I was all set to plunge into Blackbird and Gearbox’s Homeworld 3 this spring when I received a slightly underwhelmed intergalactic transmission from Nic, praising the game’s atmosphere and story while ruminating over fussy controls and a want of tactical depth. Like a herd of frigates scenting a pride of destroyers lurking behind a nearby asteroid, I rerouted hastily and took up a holding position approximately one astronomical unit from the Buy button, hoping that the developers might iron out a few of the wrinkles.
I’m not sure if today’s free Homeworld 3 update is the one I’m waiting for, but it does encompass “a host of gameplay improvements, bug fixes, [and] free Skirmish maps”. It will launch alongside the Kalan Fleet pack DLC, which adds two new fleets to the space strategy sim’s roguelike War Games mode – including the Kalan Raiders from the story – along with three new ships.
The Kalan Raider fleet are a mix of Kalan and repurposed Hiigaran ships. The other new fleet is the Capture Fleet, who blend Incarnate with Kalan vessels – guess what they’re good at. If you guessed “stealing other people’s carriers”, then go away and sulk, for I have no medals to give out. The DLC also includes 11 new challenges and 40 Artifacts. I don’t get the sense that all of this will address the complaints I’m reading on the Steam forums about the single player campaign and – oh wow, the current Steam user review consensus is Overwhelmingly Negative. Is it really that bad?
Revealed to much rejoicing in 2019, Homeworld 3 has had a troubled gestation. It was repeatedly delayed to address player feedback, with the controls proving a particular bugbear. Creators Blackbird laid off staff in February this year following some unannounced project cancellations.
According to Blackbird’s season pass roadmap from April, we can expect another paid Homeworld 3 DLC in October which adds a new playable faction, starting fleets, faction artifacts and challenges. There’s also a further free update in the works with maps and challenges for around the end of the year. A third paid DLC pack and free update combo are planned for 2025, with a similar balance of goodies.
It’s hard to imagine all that moving the needle of player reaction, but still – best of luck, Blackbird. This is deep space survey ship USG Evans-Thirlwell, signing off until further notice.