Borderlands Developer Gearbox picked up the Homeworld IP from the smouldering embers of publisher THQ when its properties went on sale. They’ll be releasing a remastered, HD collection of the first two games, giving fans of the real-time space strategy games something to be giddy about. This weekend, they announced when they’ll be available – and teased it all with a new trailer.
You’ll be able to get your hands on the Homeworld Remaster Collection as a digital download – which contains Homeworld and Homeworld 2 – on February 25. In the trailer below, you can see how much work has gone in to making the rejiggered games look great. The newly done, animated cut-scenes look rather spiffy too.
Unfortunately for fans, Homeworld Cataclysm isn’t included in the package, because its source code is lost in the ether. The game will come with a new multiplayer mode that blends both games together instead.
If you pre-order the game before February 24, you’ll get a 15% discount. In this day and age though, I can’t honestly recommend anyone pre-orders anything; giving people money for a game before it’s available just gives them a reason to not have to care about finishing it. Still, it’s a remaster of an old game and not a brand new one, so Gearbox can’t stuff it up too much, right? Either way, you’ll be able to play classic versions of the games without the extra HD spit and polish if purism is your thing.
If you’re not keen on old games, and want something new in the Homeworld universe, remember that Gearbox has allowed developers of the original games to use the licence – and they’ll be releasing their new Homeworld: Shipbreakers at some point in the near future.
Last Updated: January 26, 2015
Geoff Murphy
January 26, 2015 at 10:35
I guess this is the best place to ask. Has anyone heard of the new flight sim Dreadnought? I’ve done some checking but I’m not sure if I should be excited. Any thoughts?
Kromas Votes LAG WCMovie Event
January 26, 2015 at 10:40
Let us get a bit closer to release before we decide. However my first impressions is it looks good. 🙂
Ryanza
January 26, 2015 at 10:39
The date just makes me sad. I wonder why…
Daniel Hallinan
January 26, 2015 at 10:40
Indulging in the screenshots and gameplay of this yesterday has been really fun – I’m REALLY eager to play it again. Hell, I’m happy I’ll get another chance to beat Homeworld 2!
BTW, I tracked down the gameplay vid I’ve seen other websites use – enjoy! 😀
Eric
January 26, 2015 at 10:46
Homeworld 2 was SOOOO hard. I managed to finish it, but only after much much MUCH frustration.
There’s a game on Steam, Void Destroyer, that feels very Homeworld, but it allows you to take control of any ship and fly it solo.
Daniel Hallinan
January 26, 2015 at 10:48
I’ve still not finished it. I tried over half a dozen times, and the latest try I actually got quite far for the first time, before I had to format 🙁
Sill, I enjoyed the story, even though the AI cheats so blatantly.
Xcalibersa
January 26, 2015 at 10:52
HW2 was fun but not as great as the first one.
Daniel Hallinan
January 26, 2015 at 11:03
Yeah, I agree – it lacked a lot of the mystery and wonder of the first, though sequels do tend to have that issue. The brutal mission AI wasn’t exactly a great thing either.
Xcalibersa
January 26, 2015 at 11:06
I just didnt like the fact that I could not capture ships… or so I can remember.
Eric
January 26, 2015 at 13:33
You could capture with Marine ships
Eric
January 26, 2015 at 13:34
I remember reading a review from back then stating: “Homeworld 2 doesn’t allow you to set the difficulty level, but if it did, it would be set to a default of ‘very f*cking hard'”
Xcalibersa
January 26, 2015 at 13:38
I cant recall that game ever giving trouble? Completed on first try so it cant be that hard.
Hammersteyn
January 26, 2015 at 10:42
They should remake this with the Kinect and room alive. It could be like Enders Game trolololol
Xcalibersa
January 26, 2015 at 10:45
Still nothing impressive. HW remake looks like the textures from HW2.
Daniel Hallinan
January 26, 2015 at 10:56
I had the same thing when I saw the announcement of the HD remaster of Beyond Good and Evil, where I looked at the screens and said “wait… this just looks like normal Beyond Good and Evil”. Turns out it just looked like how I *remembered* Beyond Good and Evil to look, and it was actually quite a shocking contrast to the product.
So… I suspect the same thing is happening with you – it looks how you remember Homeworld 2 looked. I can guarantee there’s a huge improvement over the visuals, as I’ve noticed myself (since I replay Homeworld 2 every now and then).
Compare this Homeworld 2 pic to the quality of the same ship in the vid I linked below 😀
http://images.wikia.com/homeworld/images/4/4a/Hiigaran_gunship.jpg
Of course, it’s not just the visual upgrade – they’ve rebuilt the engine to fully work on modern systems without jumping through loopholes, and they’ve rebuilt the netcode from scratch to allow workable multiplayer. (Plus, you know, adding fancy depth of field and lighting effects ;D)
Xcalibersa
January 26, 2015 at 11:00
True. Through my ruby tinted glasses it did look better. The series is one of my all time favorites.
My best moment was in HW1 during the 2nd last episode where I captured about a hundred frigates. Made for a easy end.
Still wish they would post more videos.
Eric
January 26, 2015 at 14:47
I did the same thing on that level. Just “lure” the Ion frigates away from that giant Ion frigate sphere protecting that gateway and capture them all.
RinceThis
January 26, 2015 at 10:48
Sweet!
ToshZA
January 26, 2015 at 10:50
Am I the only one not excited for this?
Hammersteyn
January 26, 2015 at 11:03
Nope
Brady miaau
January 26, 2015 at 12:11
I have strongly mixed feelings
Spaffy
January 26, 2015 at 12:11
I also mix my feelings strongly.
Brady miaau
January 26, 2015 at 12:12
Indeed. It makes sense.
do your feelings have names? Dr Jim Beam or Jack Daniels perhaps? Sister Coke? Porter Rum? Johnny whiskey?
Spaffy
January 26, 2015 at 12:12
Wow, It’s like you know me 😀
Skyblue
January 27, 2015 at 10:06
Was an extremely challenging game to get to grips with.
Tosh MA
January 27, 2015 at 10:09
I finished all 3 of them back in the day. But I have no inclination to go back and play them again.
Skyblue
January 27, 2015 at 10:34
I’d be prepared to give them another go if the remakes fix the difficulty and some of those control issues.
Kensei Seraph
January 26, 2015 at 10:53
http://fanaru.com/no-game-no-life/image/45669-no-game-no-life-jibril-drooling.gif
Ottokie
January 26, 2015 at 13:55
Ironic that the Anime from the GIF is “No game No Life” 😛
Johann
January 26, 2015 at 11:12
Really looking forward to this. HW1 was and still is one of my favourite RTS games. The intro and music of the first one was spot on.
I remember that at one point I captured so many capital class ships that it took almost an hour to get them all in line before I could warp to the next level.
Lardus-Resident Perve
January 26, 2015 at 12:47
I might just have to get this for old time’s sake….hmmmm Sake….
ProgamerXR
January 26, 2015 at 19:48
Hey 🙂 if you want u can find cheaper Steam and Origin games on g2a ^_^ http://www.g2as.ml