The graphics of Homeworld are stunning. Because Relic doesn't have to draw complicated backgrounds that take up polygons, they spent many more polygons per unit than a land-based RTS could. Ships are detailed with good techie textures and leave cool exhaust trails. Explosions are beautiful and the space backgrounds are awesomely breathtaking. When you align a massive fleet of ships in formation with a nebula as background, it's just awesome. It's not perfect, but it is a sight to see.
The sound of Homeworld is good and adds atmosphere, but isn't compelling. Voices that further the plot sound convincing and add to play, but explosions don't hit you in the gut and ion cannons do not light up your ears like they do the screen. One nice touch is you get to listen to radio chatter from your various ships, but what they talk about is rarely useful. The music is mostly dark, ominous and well crafted and adds nicely to the feel of the game, but again, it isn't compelling. We like the sound of Homeworld and can not fault it, but it did not win us over completely either.
Homeworld multi-player takes place mainly over WON.net. Access is had through an in-game browser, which not only connects to WON.net, it signs you up as well. We were impressed with the ease of connection and setup. We would have preferred not having to sign up at all though. Actual multi-player is perfectly acceptable and is pretty straightforward. The quality of play depends on the quality of your opponent, which is exactly how things should be. Good job Relic!
