Homeworld

Homeworld is a story about coming home that begins in the worst possible way. The inhabitants of the desert planet Kharak discover in the wreck of an ancient ship proof that they are not the original inhabitants of their world, build a giant mothership, and set out to find a long-lost homeland. It's clear from the very start that there's no going back, and this loss gives the campaign an unusually quiet, melancholic tone that real-time strategy games of the era otherwise lacked. The narration is held together by the calm commentary of the ship's AI and by animated cutscenes.

In gameplay terms it was a breakthrough: Homeworld was the first major representative of the genre set entirely in full three-dimensional space. The fleet moves up and down as well as sideways, attacking from above or from behind makes real sense, and the player has to learn to control the camera as well as the ships themselves. There's no base-building in the usual sense; everything stems from the mothership, specialized vessels harvest resources from asteroids and wrecks, and enemy ships can be captured with boarding frigates. Crucially, the fleet carries over from mission to mission. Losses aren't reset, so every lost battle still hurts hours later, and careful conduct of the war is itself a strategy. Formations, tactics, and the specialization of fighters, corvettes, and capital ships form a clear rock-paper-scissors system.

Visually the game still holds up today thanks to its clean design, wide space panoramas, and pleasantly restrained interface. The music blends ambient textures with serious orchestral music, and one of the campaign's most powerful moments uses a well-known orchestral piece in a way that people still remember. Contemporary critics received Homeworld enthusiastically, and many outlets named it one of the best games of the year. Its influence is visible in every later space strategy game, and the series went on to sequels and modern remasters that make the original campaign accessible on today's computers.