Fans have waited more than 20 years, but we’re mere months away from the release of Homeworld 3, which is now available for pre-purchase on the Epic Games Store. If the venerable space strategy series hasn’t caught you in its tractor beam yet, let me tell you a little about what makes this sequel special.

Created by Relic Entertainment—the studio that went on to make Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War—the Homeworld series tells the story of the Hiigarans, a fleet of survivors trying to build a new home after centuries in exile. When last we saw the Hiigarans, they were living it up, having found their new home planet and used it to reopen a galaxy-spanning network of Hyperspace Gates.

After a century of prosperity, we’ll rejoin the Hiigarans in Homeworld 3 to find their gates mysteriously shutting down and a deadly enemy force sweeping through the galaxy, turning star systems dark.

When Homeworld 3 releases in February 2024, you’ll step into the very able boots of intel officer Isaac Paktu and lead the expedition to find out what’s happening.

 

Return to form

The Homeworld series made a name for itself thanks to its demanding strategic combat and striking art style, and developer Blackbird Interactive is keen to show that all of that is returning in this long-awaited sequel.

Don’t be fooled by the name. While Blackbird Interactive isn’t Relic Entertainment, it was founded by a number of the original Homeworld development team, including art director Rob Cunningham. The studio has already supported Gearbox on the Homeworld Remastered Collection and made the planetside prequel Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak.

While many games treat the vast expanses of space as a simple flat plane, in the Homeworld series you navigate in true 3D, seeking ways to assault your enemy from above and below. Each ship has strengths and weaknesses, which you can exploit by shaping your fleet to counter the units your enemy is fielding.

For instance, if your foe has a set of Frigates armed with powerful ion cannons—which can punch a hole in the hulls of even the largest Capital Ships—you can counter with a wing of Bombers. The Frigate’s slow-firing lasers simply aren’t able to land significant hits on the small and nimble Bombers.

Homeworld 3 retains the strategic depths of the original games, but Blackbird Interactive has added a significant new layer for players to master.

 

Cover yourself for glory

Levels in the original Homeworld games never looked like empty black space thanks to swirls of colorful nebulae in the background and rich orangey dust clouds that cut through the maps. They were effectively large empty boxes for you to navigate your fleet through though, as there was little else out there other than ships and a few mineable asteroids.

That’s all changed in Homeworld 3.

Space clutter litters the game’s maps. Wrecked ships, craggy asteroids, and derelict capital ships cloud the once-empty vacuum. And every one of these obstructions can be used as cover for your fleet, hiding it from sight and protecting it from harm.

The debris has vast implications for a game which accurately simulates its ships’ weapons and sensors. For a start, you can now bind your ships to a piece of cover, ordering them to huddle in its shadow. This keeps them out of the enemy’s line of sight, protecting them from direct fire from lasers and kinetic weapons, such as railguns. While in cover, ships are also less likely to be spotted by sensors, enabling you to possibly ambush enemy fleets.

The campaign features a mission set in and around the carcass of a capital ship. A set of Missile Frigates is guarding a Hyperspace Gate your fleet needs access to, and all you have in your command are Interceptors. Built to take on single-pilot vessels, such as Fighters and Bombers, a wing of Interceptors can’t hope to take on a Frigate. Without cover, the heavily armed Frigates would quickly pick them off on the approach. Thankfully, a cloud of debris offers a sheltered approach to close the gap on the bigger ships.

The mission has another kind of cover, too. The hulking wreck has tunnels you can fly your ships through. Not only do these tubes cover your fighters, but they block all sensor information as well, letting you approach the enemy completely undetected.

Success in Homeworld 3 requires analyzing the battlefield and seeing how you can harness its intricacies to gain an advantage—or how its landscape could potentially leave you in a weak position.
 

Endless galactic war

When you complete Homeworld 3’s singleplayer campaign, your battles in space are far from over. Blackbird Interactive has built a roguelike-inspired mode, inviting you to enjoy endless war.

Battles in War Games feature randomized enemy fleets and objectives, meaning no two skirmishes are identical. As you complete the matches, you earn points that you can spend to unlock different starting fleets to use in future fights. A reconnaissance fleet, for instance, begins with a large wing of Interceptors, while a Strikecraft Fleet has more aggressive attack vessels and a few ship upgrades already unlocked.

Within skirmishes, you’ll also claim Artifacts which you can use to augment the ships in your fleet. These can dramatically alter how you play, making some tactics particularly effective. For example, one Artifact gives your Interceptors a passive self-repair, but with the trade-off that your Fighters move more slowly. With the new cover mechanics and self-repair, you can use your Interceptors as bushwhackers, ambushing enemy units and then retreating to repair before attacking again.

A big feature of War Games is that the mode can also be played in co-op, allowing three players to face down enemy waves together.

Whether you’re new to the series or one of the fans who has been waiting for Homeworld 3 for over twenty years, there’s a lot to look forward to in this space RTS.

Homeworld 3 is out in February 2024, and is available for pre-purchase today from the Epic Games Store.