Kiith Somtaaw has access to new vessels and technology, much of which is more interesting and varied than what was available to the Kushan in the original game. Acolyte heavy fighters can now be upgraded with missile technology and joined into more powerful frigates with linking technology. The Mimic infiltration ship uses holographic technology to disguise itself as enemy vessels or asteroids. Two Mimics can be joined like Acolytes to form a Martyr corvette that can serve as a devastating kamikaze bomber if the situation calls for such drastic measures. The Kuun-Lan itself, which serves as a mobile version of the Mothership here, can also be modified with such devices as engineering and weapons modules. These nicely expand the technology tree and provide more room for experimentation than the rigid tech advancement seen in Homeworld.

All of these revisions make an impact on both the solo campaign and the mutiplayer modes. While the actual games are the same, being able to use The Beast's absorption abilities or Kiith Somtaaw's more varied lineup of ships and tech upgrades jazzes everything up considerably. The single-player story is still the meat of the game, but it's nice that Barking Dog made the effort to improve the rather dull (since both sides were nearly identical) multiplayer games from the original.

And now, the negatives. Well, this is where I would normally go over the negative aspects of a generally positive game. Where Homeworld: Cataclysm is concerned, however, I really don't have anything bad to say; it's as close to perfection as any game I've ever played. The only thing I'd change would be the frequency of updates and new objectives, which come up every few minutes in each mission and nearly always interrupt some crucial event. It's hard to complain too much about this, however, as such little pauses help build the storyline. And the voice acting heard in each segue is nothing short of superb. You can really hear the emotions. Engineering updates on "The Beast" are delivered with all the broken words and fearful pauses that one would expect from people facing such a horrific foe. I can forgive the interference from actors with these sorts of chops.