Going back to commonalities with Homeworld, I think in this case its pretty but abstracted UI - all icy blue geometric shapes for the build actions - works against Kharak. However, despite its unhurried stride, it's pretty big on the keyboard shortcuts and the use of a Supreme Commander-style tactical map, plus you will find yourself fighting the awkward camera controls on a regular basis, so don't expect an easy ride even if it's not making you all panicky and sweaty moment-to-moment. This is not to say that Kharak doesn't become extremely tense and involved, but rather that you're not going to be punched into the ground if you've not been all go, all the time. There are several flies in its gently undulating ointment, but the unhurried, almost dreamlike speed of its action is what I most like about it - a welcome change of pace, a break with current RTS tradition to become ever-more frantic. It's UI, soundtrack and craft design which primarily make a game mostly about tanks fighting in the desert feel most like Homeworld, but Kharak also shares a certain sense of scale and refreshingly slow pacing with its great ancestor. It manages to be more Homeworldy than one might have suspected, as well as evoking fond memories of Dune II and the sudden realisation that someone really should make a Mad Max RTS. Deserts of Kharak, you see, is a landlubbing prequel to Relic's much-loved Homeworld series, starring giant sandcrawlers and assorted buggies, tanks and jets as they battle across the titular, entirely arid planet. As well as being mischievous, hopefully it also speaks to a determination to only take Homeworld to space again once they're sure they can do it absolutely right. I do admire the wanton self-destructiveness of taking one of the most quintessential space games then removing space from it. Note: This piece primarily focuses on the solo campaign, as there wasn't much multiplayer to be had pre-release. Deserts of Kharak has some bloody big boots to fill - can it possibly manage it? While some of its developers (including studio boss and former Relic art lead Rob Cunningham) worked on the original games, this first began life as the unrelated 'Hardware: Shipbreakers', before morphing into the free to play multiplayer 'Homeworld: Shipbreakers' and then finally to the traditionally-sold, singleplayer and multiplayer package it is now. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a prequel to the legendary Homeworld space real-time strategy games, but this time - heresy! - set on land, as the Kushan race battle angry clans to reclaim ancient technologies found on the sandy planet they currently call home.
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