Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
Game
Game2015
Homeworld Remastered Collection
Developer Gearbox Software, Aspyr (Mac)
Homeworld is a real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Studios on September 28, 1999, for Windows. Set in space, the science fiction game follows the Kushan exiles of the planet Kharak after their home planet is destroyed by the Taiidan Empire in retaliation for developing hyperspace jump technology. The survivors journey with their spacecraft-constructing mothership to… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
220 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
77
LovedLoved
162 positive · 48 negative
95% range 71–82%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 162 | 48 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 4 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
7,931 of 9,128 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
78% recommend · 157 yes, 44 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 201 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (12,484 of 14,205 positive).
Players praise the remastered collection for its stunning visuals and emotional story. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note technical issues like bugs and crashes that hinder the experience. [4][5][6] A few players express disappointment over missing content and broken classic versions. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [8]
Gearbox broke Homeworld Classic by patching in an ancient bug that the original developer, Relic, fixed ages ago. Homeworld Remastered is less buggy but just loses a lot of the charm of the original game by basically being a HW2 modpack. A lot of the missions are imbalanced and nearly broken due to strange ships behavior and stats and fighter refueling is completely gone. Homeworld 2 is ok, I guess, and a lot of …
- [1]
The Homeworld Remastered Collection is a breathtaking restoration of the games that redefined the real-time strategy genre by adding a literal third dimension to warfare. This package brings together Homeworld and Homeworld 2, completely overhauled with modern high-res textures, a sophisticated lighting engine, and a hauntingly beautiful, remastered musical score. You take command of the Mothership—the last hope for …
- [2]
Homeworld and Homeworld 2 (especially these Remastered releases) are masterful accomplishments of both tone and technique well before their time. The Homeworld series created vibes before the popularity of that term when such artistic style was known as "atmosphere". But the game also has legitimate strategy chops and innovative gameplay for the genre. So much has been written about the series it's hard to say …
- [12]
Homeworld is a space RTS with excellent voice acting, artwork and music. It's very dramatic and I think it almost tries to be a tear-jerker. Some people have called it a space opera - which sort of catches the vibe. The game oozes a little with drippy sadness and sentimentalism. The original game came out a long time ago, so when I saw the remastered version I got it on sale, but after playing a few of the early …
- [3]
Booting Homeworld, you soon realize that the game was developed not just as a piece of code but as a work of art. It instantly evokes a sense of emptiness and alienation rarely found in other fictions. Add to that an impressive sense of scale and gameplay mechanics ahead of their time, and you get a true landmark of PC gaming. The story follows the discovery of an artifact deep in the deserts of the planet Kharak, …
Summarised from 34 of the 213 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Homeworld Remastered Collection talk about beautiful remastered graphics and soundtrack; those who didn't talk about frequent crashes and stability issues. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Homeworld was highly regarded by critics upon release and is listed by review aggregator Metacritic as the highest-rated computer game of 1999 and the third-highest on any platform for the year. The graphics were highly praised; Michael Ryan of GameSpot wrote it had "some of the most impressive graphics ever", while Jason Levine of Computer Games Magazine said that "no game—ever—has made space itself look like this". Eurogamer's review praised the "big, brash and colourful" backgrounds, which was echoed by Levine and John Keefer of GameSpy. Multiple reviewers, such as Vincent Lopez of IGN, also praised the detail and variety of the spaceships, and Jason Samuel of GamePro noted that Relic…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 220 · most liked firstFree Steam Keys. Hey Lemmy, I have some Steam + other keys that I have laying around that I never used / will never use. Some of them are probably already claimed from friends. Take what you want, but let me know what keys are already claimed / claimed by you and I'll remove them from the list. Enjoy! **NON STEAM** ~~Displate 40% off discount code Redemption Key: EK18B9B4~~ ~~Displate Discount Code 40% off Redemption Key: CW36F543~~ ~~Fanatical Wheel Spin spin to win Redemption Key:…
neutral · AI labelView post →Homeworld is 25 today! Yes, this fantastic space strategy game is a quarter of a century old 🤯 And if you've never played it, get the 2015 Homeworld Remastered Collection, which is often very inexpensive. 😌
positive · AI labelView post →Homeworld 2 was released 21 years ago today. I invite anyone who wants to immerse themselves in a superb space strategy adventure to pick up Homeworld Remastered Collection (2015) to play this sci-fi classic.
positive · AI labelView post →[Epic Games] Homeworld Remastered Collection.
neutral · AI labelView post →2K Games changed their privacy policy in November 2025. They now have an automatic data miner in their games, selling our information to anyone interested. No games from them. Don't play games you already own; let them go bankrupt.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[Epic Games] Homeworld Remastered Collection. Space RTS for Windows, free on Epic Games until 3rd August
neutral · AI labelView post →Gearbox broke Homeworld Classic by patching in an ancient bug that the original developer, Relic, fixed ages ago. Homeworld Remastered is less buggy but just loses a lot of the charm of the original game by basically being a HW2 modpack. A lot of the missions are imbalanced and nearly broken due to strange ships behavior and stats and fighter refueling is completely gone. Homeworld 2 is ok, I guess, and a lot of cool old mods are on the workshop.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Originally bought this around the time my son was born. Now my son is an adult and loves this game and it's a special memory for him. I guess it's a special memory for me as well.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fantastic RTS but it is bugged, you need to get the "Homeworld Remastered Players Patch" off the workshop to fix and make it playable.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Weekend PC Game Deals: Classic RPGs to bundle, Stealth festivals, and more. Big Deals - HITMAN World of Assassination – $34.99 on Steam - Half-Life: Alyx – $20.39 on Steam - Detroit: Become Human – $19.99 on Steam - Red Dead Redemption 2 – $19.79 on Steam - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – $19.79 on Steam - Battlefield 2042 – $17.99 on Steam - Sniper Elite 5 – $16.99 on Steam - SnowRunner – $16.49 on Steam - Resident Evil Village – $16.34 on Gamebillet - Hunt: Showdown – $15.99 on Steam - Two…
neutral · AI labelView post →the game itself is great with many good mods however the launcher simply does not work. Without fail the launcher crashes the moment it is clicked. Apparently there are many fixes posted online however few work and fewer work consistently, that being said even if all the fixes worked first try it would still be unacceptable for the developers to allow for such issues to remain unresolved (ie this issue has been present since 2017) and because of this i cannot recommend
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's so good. When it works. I want it to work so bad. I've tried every fix. The longest I got was 15 minutes into a skirmish. "ACCESS VIOLATION" Ugh. Please fix it. Please. And I will change my vote.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →its a remastered version. It doesn't fit the screen. No video options in the video tab for resolution, borderless window, screen stretching. It's like they did a remaster to make it run on modern hard ware and did nothing at all.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have a top of the line computer. Nvidia 5090. AMD 9950x3D. 64 GB RAM. And this game starts stuttering after a couple mins. Really enjoyed HW1/2 when they came out and wanted to revisit, but it's unplayable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As others have stated, Gearbox has broken the Classic version of this game. Small ships will circle the mothership forever until they run out of fuel rather than docking. Unless you wanna do some kind of frigate-only (lol) run, this renders the game essentially unplayable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Homeworld Remastered Collection is a breathtaking restoration of the games that redefined the real-time strategy genre by adding a literal third dimension to warfare. This package brings together Homeworld and Homeworld 2, completely overhauled with modern high-res textures, a sophisticated lighting engine, and a hauntingly beautiful, remastered musical score. You take command of the Mothership—the last hope for the Kushan people—as you lead a nomadic fleet across the stars to reclaim your…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm still upset about Homeworld 3. Lin Joyce and all the other writers need to be banned from the industry. What a disgrace.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played the original Homeworld when it was released in 1999. I remember the general excitement building up to its release in gaming 'zines of the time and that excitement was justified. I remember opening the box the game came in, and it wasn't just the game disk: there was a big artbook and manual in there as well: those were the days when you got real value for a game, it wasn't a "special edition" box or anything, just the base game at release. I remember excitedly putting the disk in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After watching for 15 minutes as a single kadeshi mothership took a pounding from 21 frigates..... 6 multibeam, 4 ion 4 destroyers and god knows how many others and just instantly regenerating to 30k health every time it got to 10k health.,.... no...this game is broken, do not buy it. go on abandonware sites and get the ORIGINAL release because that actually works, this was just a cashgrab that they didnt even bother finishing, the player patch that was supposed to make it better actually…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I never played the original Homeworld when it first released. I only discovered the franchise recently after the announcement of Homeworld 3. Because of that, I went into the Remastered Collection without nostalgia attached. Visually, the remaster is well done. The interface feels modernized, and the overall presentation was clearly adjusted for today’s standards. It does not feel like a lazy graphical update. However, mechanically, the game feels dated. Space battles should feel powerful…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →so i payed money for this 30 year old game and i cant even play it offline without agreeing to an eula? guess whos not playing this game on steam anymore?
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tonight 7P EDT / 11P GMT to Th 8/27, every 5+ gifted on T***ch is a game giveaway I have 40 of these things to throw at you Including: • Homeworld Remastered Collection • Children of Morta: Complete Edition • Observer: System Redux + more Cursed Yakisoba pan I made for scale #VTuber #VSky
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm a huge fan of the original Homeworld, which I played from its release in 1999. It's long been one of those games I revisit once a year because it's unlike any other and always offers a fresh experience. However, I have to say that the remastered version, while infinitely more beautiful (and compatible with current screen resolutions), doesn't appeal to me at all. The control interface and responsiveness are significantly inferior: the interface is unnecessarily complicated, key bindings…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Homeworld and Homeworld 2 (especially these Remastered releases) are masterful accomplishments of both tone and technique well before their time. The Homeworld series created vibes before the popularity of that term when such artistic style was known as "atmosphere". But the game also has legitimate strategy chops and innovative gameplay for the genre. So much has been written about the series it's hard to say anything new, but it cannot be stressed enough how much emotion this title evokes,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Booting Homeworld, you soon realize that the game was developed not just as a piece of code but as a work of art. It instantly evokes a sense of emptiness and alienation rarely found in other fictions. Add to that an impressive sense of scale and gameplay mechanics ahead of their time, and you get a true landmark of PC gaming. The story follows the discovery of an artifact deep in the deserts of the planet Kharak, which reveals the location of a mythical world. It is believed to be the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I hate this game. The game itself appears to be interesting and decently done, the controls and interface on the otherhand are hot garbage. Enemy fighters/corvettes are nearly unfindable outside the strategic map - TARGETTING them with any type of coherent command besizes a move or a vague 'attack enemies in this volume of space' is challenging to say the least. It's probably just me, I cannot get used to this interface... even the game menu key is F10 ?! I had to search online to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gearbox broke this game with a patch that added a bug that the original developers fixed ages and ages ago. Ships won't dock with the mothership unless you manually move them directly in front of the docking bay and then issue the dock command. Otherwise they circle the mothership until they run out of fuel. It's been an issue since before Homeworld 3 released and gearbox apparently has no interest in fixing it. There are other places this game could be purchased without this bug. I would…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →HW 1 classic is broken. Ships just circle around instead of docking
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a classic, and one of the best well done RTS. The fact that this game is over 20 years old and is still fun and engaging is incredible in itself. Thank you to the team behind this game!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →DO NOT BUY THIS ON STEAM! Buy it on GOG instead! The ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ developers released a patch that ruined the game. I am playing the campaign and the docking system is broken. Units circle the mother ship instead of entering it, and thus making this a horrible experience. Apparently other players are encountering other problems. This looks like an amazing game, but thanks to tardbox, I am unable to play it properly.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's been decades and there still is'nt a space RTS game quite like or even close to homeworld 1/2. i've still got the original games on disk, but these remasters really do the game justice and uplift the game to a exceptional standard. It's a shame that the DLC for homeworld one is missing as the story in that game expanded the lore of the factions and shifted into horror elements that worked really well for it. Spend hundreds of hours playing this game before it was on steam back in the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Homeworld is a space RTS with excellent voice acting, artwork and music. It's very dramatic and I think it almost tries to be a tear-jerker. Some people have called it a space opera - which sort of catches the vibe. The game oozes a little with drippy sadness and sentimentalism. The original game came out a long time ago, so when I saw the remastered version I got it on sale, but after playing a few of the early campaign missions I hit a brick wall - the game was just impossible to beat.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gorgeous space opera visuals and an incredible soundtrack that totally nail that classic sci-fi atmosphere. Managing your persistent fleet across campaigns feels epic, even if some of the legacy pathfinding bugs and tactical annoyances can drive you nuts. It's a nostalgic RTS treat, but it definitely needed a smoother modern tune-up.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Battlestar Galactica fleet commander mod is genuinely the greatest video game of all time. Would STRONGLY recommend.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After putting an extra 8 hours into this game, I can not only say, with my whole chest, that this game is fun as ♥♥♥♥ with or without mods. That said, the game still has EXTREME problems with multiplayer that not only make this game almost impossible to play with friends, but also makes it so that you can't even finish a single match.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Homeworld was a fantastic, groundbreaking game that I loved as a young child, so coming back to a gorgeous, much more accessible version was truly a tremendous thing. Was it perfect? No, I can no longer hijack any fighters, the cutscenes have an inferior art style, but these are all very minor ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Sadly Cataclysm is not included (the only other Homeworld game I played prior to the remastered collection), but oh well. Visually this is very impressive, and it is a lot of fun to play as well,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As good as the original except one glaring thing... You can't choose the other race with the updated graphics. :/ The other race has way cooler spaceships.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Taiidan fleet command came to me and said that the Hiigarans keep stealing his heavy cruisers so i asked him what he does about it and he tells me he just goes to the shipyards and build another heavy cruiser. So i told him it just sounds like he's feeding the Hiigarans heavy cruisers and then his carrier captain started crying.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great concept, id really love to get into this game. I've watched other people play it and it looks like fun but when i try to play it the controls do not make sense. I love the concept but the tutorial teaches me nothing and controls are janky. Buy at your own risk. I bought this in 2020 and its been sitting in my library for 5 years. I couldn't get the hang of it when i bought it and i just tried to play it recently and its a no go. Great concept but just not all there.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Both Homeworlds are one of my all time favourite RTS ever made, an absolute jugernaut of a game that rightfully has its place in gaming Olimpus. Right... so, saying that, this remaster is a bit lazy, I mean, you have higher resolution textures and all is a bit cleaner, but it's mostly the same game running a bit poorly :D But, in any case, you also have both classic and untouched versions here, so all good. If you're planning on playing this on the Deck... I mean it runs well at 60 fps but...…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The story is awesome. The gameplay takes a bit to get used to. I strongly suggest taking time with the tutorial. The music is incredible for mood setting. Without the music, this game would not hit as hard as it does. Funny spaceships go BRRR!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR: Amazing - but buy it on GoG if you want it to run stable. Homeworld and Homeworld 2 are masterpieces. Unparalleled games from Relic at their peak. Shame about HW3. That was truly dreadful. This collection is all you need. And Cataclysim (or 'emergence' as it's now known for some reason). I recommend these games highly (plus the remastered collection also contains the classic HW and HW2 if you really want to go full nostalgia). BUT - I don't recommend buying this on Steam. It crashes and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →HomeWorld, changed the RTS world, great story, great gameplay.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Like many of these RTS games from this era, it gets way too hairy way too fast. My Steam playtime is only a fraction of the time I spent over the past 20 years trying to master this game. If you're autistic enough, I'm sure you can handle it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →completely broken. there is a fatal error that ive had that i cannot fix. upon selecting units and moving them either into a formation, attacking, moving, or even just selecting a unit, it will hard crash the game with an access violation. everything i have tried has been completely unable to fix this bug and all the things ive been able to find say that it is just something you cannot fix due to how the engine is.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very relaxing space RTS. The units and fights are slow so its mainly focused on correct army comp and unit formations. If you want to build a force and relax while they fight and you think its worth checking out.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you want to play Homeworld 1, I really can't recommend this. HW1RM looks beautiful, but there are so many bugs and problems that have been introduced as a result of porting the game into the HW2 engine that there are significant issues, and even the player's patch doesn't address everything. The difficulty scaling is way more aggressive than in the classic HW1, though the player's patch can at least allow you to tweak this. Support and repair frigate functionality is buggy, especially when…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is an important part of history. The remastered version is very good, and still very playable by modern standards.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At the time of this review, I have played it across several machines, mostly on my ThinkPads using the trackpoint instead of a mouse. The gameplay still feels interesting, and I can only imagine what it must have been back in the day. If at all I could complete the two games, I might try a couple of missions in classic mode to get a taste of the improvements first-hand. Needless to say, I shouldn't have waited for so long to finally try these after having had the Remastered Collection in my…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Homeworld 1 is one of the best games ever made in my opinion. The remastered collection upgrades it to modern graphics/resolution. Get it and play it!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love this game. I bought it when it came out in 2001 and completed it in about 12 months of non stop playing, these days its nice to just play the pc and wander around some beautiful but maybe outdated graphics. Game play with friends is very fun and i often compare it to chess in space. Omg 25 years of playing Homeworld? good grief!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A Beautiful Remaster That Loses Its Tactical Soul Homeworld Remastered Collection is one of those games that immediately hits you with nostalgia. The visual overhaul is breathtaking — every ship glows with detail, every nebula feels alive, and the haunting music still captures that sense of loneliness and awe that made the original such a masterpiece. For the first few missions, it’s easy to be swept away by how lovingly this remaster presents the universe of Homeworld. But once you start…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good old Homeworld but refreshed :-) If you've never played it - the campaign story is top-notch, you get to really FEEL it not just play it; the music is great, the graphics very good. The game is a challenge, too, you need to manage your expenses carefully since the resources are very limited in each mission. Edit: ugh, one BIG downside to the remaster is that campaign balance is completely... off-balance. The difficulty of missions varies madly with some missions completely impossible…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →game loads but crashes, jams as soon as i try to engage building que. game remaster looks great. havent been able to play it yet.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I loved this game dearly since forever, one of the first ones I played. Bought again the remastered thinking it would be the same experience but with updated graphics. Is not. Dont like the remastered much (not same engine as the original, it uses the HW2 engine i belive) so it is not the same feel, and the original game included (called classic) has bugs 4 major bugs I never ever seem in my old CD copy. (guard command and Support comand dont work as well as in original, the mothership dock is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is so worth it, already have 10 hours on this game from playing and I've enjoyed it. Including the mods that make it so much better and realistic like eve online but better. I still have to get better because the AI is somehow smart, still new and learning what combos are best n stuff, but if you like RTS games and space then this is a crazy good game to play.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not bad! Quote: "Remember that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Probably worth a google?"
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just finished the remastered versions of the first two games, and they were an amazing experience. I haven't played the original versions yet, but I definitely will after finishing Deserts of Kharak. Some missions took me hours to beat, and I got stuck more than once, but the satisfaction of finally completing them was incredibly rewarding. If you enjoy challenging RTS gameplay and love space-themed games, this collection is absolutely worth playing. Highly recommended. As a bonus, the game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →With the players patch from the workshop installed it works perfectly fine, no noticable bugs other than A couple crashes on loading screens between missions (no progress lost). Regrettably it's the HW2 engine for the HW1 campaign so the UI isn't like it was back in the day, but it's still very fun, and you still build one ship at a time HW1 style. I tried HW1 classic included here with no mods and encountered a bug where my ships wouldn't dock. They would orbit the mothership infinitely no…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I only tried Homeworld 1 Remastered so far. Every 20 or 30 minutes, the game suddenly got unplayable choppy framerate and I had to save and quit. 4 times in 2 hours. The controls and UI are bad, which is extra frustrating in a real-time game. It seems like you keep your fleet each mission, which makes it very important to mine all the resources, lose as few ships as possible, and steal as many enemy ships as possible. I'm afraid I'll get to a later mission and feel like it's…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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