When Homeworld 3 was first introduced, I stored hoping for a VR mode announcement that by no means got here. Wouldn’t it’s nice to see all of the iconic ships flying round, dogfighting and exploding throughout your head? It’s a no brainer! It seems that the lack of VR assist wasn’t as a result of Homeworld 3’s builders at Blackbird didn’t see the potential; it was as a result of there was one other studio, FarBridge, engaged on a parallel Homeworld sport that’s constructed for VR – particularly the Meta Quest 2 and three – from the floor up. It’s referred to as Homeworld: Vast Reaches (see what they did there?) and, as coincidence would have it, after Homeworld 3’s delay to this coming Might, each will launch very shut collectively.
Once I first placed on the headset, the appear and feel was instantly very, very Homeworld. It’s not fairly as much as the constancy of Homeworld 3, naturally, however it’s a very good illustration of how these memorable ships have been initially designed, and it’s a visit to have the old-school animatic cutscenes fill my total discipline of view. The cherry on prime, after all, is new music by Paul Ruskay, the composer of Homeworld 1, 2, Deserts of Kharak, and the upcoming Homeworld 3. So it’s definitely received authenticity on its aspect.
The 11-mission, single-player-only story marketing campaign of Homeworld VR is about between the occasions of Homeworld and Homeworld 2 (versus the further-future Homeworld 3) as Karen Sjet comes out of retirement to teach a brand new individual studying to pilot the Mothership (you) and mop up the remnants of the Taiidan Empire. A brand new race exhibits up and, whereas initially promising to assist the Hiigarans with new superior tech, shortly activates you. This sudden however inevitable betrayal is available in the center of a coaching train the place their ships have been already conveniently labeled in purple.
The controls definitely take a bit getting used to (although I’m instructed they’re nonetheless being tuned) however issues have been simplified a bit so it’s not arduous to stand up to hurry in case you’ve performed a Homeworld sport earlier than. It’s definitely simpler to evaluate distance and depth in VR, which is vital in a sport the place ships can freely transfer up and down (to a degree) in area, so there’s no want to control the digicam as a lot as in 2D to find out one thing’s location. The pointer-based controls are a bit finicky while you’re making an attempt to goal a useful resource harvester at a distant asteroid cluster when there’s the rest round it, until you’ve got a surgeon’s regular hand, however after all the apparent answer there’s to pause the motion with a faucet of the Quest’s Y button, fly over to the asteroid, and situation instructions up shut earlier than resuming time.
The radar and management group menus pop up on both aspect of your left wrist while you increase your arm and flip your hand to swap between them, which I shortly received the dangle of for choosing and leaping to my ships (however I by no means did be taught to cease making an attempt to click on on the Mothership to carry up a menu). The trickiest half to be taught was the digicam controls, which let you float or teleport by area as soon as you determine that shifting up and down is managed by which manner you’re tilting the proper controller as you progress.
My early-game fleet was composed of the similar Hiigaran scouts, fighters, bombers, corvettes, and useful resource harvesters that we performed with in the authentic Homeworld. Nevertheless, much more so than Homeworld 2 and three, the manner you work together with ships is management group-based, to the level the place you’ll be able to’t individually order a ship or perhaps a squadron round – you need to construct ships into one in all the teams (throughout these early ranges you’re restricted to a few, however that can increase as your tech upgrades) and provides orders that apply to all the ships inside it. There aren’t any pre-set formations, however you’ll be able to actually decide up ships and place them in the formation you need inside the group, or transfer them to a unique group. There additionally aren’t any passive, impartial, or aggressive stances to inform the AI the way you need the ships to behave in fight, however you’ll be able to activate a lift to their firepower for a short while.
It might be simplified, however fight makes use of the similar rock-paper-scissors fashion balancing we’re used to, the place fighters kill bombers, bombers kill greater ships, and larger ships kill fighters. These early missions have been principally about defending the Mothership from waves of attackers whereas harvesting all of the out there sources close by earlier than leaping away, which may be very acquainted for this sequence. Since that is the authentic Mothership it’s unarmed and stationary, however I seen that right here you don’t actually work together with it a lot. As a result of ships are constructed straight into the management teams they don’t fly out of the hangar, and repairs are finished with a assist ship quite than by docking. However as ever, it’s there to function your avatar on the map, and it have to be protected in any respect prices.
Homeworld VR’s weirdest trick, although, is the possibility on the Quest 3 to play in augmented actuality mode. If you flip on this feature in the menu, the backdrop of area is changed by the actual world round you, and your ships are simply flying round the room. It’s weird, particularly if there are different folks close by, and it may be a bit troublesome to identify ships in a cluttered space, however I used to be shocked at how shortly I received used to it and was again to enjoying as regular. I might see myself enjoying this manner if my youngsters or cats have been in the room and I wished to have the ability to regulate them with out leaving my sport, however all issues thought-about I count on I’ll desire to expertise the full immersion in the Homeworld universe when Homeworld VR launches on Quest “quickly.”