into space and watch your home be carpet-nuked, or stay and die with the sands. Not much of a choice.
@@voidimperial1179 The choice was to accept the "punishment", slowly wither away but live for generations to come until the inevitable extintion, or risk it all on an adventure that may save the race but condemn billions to a very sudden death. Isnt an easy choice and i understand both partys. There is merit in both views, thats what makes the setting so tragic.
@@voidimperial1179 An expanding desert means nothing to the Gaalsien, they are already adapted to live in a desert. They are basically fremen, right down to their Dune style masks and suits.
Extellus and SirMeowMusic cooked harder on this intro than the writers for Homeworld 3 did on the whole game
I appreciate when Mandy has that "I need to explain this I need you to know this" energy, regardless of which tone that has
Always a pleasure to see Extellus' animations in your videos.
i would watcha whole series like this
since Mandalore is unphased by being hot enough to fry an egg. I am convinced he is a robot of some kind
He is the runt of the Astartes litter
Would explain why AdMech picked him up while going to fight Necrons
He looked directly into the Kharak sun, and his eyes didn't sublimate.
That's just how southerners are
He's just wearing a dark age power armor suit with built in ac
Interesting note: this was not originally a homeworld game, but merely the folks who worked on Homeworlds' passion project. The Gearbox said 'Money!' and shunted the whole group into the universe again, and forced them to double time production.
Which does explain a lot about the game's issues.
Gearbox Moment
Yeah, the game was originally going to be called Shipbreakers. A name that Blackbird obviously liked almost as much as Homeworld because they hung on to it for later...
That's definitely not how Blackbird describe it, lol.
@@AshenVictorShipbreakers is another game now according to steam :O
"It's nearly Christmas, perfect time for a game filled with sand"
Thanks for thinking of us Australians, Mandy.
The audio, in both the main Homeworld series and Cataclysm, were what taught me how important atmosphere is to any work of art. Huge props to everybody who worked on these games.
That intro: A+++. One for the little guy, one for the egg frying from environment joke (living in a place where the local news frys an egg on the sidewalk every summer, this joke just doesn't get old for me) and one for the entirely silent skit being done so well. Great stuff mate!!
And gondola
Yes Mandalore puts a lot of effort into his efforts. One of the best game reviewers ever.
Also love how the anim intro adapts the game's opening premise
"And unfortunately, Kharak is burning"
I cannot accurately put into words the sound that came from me upon hearing that
I'd go with "agony with a sense of humour buried deep within".
Pterodactyl shriek?
Adagio for strings!
I love how your intro animations now tell a story of you going through a journey with these games.
And gondola
The fucking mining ship captain shouting "Kingdom Hearts 2 has screwed us again!" and 2:25 Caught me by surprise. Great work.
*Edited with time stamp.
A friend of mine was pretty obsessed with this game, he went on to make Nebulous Fleet Command, I never realized until now how similar the presentation of these two games are despite one being planetside and another in space.
Nebulous Fleet Command kicks ass
Congrats for him!
Funny you should say that, I've not played a Homeworld game before, and as soon as I saw the tracker view I thought 'huh, looks like Nebulous'
Thanks for pointing me toward Nebulous!
I *knew* that was in my wishlist for a reason!
A point with the voice acting is how emotional some of the unit attack callouts are. You featured the "Rain fire on 'em!" but it always makes me a little giddy when my railguns crest a hill and it sounds like the crews are chomping at the bit to engage
Its "champing", not "chomping"
@@headphonic8language evolves and it means the same damn thing.
That intro is absolutely gorgeous, exceptional work!
Man, I began my homeworld journey with Kharak
Still remember myself bursting into tears seeing it burn
"They were right...
They were right this whole time"
I wish I could get that experience, but I've been playing HW since release in 1999.
The foreshadowing was a bit too much for me at times, but for the most part that feeling of "they have no idea what's coming" was still incredible. Just seeing that cutscene with the Taiidan carrier caused more than a few goosebumps.
@@fonesrphunny7242 Bricks were shat the moment the Taiidan theme started playing xD
Addendum: The scene where S'Jets truck crests the Dune and drives into the Khar-Toba is taken straight from a cutscene of the first Homeworl, camera angles and all ^^
@@LtCWest If you didn't notice, Mandalore actually highlighted it in the video by slipping the old HW1 cutscene in first.
@@TychoHoward Indeed, tbf I made the comment befor watching the full video ^^
If you’re into racing games ‘Planet Of Death’ might be worth a play. Pretty brutal with no rubber-banding but the games ending is worth it.
The Steam version of Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak was recently updated to use the Epic Online functionality for multiplayer, opening up multiplayer to Steam/Epic crossplay. Unfortunately the Epic Online system acts like a DRM and won't let you run the game at all without an internet connection, so if you hate DRMs this game just went in the bin.
I actually really like their land vehicles design philosophy alot
The sand flying around is insanely beautiful. It really sells the graphics imo. They did a great job with it.
That intro animation is amazing. Props to the animator
Am I the only one that was getting some serious Samurai Jack vibes from that opening? Love it!
@@Davoren84 Its all memes all the way down the first short is commonly used and was used in Samurai jack, the ship, the mechanicus body. im not sure what the green/grey bits in the foreground are, the evangellion shot, the star wars references are many.
@@20110102 Yeah, the burning sun is straight out of Samurai Jack for sure.
His name is Extellus and yes, he is amazing.
I will say given that the Galsieen have been living for who knows how long in the deep desert it probably can sustain life with their advanced technology, because they don't seem like a small Kith either if they can be that strong, it really shows that they aren't really wrong, they can in fact live in Kharak even if the easy to live in areas are dissapearing, specially if the desert is actually covered in advanced technology they can repurpose and study for their own use.
I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH ANOTHER HOMEWORLD VIDEO FROM MANDLORE YIPPEEEEE
Deserts of Kharak was my first Homeworld game, apart from other Homeworld titles, I fear I will never find more glorious and well made "proffesional chatter" that is in Deserts of Kharak I just simply love it, it is SO immersive!
"Kingdom Hearts two has screwed us again" Just amazing! Keep up these fantastic reviews
I wish there was a mini show, maybe in a format similar to Tartakovsky's Primal or Samurai Jack, that had this Mandalore intro animation style. A freaking masterpiece
That would be excellent.
if you liked the artstyle, it kinda reminded me of Arcane, so you might want to check that out!
I absolutely adore this game.
It was clunky, disjointed, repetitive and light on content.
But this is one of those rare games where you can see the devs built the world long before they ever started building the game. The story of Homeworld is engraved in someone's brain somewhere. An entire fictitious universe that they created and spun a whole series of games about but this right here was the story that they always wanted to tell. They were finally given the opportunity, and it's just tragic that they didn't have the time and money to let the game cook a little longer.
I remember reading somewhere that even before the original Homeworld, this story came first. The story of pioneers and salvagers breaking down shipwrecks on alien worlds. Then they came up with Kharak as the most inhospitable planet in the galaxy, gave it a really cool backstory and decided to make a whole game around that lore. The goal was never to make boatloads of money; just for a few friends to share this incredible story they'd spun outside their little friends group. Homeworld evolved from a game about salvagers to an incredible story about a pilgrimage across the stars and they had to make up everything after that as they went along. The original story of Kharak though was always on their minds, and after years of building a fanbase they finally got to tell it.
Plus, let's be honest... What could be cooler than LANDSHIP AIRCRAFT CARRIERS?
This game feels like naval warfare in sea of sand.
I would absolutely drool over a several season TV series canonically and faithfully following the events of homeworld.
That would be so cool.
I’ve thought of this many times. Show the different factions bridges with the captains of ships showing conflict on board and between ships in some cases. Think it would end up being a mix of battle star galactica, stargate, and Star Wars.
My god man, have you heard of Battlestar Galactica? These games are heavily inspired by it.
@@DaLiJeIOvoImeZauzeto wrong way around fam. Homeworld 1 came out before the BSG remake in 03. Its BSG that took HEAVY inspiration from Homeworld
Battle star galactica 2004 and Space battleship Yamato 2199 scratch that itch for me
"Maybe there could be drones or a *bioweapon* in one of the wrecks."
Homeworld cataclysm having the scariest bioweapon:
D-did he get the VA for the Kuun-lan captain for a bit? I know it's unlikely but Mandalore's life has more anomalies and twists of fate than the SCP foundation.
These intros are starting to become full-blown short animation films, they're great !
Am I glad that Mandy is a fellow enjoyed of not just this soundtrack, but also the flutes~ seriously some of the Gaalsien themes just get my blood pumping.
Literally last night watched all your homeworld vids and wanted you to do deserts of kharak, and today you deliver, thank you Mandalore and Allah
Praise Sajuuk! He Whose Hand Shapes What Is!
Praise shai-hulu- oh wait, wrong desert planet.
If that's how we get more mandy praise Allah for sure. Imma get a pakistani friend to teach me a prayer
12:12 It's been years and it still hits like a hammer. That's not something to joke about you sick man. Seriously though, I felt a sudden wave of sorrow when I heard "Kharak is burning". Seems like Homweorld left scars deeper than I realized.
Drich's fanfiction 'Commander' drops a Supreme Commander ACU into near-Kharak orbit. After having devoured the Universe At War techbase.
And she decreed 'no.'
The voice acting has always been one of the best things about Homeworld. I was so glad that DoK continued that tradition.
I love the Sunless Sea music at the end. That was a really nice touch
i was so confused at first by it - not in a bad ways, just “…is that? is that the surface? from ssea?”
Having motifs from previous games used as you learn about the wider world (essentially information that would *lead* into those games) is just brilliant. You get that nostalgia hit in multiple directions on multiple levels and that blitz leads to a great effect.
When you started mentioning the expedition guide I got kinda excited, I really like Homeworld and what Deserts of Kharak was doing with it so hearing I could get a deeper understanding made me intrigued. Then you told me they basically went, "lore sold separately" filled me with a disgust I rarely feel. Glad you finally covered this. It's short, a little clunky, and lacking in variety but it really deserves to be recognized despite all that.
I love the subtle continuity between those intro animations; the buried mechanicus gentleman was a nice touch.
Damn, that Sunless Sea track at the end... What a great game (Homeworld, too, of course).
The Homeworld franchise is such a vibe. The music, voice acting, graphics. Immaculate.
I love it when there's an animated intro or segment. They're so much fun to watch.
Love that you mention Ground Control.
I remember playing through GC1 back in the day. I played as the leader of the first faction (the girl) and then as the Deacon Stone (IIRC) the leader of their enemies.
Since they were a religious cults, I imagined the game would end in some sort of spiritual goal having been archived. Instead I got a bucket of ice cold water when the final cutscenes rolled around.
In a good way.
This game made me even more hyped for Homeworld 3. Great to know so many talented people are working on my favourite franchise.
Yo, I just wanna say I really appreciate all the effort and detail put into your subtitles. It makes your videos so much easier to follow when English isn't your first language.
Kharak was a game i instantly fell in love with, its visuals, story, sound and solid strategy square really drew me in. it's a shame the full potential of this game and the setting wasn't fully realized
Not to worry Mandy, here in Argentina making a desert-related video at this time of the year is perfect timing
Your story critique is always on point on homeworld series i think. Homeworld lore is somehow one of my fave scifi even though it is very minimally told. Manual and cool drawn cutscenes. I hope they improve homeworld 3 lore and story to be the best it can be.
Rather than Homeworld I am quite convinced that his game is a massive homage to the first Ground Control.
I went in not expecting much from it and had a massive nostalgia trip.
This game felt like a thrust into the setting that hit its mark. It didn't get to do everything it wanted or craved, it didn't get the full round of polish, but it completed its core objectives.
Basically, a great 2000s era game nicely made in the 2010s.
@@michaelandreipalon359 Wishing we had more of those going.....
When this came out I pretty instantly loved it. For a game that came out so much later than it's other titles it surprised me how hard they went into making it feel that way.
Same as why I have faith in HW3.
But man is 13 missions short. Really wish it had some dlc or an expansion. But never had any idea how well they sold.
I have never liked a video less than 1% of the way through it before but the Gondola in the intro did it for me.
"Kingdom Hearts 2 has screwed us again!" Floored me XD
I remember a line from the game that would become this one called Hardspace Shipbreakers, "Why are there wrecked starships buried in the sand?"
This game reminds me so much of Ground Control 1 with the faction visual design, blocky tanks with treads for Crayvan Corp. and anti-grav energy hover thingies for the Order.
Hope Mandy explores that game alongside World in Conflict.
Ground Control 1 was awesome, the second was as good, but I have both of them on GoG.
Ground control was inspired by homeworld design. x))
Deserts of Kharak was very good, It's actually the first Homeworld game I managed to finish. I love the way they make the desert feel like an ocean, and the gigantic land carrier is awesome.
My desert. My Arrakis. My Dune.
Deserts of Kharak is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. Glad that you have covered it.
Bought this game a few days ago out of pure boredom looking for a new RTS to play and man, it is amazing. The lore of Homeworld is so interesting and the brooding atmosphere of DoK just hits hard. Always thought space Homeworld looked to difficult to get into, but now I'm an hour into the remasters and it's fantastic. Wish Catalcysm gets a remaster as well as the story and sheer terror of it intrigues me more than the other games.
Mandalore: "We need more giant landcrawler games."
Command & Conquer 4: "are you sure about that?"
Probably Mandalore: "Stop. Anything but that. I meant 'great giant landcrawler games.'"
I didn't know this was cnc4 but actually not terrible.
At first I was "Oh nice I love these animations." Then I saw the Mechanicus and thought "Cool continuity!" And the animation is a long one too making it even better!
Something you didn't mention is that this wasn't originally meant to be a Homeworld game. Rather, it was homeworld-_inspired_ - Khadrak was originally called Hardware: Shipbreakers, but Gearbox granted permission to use the Homeworld ip partway into development.
I listen to the OST of this fairly regularly. I love how games make unique music.
This story and setting is one of my favorite in any RTS and SciFi. The music and visuals bring so much flavor to every moment.
The Home World music in the opening is so iconic it gives me all the feels. Possibly most amazing sound track ever
the opening is getting better, wonder if there will be a day where we get 20 minutes of just mandy animation
As neat as the openings are if I have to sit through a 20 minute intro I'm clicking off the video
Yes! The best strategy i played in last few years, the style, the mechanics, i love everything about it, and it's just sad that it ends so quickly
I love the ongoing story in the intro animations, can't wait to see where Sir Mandy and his companion find themselves next
I LOVE how you added an Intro to this AND tied it up to the Mechanicus! Both games I really really like!
Ohh, Ground Control! I played the original loads as a kid, would love to see a video on that.
For a budget title the game is incredible, and actually makes me hyped for Homeworld 3.
Even with it's shortcomings, I think Deserts of Kharak was essential to revive the franchise. Simply alone for that I love this game. And it it to this day special and does something other games haven't done in such a way.
Thank you for the amazing review!
This is the first time I've seen an RTS where the soldiers talk like normal people, and it is so so appreciated. 😂
I absolutely love the 'Dune but with tanks and no worms' thing this has going on.
I absolutely love every Homeworld titles, they are such a treat gameplay and narrative wise
"The gentle, archeological touch of the Kool-aide man" had me absolutely crying oh my god lol
Nice to see another Home world review since it introduced me to the series.
Now I'm wondering if you'll end up reviewing the Homeworld TRPG that came out.
I'm really tempted to play it sometime, but starting TTRPG videos would probably consume me.
What??? Tell me more!
@@MandaloreGaming Considering how long your videos are for videogame reviews I could see that happening. :)
@@danieladamczyk4024 Modiphius published a Homeworld Tabletop RPG that covers events of Homeworld 1,2 Cataclysm, and Deserts of Kharak and and you can play in that Universe. i can't really say much cause I have not bought it but it looks like a great book when it comes to exploring the lore of Homeworld.
What about Mobile?
Ground Control!!! Yes please!! Such an amazing series that no one has played
I did. And this is obvious ripoff. Gliding faction represents Viron and other one human race (forgot the name). That was such a glorious game at the time. On the other hand, this brings nothing new.
Love the cooperation between you and Extellus. I've always loved his art, and seeing him get some recognition thanks to you is heartwarming
Finally! And may I say fellow mandalorian that I love that you finally covered the latest homeworld? I just recently listened to the ost and it's beautiful
yeah all the homeworld games have really good ost. especially the track Battle for Sajuuk from homeworld 2
Another great review Mandy... Can't wait for the Ground Control review. This game is a lot more interesting than my initial impression gave it credit for when it first came out, I might actually give it a shot!
It feels like now whenever I see Sci-Fi games set on Desert planets, this and Highfleet. After watching Dune's part 1 and 2 and getting into the first book, all I can think now is "oh so it was always Dune."
Loved this game. I need to go back and play it again
I really love this channel. I love the deep reviews of games that came out a while ago. From this relatively new game, to ones that have come out 20+ years ago. I havent played this since 2016 and this has made me reinstall and play again. It would be fun to go through this, then play through the Homeworld Remastered