“Homeworld” gets a follow-up, and it’s kind of a horror game. And a really great one. In the last video I talked about how great “Homeworld” is. The story is wonderful, it’s full of atmosphere, and just downright fun to play. However, there was another game that I only made brief mention of. That’s because “Cataclysm” deserved its own video, and it’s hard to fit into the other one. For starters, at the time of this video, it’s actually not part of the Remastered Collection. There are some mods that sort of get the new ships in, but no, this is still a standalone game. So gently kiss the nice new visuals goodbye – we’re back in 2000. It also wasn’t made by Relic, like “1” and “2” were, but instead, by Barking Dog Studios. They later went on to develop “Bully”, before being absorbed into the greater Rockstar empire. So there is a strange path there. But, for our purposes, the canon of “Cataclysm” was always kind of questionable. At the time, the executive producer for “2” said the events had occurred, but just weren’t mentioned. Now, knowing the events of “Cataclysm” does make some aspects of “2” very questionable. But that’s for later. Gearbox is the current holder of the franchise. A few years back, its chief creative officer called “Cataclysm” “not exactly canon”. Because, once again, it doesn’t neatly line up with “2”. I did go to the source on this, and yes, the studio considers “Cataclysm” to be fully canon. So “2” is now even messier than I thought. I mean… Oh well. You could buy the game for a while, then “Blizzard” higher-ups did what they do best, putting their hands where they shouldn’t, and they got the word “Cataclysm” trademarked. No one could buy it for years, until GOG re-released it as “Homeworld: Emergence”. It’s the exact same game, and, if you really want to, you can strip the coat of paint off the menu. It will run fine on modern machines, but this is an adjustment, coming from the remasters. There’s no special fan patch you need – this is it. Now, allegedly, Gearbox did wanna remaster this game as well, but the source code has been lost. That would make the process difficult, since “Cataclysm” does have some strange new mechanics in it. “2’s” engine had difficulties comprehending single ships in formation. “Cataclysm” has ships that fusion-dance into bigger ones. This would be a lot of work, and for a game that’s already a lesser known title in a very small pond. I can get that, but, man, even as is, this game is so worth talking about. So, all of that said, let’s see where things picked up after the first game. CHRONICLER: “The war for Hiigara has left the galaxy in turmoil. The past 15 years have seen the birth of new possibilities and a festering of old grudges.” CHRONICLER: “The once dominant Taiidan Empire has fractured under the strain of civil war.” CHRONICLER: “The new Taiidani Republic tries to hold the old territories together,” CHRONICLER: “while forces loyal to the old Emperor lurk in the new bandit kingdoms, waiting for their chance to strike back.” The mythical search for Hiigara is over, but now reality is setting in. The burning of Kharak brought everybody together, but, like any great tragedy, this was only temporary. The Kushan mothership – the most gameplay-important and iconic thing of the first game – is now parked in orbit, acting as a shipyard. The now-Hiigaran people are desperately trying to establish themselves. Many of the old desert clans were destroyed outright, or merged into bigger ones. If you read the first “Homeworld” manual, these are the Kiith that were mentioned there. Only a select few powerful parties are calling the shots, as things usually go. There is a lot of border-securing to be done, with the Taiidani remnant, the raiders and God knows what else. It’s that third one that’s going to be key in “Cataclysm”. CHRONICLER: “The war for homeworld is over now, but the galaxy remains a dangerous place.” We open up to a Hiigaran fleet fighting off a Taiidan incursion. And the Taiidan are winning, so the Hiigarans need a commander like you. But the mothership has been turned into a shipyard, so you’re not gonna have that. What is your big, cool ship now? CAPTAIN: “Attention, carrier Veer-Rak, this is Kiith Somtaaw mining vessel Kuun-Lan. We have arrived in sector 112 and request targeting data.” This is your new mothership – a mining barge. A Kiith Somtaaw mining barge. They’re mentioned in the “Homeworld 1” manual a single time, by name only. They were once a religious Kiith, turned into a mining one. Even before the burning, they were greatly insignificant. By the time of “Cataclysm”, they were almost absorbed into a larger clan. The Kuun-Lan command ship, and mostly everything else they have, is boxy and awkward. If Hiigara makes a new technology, these guys are, basically, last in line for it. Your first mission is saving a Kiith fleet from being wiped out by the Taiidan remnant. The Kuun-Lan does have a capability to make some warships for security reasons, but it’s enough to swing the battle in their favor. This could be Kiith Somtaaw’s first step in getting more respect. VEER-RAK: “Kiith Nabaal would like to thank our brothers and sisters from Kiith Manaan, S’jet and Kaalel for their aid in battle.” Hoh, you thought you were getting thanked… Your people are dirty miners. Fuck you. It’s amazing. This keeps the spirit of “Homeworld’s” unknown universe intact. You’re not important enough to know the greater things at play. The crew of a lower caste mining vessel understands galactic politics just slightly better than you do here. Their first few missions are just them acting as support ships for a larger battle going on. They even end up having to jettison their ore container to make room for combat modules. They are a last-second, expendable addition to the effort. During a fight with Turanic raiders, they pick up an emergency distress beacon. It’s some kind of derelict object, and the Turanic raiders are trying to grab it too, and you just barely beat them out in getting it. It is a strange object, so, when the battle is over, the Kuun-Lan decides to call home. CAPTAIN: “Honored greetings, Somtaaw Kiith-Sa. Did you receive our data regarding the anomalous artifact?” KIITH-SA: “We have.” KIITH-SA: “Our researchers agree: the signal and design matches nothing currently used by known galactic races.” KIITH-SA: “Where is the pod now?” Oh, I’m sure the Somtaaw leadership will also have your best interests at heart. They have nothing to prove. CAPTAIN: “We have brought it aboard now, and are securing it in the main hangar bay.” CAPTAIN: “What should we do with it? We’re… just a mining vessel.” CAPTAIN: “We’re not equipped to study anything like this.” KIITH-SA: “We are transmitting design specs, so that your manufacturing unit can construct a science module.” CAPTAIN: “Excuse me, Kiith-Sa, but… would it not be easier to seek help from another Kiith?” CAPTAIN: “We are still within hailing range of the Nabaal command carrier. Surely, they would have the staff to-” KIITH-SA: “No. A find like this could lead to alien technology that surpasses anything used by the other Kiith.” KIITH-SA: “Somtaaw needs this advantage.” Even your own people are willing to guinea pig you. This is beyond being in the uncool table at school – this is like having the anime club actively giving you swirlies sometimes too. You do go through with their plan, and learn that the beacon is over a million years old. The Progenitors that “Homeworld 2” makes a big deal about were only about ten thousand years old, so this device is unfathomably ancient to anyone. Deeper research of the device proves to be a problem. CAPTAIN: “Research module, this is the bridge. We’ve got power fluctuations in your area and the hangar bay. Are you running any tests?” RESEARCER: “Not that I know of, bridge. Let- let me check.” [screaming and alarms]
RESEARCER: “Not that I know of, bridge. Let- let me check.” [screaming and alarms] CAPTAIN: “What was that? What’s going on down there?! Fluctuations spreading to lower engine module!” [screaming and alarms]
RESEARCHER: “Ehm… Don’t know… Give me a second.” [screaming and alarms]
RESEARCHER: “We were examining surface material from the alien probe, and…” RESEARCHER: “We were examining surface material from the alien probe, and…”
CAPTAIN: “What is going on?” CAPTAIN: “Now we’ve got biohazard warnings going off across the lower decks! What have you done?!” [screaming and alarms]
RESEARCER: “Something is loose! It’s- It’s killing us! You’ve got to save the rest of the ship! Jettison the lower decks!” CAPTAIN: “Kharak forgive us…” CAPTAIN: “Bridge to all stations: emergency jettison protocols engaged!” RESEARCHER: “Cut us loose!!” [screams of agony and terror] Your mission is dealing with whatever the hell that is. Okay, let’s talk visuals. The thing is, we are living in the post-remaster world. My eyes have already been spoiled, so, compared to that, yeah, it looks terrible. I mean, these ships are moving at a PowerPoint framerate, so I’m gonna skip the obvious, and just focus on the art style. When it comes to spacecraft, the Somtaaw are vastly different than the ones from Kharak. They’re mainly beefy, boxy ships that have none of the slickness you’ve seen before. These are industrial vessels, like freighters or construction craft, that have just been repurposed for war. What used to be a tug for massive orbital loads, is now actively ramming the enemy. Your deep space cargo haulers are now acting as carriers. The ones that don’t fit this mold can be downright bizarre-looking, or resemble the Taiidan or the Bentusi. That’s because it IS their technology. Without real Hiigaran support, the Somtaaw have had to purchase store brand replacements. Their game plan is a kitchen sink fleet doctrine. “We can’t afford a gun frigate, but we did find this weird design that lets our ship to look like an asteroid.” “But, you know, that hologram emitter takes a lot of power.” “We can’t fit weapons on there too, so it’s going to be a one-way trip.” [*BA-BOOSH*] It’s like having an army of nothing but Caterpillar construction vehicles and Soviet World War 2 era tanks. It’s stupid and incredibly desperate, but there is a rule of cool to it. It’s a thrift store fleet that will have to save the universe, and sometimes, you do find some helpful surprises. Now, besides all the ships, you have your space backdrops. Looking at this out of context, it just looks like a space ship fight, but “Cataclysm” goes an extra mile in trying to generate THE TERROR OF SPACE in a way I haven’t seen other games do often. The fact it’s an RTS game has a lot to do with that. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying it’s “Silent Hill”, or that you’ll be lying in bed crying and shitting because of it, but the sound and visuals come together to build this atmosphere of dread. [golden Karan] CAPTAIN: “With the Clee-San and their science team lost, my engineers are… are now analyzing the subversion entity we have codenamed... the Beast.” CAPTAIN: “The Beast seems to infect us with a kind of particle beam that layers the target with techno-organic robots.” CAPTAIN: “Once these entities make contact with a compatible surface, they begin to absorb material and… and infiltrate the target structure.” [Captain's voice starts trembling]
CAPTAIN: “When they make contact with organic matter, they use the mass to form a neural control network that… then takes control of the ship.” CAPTAIN: “Each Beast cell functions like a… a biomechanical virus.” CAPTAIN: “It’s capable of using and subverting living cells in much the same way that i-it subverts and uses non-organic technology.” That professional demeanor is still there in the voice acting, but everyone is terrified of the Beast. It’s reinforced to you constantly, and, combined with the music, you really feel how tiny your ship is against the void. [Homeworld Cataclysm OST: AZ 23769] [Homeworld Cataclysm OST: Tel Sector] [Homeworld Cataclysm OST: Outskirts of Kadiir]
CONVOY: “This is republican convoy DX307! We are under attack by unknown missiles!” [Homeworld Cataclysm OST: Outskirts of Kadiir]
CONVOY: “We have lost our escort and are unarmed! Please assist!” [Homeworld Cataclysm OST: Outskirts of Kadiir]
CONVOY: “We are carrying thousands of colonists! Someone, help us, please, help us!!” [Homeworld Cataclysm OST: Outskirts of Kadiir] Even the background being a smear can contribute to how unsettling things look. The early campaign frequently has these flashes of distant lightning. It’s a tiny hint of the absolute shitstorm you’re in for. The sensors menu is virtually unchanged from the first game, but now there is a new kind of menace to it. What the hell COULD be out there? [*beep*] [*beep*] There are games that take advantage of that aspect a lot stronger now, but, man… It seems that some of the strongest horror in games can come from games that aren’t labeled as that. When you have a spaceship strategy game, it’s hard to directly show the horror. So, instead, you have these threatening maps with tense music. You see the threat on a more personal level in cutscenes, but still shrouded in darkness. Then you have a game known for its “professionals under stress” voice acting absolutely losing their shit. “Stand by, Group 4. Stand by, Group 3.” “Stand by, Group 4. Stand by, Group 3.”
“Target lo- Target… AAAHH!!” CONVOY: “We have hull breaches across all decks!” CONVOY: “Something’s come aboard!” CONVOY: “Please, help us! HELP U-US!!” [signal breaks] “Homeworld” has always had strong, immersive radio chatter, and now it’s being used against you. Your thoughts on command are sometimes interrupted by people being melted by something you don’t fully understand. [panicked screams come through the radio and dissipate into nothingness] Yeah… Back to building collectors… [Homeworld Cataclysm OST: Zeta Gate - M06 Intro] Wait a minute! Is that Enmity?! Oh my God… The remaster for “Homeworld 2” does have some incredible backdrops. The game tries to look like some kind of apocalypse too, and I think it succeeds in that. The issue is: as much as I did like those visuals, the threat was always vague. That contributes to why it felt so hollow. I love Makaan’s character design, but, up until the very end, I had no clue what he was up to. It’s the end times for… some reason. When the bottom of the Kuun-Lan appears to start bleeding, and then gets careened off into space, while you hear everyone screaming – that establishes a threat and tone way better than even the most ancient of prophesies. The Beast is a nano-machine virus that breaks down its crew into nerve endings to control space ships. And that’s the most basic way I can put it. Rather than finding a thing to find a thing to do something, the threat is established early on. “Cataclysm’s” campaign is trying to find practical solutions to fight the Beast. This thing looks extremely dangerous, but we’re mainly just mechanical engineers. Our next step should be to try and contact biologists or other experts to try and get a better grasp on it. You see this happening and go “Yeah, this does make sense.” The Beast stays mysterious, but it’s also threatening, because you know what it does. It will mosey around the universe, assimilating life and machinery for reasons unknown. It’s a gruesome struggle, but you’re taking the fight. Who knows what could have happened if the raiders were the ones to unleash it. It’s a great sci-fi horror story on its own, but it’s also an excellent “Homeworld” sequel. It plays off of the first game, while keeping a lot of the same themes. I’ll save all that for the spoiler section, since I do want to talk about the gameplay changes a bit. Compared to the original, I find it a lot smoother to play now. Things the remaster lets you take for granted, like actually being able to attack ships through the sensors menu, weren’t available until “Cataclysm”. There were better time speedup and slowdown abilities, and things like quick dock were actually added in “Cataclysm”, and not “Homeworld 2”. Except, it’s way better here, because it’s a choice. It removes tedium in some missions, but in others, an enemy death ball might be heading your way. You can try to let everyone make it, but, if the Beast is looking to pile-drive you, the emergency jump option might be the only way out. This is a rough decision, because every ship counts now more than ever. “2” having collectors acting as resource harvesters, repair ships and salvagers was something that “Cataclysm” started. But it’s like that here, because it’s a much more scaled down game. There is a lot to reinforce this. In another series’ first, units now have veterancy. The more ass they kick, the bigger their foot gets. The stat improvements make it worth keeping ships alive, even over just the resource cost. Then you have all your new ship upgrades available. Some craft can apply these on their own, but others might have to dock up, if they weren’t built with them. Fuel is gone at this point, but abilities were made more prominent. [Marv scream]
Fuel is gone at this point, but abilities were made more prominent. You can manually order fighters to shoot off a missile salvo, but they’ll have to re-dock to resupply them. You have a much smaller fleet roster. You have strange additions, like micro ship drones that can attach to larger enemy craft and wreak havoc. You’re using deception, combining fighters into corvettes, and then separating them back out. The kitchen sink fleet angle extends into actually playing the game. You don’t get big brawler ships until later, and not very many. Just to emphasize the importance of each individual ship, each class now has its own voice actor. Besides just adding more flavor and variety to the game, this feeds you more information. When you start hearing the “Modern Warfare” lobby screams over the radio, you can tell, both, what ship class it is and how they’re doing. It makes “2” dropping this aspect especially weird, considering how much they built off of “Cataclysm”. Having ship modules that could be destroyed or damaged was kind of added here, but “2” would refine this idea to a degree that it feels completely different. They might have wanted to build off more, but “2” had a rough development. In “Cataclysm’s” case, it was just supposed to be an expansion pack. It ended up that everything looked so strong and promising that it was released as a standalone game. That seems like the right call with just how differently it plays. The one thing I don’t like is just how much more of a process capturing enemy ships is. Using your harvesters for it feels awkward, and it’s a longer ordeal. At the same time, I get it, because, on higher difficulties especially, captured enemy ships can do a lot better than your base stuff. These are ships made for fighting, compared to whatever the hell is happening here. I don’t have anything to add on the gameplay front that I haven’t said before. So, that just leaves the story. Well, once again, “Cataclysm” came with a gigantic manual. It even expands on the lore behind the ships, and that darker tone continues. For example, when the frozen colonists got to Hiigara, a huge portion of them committed suicide, since they had lost everything at Kharak. Some of these sleepers crew the self-destructing mimic ships. They’ve already given up hope, and feel like they have nothing to lose being made into a weapon. Pretty fucking grim. You never need to read the manual to understand the story, but it does help you understand the depths of just how bad things are. There’s a lot of details I wanna get into here, so, if you don’t want spoilers, go to here: Okay, when we left off, the Beast had awoken! BEAST: “We-e li-ive…” There’s one group that’s gotta know more. BENTUSI: “It has been forbidden to possess this information for some time. But, after your intervention on our behalf, we feel compelled to share it with you.” The Bentusi have always been “the wise mentor”. As a refresher, or for those who will never play it (which is very sad): the Bentusi reveal the truth of your people. Thousands of years ago, the Hiigarans were a massively powerful galactic empire. Their actions were so brutal that, when they did lose a war, their enemies called for their race to be completely exterminated. Not every race agreed on this, so a compromise was made. The Hiigarans would be crammed aboard sub-light transports and sent to the fringe of the galaxy. If they found a wasteland planet to settle there, then good for them, and if not – tough shit. The journey took centuries, and those who survived were basically feral. When they did reach Kharak, they had to restart as a brand new civilization. So, when a mothership emerged, and the Taiidani honey-barbequed the planet, there was a huge outcry. No one hated the Hiigarans more than the Taiidani, but none of them were actually alive to witness the atrocities. The Bentusi, who are bound inside their spacecraft, DO live that long. They personally suffered from the Hiigarans’ actions. Even after everything, they move to forgive. They recognize that a race of people isn’t inherently evil, and that maybe confining them to generations of prison, followed by generations of a desert hellscape, followed by obliterating them the second they try to step off it was a step too far. "AHH!" They made a case for the Kushan people, and have a long-term perspective and wisdom that no one else has. They are the best and most trustworthy friend you have in the universe, so of course you go to them to ask about the Beast. They are already being attacked when you get there, but they’ve got it under control. CAPTAIN: “Attention, Bentusi trading station! You are NOT being attacked by normal pirate vessels! Do NOT let them get close!” BENTUSI: “It does not matter what they are. Only the mad would attack the Unbound. Hostile ships will be regrettably destroyed.” He’s right, too. Like, they’re wiping the floor with them. Then, one of the larger ships gets close. BENTUSI: “A presence… We sense its hunger… Not infant race… Not Unbound… Something other, s- something older… Something from Outside!” KING WILLIE: “The other side!” MIKE: “What’re you talking about?” BENTUSI: “It tears at us. Rewriting song, devouring memory, turning our body against us… binding us!” BENTUSI: “This… cannot be! We will NOT… BE… BOUND!” [*KABLOW*] Oh fuck…! Ehm… What now…? All you can do is escort an allied carrier out of the situation. You can’t begin to think of a long-term plan now, because holding off the Beast is such a task. Just the act of being too close to them leads to disaster. [screams of terror] Getting the carrier to safety is a journey in itself. Travelling through a hostile dust cloud filled with Taiidan Empire remnants. You do pull it off, and the carrier does thank you, but there is some disrespect buried in there. You protected THEM on the way out, but they tell YOU to “find somewhere safe, and we’ll get the warrior Kiith to come handle it”. It may look polite, but it’s a buried insult. The Kuun-Lan doesn’t confront that. Trying to dig out a buried dis just makes you look dirty. Luckily, the science team who wasn’t involved in the dust bowl shootout has learned a bit more. The original beacon came from an alien vessel known as the Ragnarok. I mean, the Naggarok. They were exploring the universe a million years ago, when they too ran across the Beast. When they realized what it was, they tried to cut off their communications and kill everything else that might let the Beast out of the ship. But that triggered an automatic distress beacon to be launched. Which is what the Kuun-Lan found. As for the Naggarok, it may be dead in the water, but it could be out there still. That’s the next logical thing to look for. You do get sidetracked by the chaos this thing is unleashing. The Taiidani Republic, which are also Hiigaran allies, are also dealing with the threat. But they’ve been calling it “an imperialist bioweapon”. Republic Intel knew it was present in an imperial weapons lab, but did not know it was not a Taiidani invention. All of your battles are about buying time. You could be a distraction for the sake of moving spies around, or just trying to hold off the Beast a little bit longer. It’s an oppressive campaign, and it seems like you can never catch a break. You eventually find an ancient ship cannon inside of a debris field. Could be a Progenitor one, or one from the old Hiigaran wars. You research it and attach it to the command ship, while mastering energy weapons. Things are looking up, and then an enemy Taiidani fleet warps in. Kicked back down. But then the allied carrier returns as promised. And it’s like “Thank God, finally, a break!” CAAL-SHTO: “This is the Caal-Shto… We have arrived with… reinforcements from Hiigara… Come to us.” Ugh-h… Dammit… Also, remember when the Kuun-Lan ejected the bottom part of the ship? That’s alive now, and growing. BEAST: “We wa-ant… beacon brain…” The newly installed siege cannon is done just in time. It has to be awkwardly aimed manually, but I do land a perfect hit. The mystical cannon of the Ancient Ones… doesn’t do shit to them. I have to launch an emergency jump, and many are left behind. At this rate, the Somtaaw might not have enough members for a chorus. Maybe the cannon could be modified to work if we had an older Beast sample, but that’s back to finding the Naggarok. But you’re still getting sidetracked trying to save others from being devoured. The Beast is showing up with all kinds of different ships now, showing how far its reach has already gotten. The fighting is kept relentless, and the struggle feels more and more futile. It’s made more and more clear how dire the situation is. Even when you get the information to find the Naggarok, it seems like it’s already too late. This all makes Blizzard trademarking “cataclysm” even more annoying. It’s the perfect title for this. This is all very abridged down, but the moment-to-moment fighting really drills this into you. Everyone is being eaten, and there’s no big unity against it. You find the Naggarok just when things couldn’t seem worse. RECON: “This is Recon 214 co Command. I have target in visual range. Kiith’s blood, it’s massive!” RECON: “The Imperials are all over it. What are they doing?” [there's incredulous laughter in her words]
RECON: “I don’t believe it! They’re repairing the drives!” Not only the Imperials are not helping – they’re FIXING the death ship. Everyone skips fear into just shock at how stupid this is. RECON: “I don’t believe it! They’re repairing the drives!” It’s like “Of course the scout is laughing! This is insane! What are you doing over there?!” CAPTAIN: “Come in, Taiidan flagship. What are you doing? You can’t release that ship on the galaxy! Do you know what you’re about to do?!” [the voice oscilates between masculine and feminine]
BEAST: “Yes-s, they kno-ow…” BEAST: “For a million years, we have been trapped in this ship, listening to the electromagnetic chatter of your tiny self/worlds.” For their help, the Beast will give the Taiidan Empire half the galaxy. When this first happened, I didn’t know how to feel about it. I was already iffy on the Beast actually talking, but this deal seems remarkably stupid and one-sided. They do address how obvious this is. CAPTAIN: “That’s madness! What happens when you finish devouring your half of the galaxy?!” BEAST: “Irrelevant! How many thousands of your flickering lifespans will that take?” BEAST: “Join us or be destroyed.” Sure, descendants might be horribly devoured, but at least we’ll be comfortable. Ally with the Beast, and it’s a pretty sweet ride up until that point. It’s even more frustrating later, when the Somtaaw directly confront them on this. CAPTAIN: “How could you be helping this thing?!” IMPERIAL: “What choice do we have, Hiigaran?” IMPERIAL: “Your mad quest shattered our imperial sphere. Took the life of our mourned Emperor.” IMPERIAL: “Whatever we have been driven to now is your fault. You-” [communication cutoff] Helping the Beast is the Empire’s final “fuck you” to the galaxy, but they won’t own up to it. You do retrieve a sample, but the Naggarok escapes. The siege cannon might be Bentusi, so, maybe there are more out there. The good news is that there are, and the bad is that they’re escaping the galaxy. Things are so bad that the Bentusi are entirely peacing out of the situation. They are completely terrified. To the point the fleet decides to destroy their escape route in hopes of convincing them. BENTUSI: “Cease your attacks or be destroyed! Do you not understand what has happened? We will not be bound!” You don’t heed their warning. And they meant it. The Bentusi attack you, and they rip your fleet apart. All the resources, all the veteran ships – they melt right through them. They’re doing this to people who came to them for help. CAPTAIN: “You helped us to win our homeworld! You cannot run away now!” BENTUSI: “We aided the S’jet persona who was newly Unbound. You are not S’jet!” BENTUSI: “Your bound bodies and flicker lives make you blind to reality, and now we will all pay for your blindness!” It’s an unwinnable battle. You don’t activate an ancient super weapon to stop them. Instead, the Captain convinces them. BENTUSI: “You seek to trap us in a diseased galaxy. This cannot be.” BENTUSI: “Desist, and we will allow you to leave. We… regret the loss of your memory.” “Powering down weapons.” CAPTAIN: “Regret?! We regret the loss of the whole sand-cursed galaxy! Stop murdering us and help us kill the Beast!” BENTUSI: “The Devourer cannot be stopped. We must leave, or even memory will die. We… will not be bound…” CAPTAIN: “Yes, yes, “you will not be bound” – whatever that means.” CAPTAIN: “Well, guess what? WE won’t let you go! It doesn’t matter how we die – one ancient monster is as good as another!” BENTUSI: “We are… not… monsters.” CAPTAIN: “Aren’t you?! Look around! Look what you’ve done to our fleet! All because we dared to get in your way!” CAPTAIN: “Look at yourselves, the aloof, the mighty Bentusi! Slaughtering the people who asked for your help!” CAPTAIN: “You’re WORSE than the Beast! At least the Beast doesn’t PRETEND TO BE RIGHTEOUS!!” BENTUSI: “We fear… For the first time in countless orbits, we fear.” CAPTAIN: “Join the Kiith. We’re not blind – just scared. As scared as you.” CAPTAIN: “Now, are you gonna help us, or are we gonna have to ram this mining ship down the throat of the first station that approaches?” BENTUSI: “That will not be necessary. We see our own madness reflected in yours. We will do what we can to help.” This scene will never be as famous as “Kharak is burning”, but it’s my favorite in the series. You got to see that Bentusi get physically overpowered, but it’s a lot more seeing them be so afraid that they lose their way. “Homeworld” was all about going home and returning to where you belong. “Cataclysm” seems like it’s the opposite. This is about the danger of not being able to confront change. The Taiidani Empire want the glory days back. Even if that means being buddy-buddy with sentient cancer. But you know from “Homeworld” that the Empire was a terrible, corrupt place. The glory days weren’t so glorious, unless you were on the top of a pile of misery. The Bentusi are wise and powerful, but, as a race, they haven’t felt actually threatened in thousands of years. Rather than face the challenge, their first instinct is to run away. They were smug when the Beast first showed up, but that evaporated faster than their ship did. To their credit, it would be a pretty horrible fate. Because they’re so integrated with their ships, the Beast wouldn’t kill them on contact. Instead, they’d be trapped inside their own bodies, virtually being tortured for all of eternity, while their ship drifts throughout the universe. It’s gruesome enough that you can at least understand their fear. They do figure out that they shouldn’t run away. Being comfortable with power made them shy away from new challenges. Even the Beast is just an endless, stagnant thing. It’s the same as it was a million years ago, and will do nothing but consume, until the stars burn out. The most impactful force – in the war and in the story – is the group on the very bottom of the bottom of the ladder. The Somtaaw go through absolute hell, and sacrifice a lot. But, by rising to the occasion, they have been improving. Even though no one asked, or even wanted them to. “Homeworld” has these big, grand moments – the one in “Cataclysm” is pretty easy to miss. Whenever you start a mission, you hear something like this: CAPTAIN: “Understood, tactical. Attention carrier Veer-Rak, this is Kiith Somtaaw mining vessel Kuun-Lan.” CAPTAIN: “Attention Kiith Manaan fleet, this is the Somtaaw mining vessel Kuun-Lan. Please, come in.” When the Bentusi fix up the cannon and you warp in to face the Naggarok, you hear this instead. CAPTAIN: “Try to hold on, Republican fleet. This is the Kiith Somtaaw warship Kuun-Lan.” They are proper warship now. And they fucking earned it. The final mission has you linking up with the Taiidan Republic, to use their new superweapon against the Beast’s mothership. However, the campaign is keeping up its theme of burning lit cigarettes on your arm. Kojima’s nano-machines have already captured the superweapon. The Republic fleet is in shambles, the Naggarok is already there, and constant reinforcements are coming from the Beast and the Taiidan Empire. This can be a brutal final mission. Even catching the Naggarok is a trial, since it has some kind of Jimmy Neutron bullshit frictionless drive. It can outrun your fastest craft, and sometimes, it will straight up devour a unit off the map. [screams of terror] It is an endurance of a final battle, until finally, FINALLY you catch a break. If you make it through enough objectives, the Bentusi show up and transmit you a schematic for one of their fighters. They are absurdly powerful, and with them, you can send the Naggarok to Hel. BEAST: “NOO! NOOO!!” With their momentum significantly slowed, the other Beast ships are hunted down and destroyed. A kind of vaccine for the infection is developed and, while some pockets remain, the Beast never really threatens the universe again. The Kiith Somtaaw are no longer known as the mining clan. They gain a huge amount of respect on Hiigara, and now their clan is known as the Beast Slayers. After all you’ve been through, it’s an incredibly satisfying ending. It really is a great game. Even with the graphics blown away by the remaster, the audio pretty compressed and crunchy. But the campaign stands up as an amazing “Homeworld” sequel. You can even try Skirmish, if you wanna play as the Beast. This is about where I would end things, but… I’ve gotta talk about “Homeworld 2”. “Cataclysm” shows how different things can be, while still being a “Homeworld” game. I mean, you see the Captain of the Kuun-Lan go through an arc. Again, he’s more representing his people, but he’s the strongest character in the series so far. I talked about this before, but Karan S’jet isn’t much of a character by herself. You do get glimpses of what she’s about. She allowed herself to be entombed inside the mothership. They make a point of saying she’s the last to step on the homeworld. She’s clearly selfless and heroic, and you can assume she’s a good person. The thing is, her arc is basically done. She got everyone home – she’s a hero. Until “2” drags her back out put her inside the mothership 2. If you played “Cataclysm” before “2”, it’s way more disappointing. “Cataclysm” has shown that it’s such a rich universe that you can play all kinds of stories in it. Hell, I’d be okay playing as a Taiidani or a Vaygr, or something brand new. Instead, “2” set up the Age of S’jet. This seems to have seeped into the franchise itself. I haven’t talked about “Deserts of Kharak” yet, but it stars one of the Karan’s ancestors. What little has been shown about “Homeworld 3” is centered around Karan once again. I guess, after “2’s” ending, you can’t really ignore her. I guess, I’m hoping they do something interesting with her. Her being the means to an end was how she worked in “Homeworld”, but it’s hard to get away with that now that she’s, like, this lynchpin for the series. Do something with her, or else I’ll wish I was playing a new nobody. Who knows, maybe she’s the new galactic tyrant now. Playing an underdog against her could be interesting. “Cataclysm” has a great story, but all the advances the Somtaaw made, the Beast, everything – it’s not around. Not for “Homeworld 2”. There’s only a single Bentusi ship left for some reason, and the Somtaaw are mentioned being against poking around in ancient ruins. Any interesting follow-up has to make way for THE PROPHESY. The gameplay is fun, but the story is so disjointed that “Cataclysm” still feels like the real “Homeworld 2”. So, if you like the original, I would highly recommend “Homeworld: Emergence”. I actually tried to get a sale for it, but I haven’t heard back. So it might be in the pinned comment, it might not. It’s not nearly as shiny and desired as the remasters. So, if it does go on sale, you still might wanna pick it up. It might not ever get the remaster treatment, but, boy, is it deserving of it. That’s it for now. Next time, “Warhammer” returns. Michael Drew: “What do [you] think of the “EVE Online”/“Dr. Who” crossover?” Desperate. Your turn. Tank_Facts: “Thoughts on the Fromsoft “Armored Core” leak?” I haven’t looked into it, but I’d be happy to see more “Armored Core”. I’ll also be ready for a lot of annoying “Dark Souls, but robots” thumbnails. Devon P: ““Halo Wars 1 & 2” when? Bonus tears for Halogen.” There will be a “Halo” thing this year on the channel. I was very sad about “Halogen”, and I don’t know if that will heal. It’s a real shame there’s no build floating around. Shadow Dragoon: “Is there a game [you] liked that the general audience hates or vice versa?” I would think, most recently, it would be “Cyberpunk”. The ripdown of it has been absolutely fair. It’s still a mess in a lot of ways, but there is a lot that I like about it. There won’t be a video on it for quite a while. Ultracrab: “Will [you] return to Eastern Europe for “The Void”?” I don’t know when, but it is inevitable at this point. Matthew McConnell: “What’s the worst purchase [you’ve] made that [you] can’t let go of?” Oh man… This is a hard one. Uhm… I’ve bought bad games, like “Aliens: Colonial Marines”, but had fun with them. I can’t remember a brand new game I bought full price and hated. I’m careful about it now, and, as a kid, I didn’t get anything over, like, $10. Oh! “Empire Earth 3”! That’s the one. In general though, I once bought a really shitty pressure cooker that almost killed me. That might count, but I didn’t spend a ton on it. College days were deadly. "AAAAHH!!" DALE GRIBBLE: “The Beast.”
I love Cataclysm for so many reasons, but I think my favorite thing about the game is how it utilizes the limitations of the RTS genre to actually increase the horror of the Beast.
Instead of seeing the Beast truly or what happens to the crew of ships we just see snippets from those black and white hand drawn cutscenes, radio static screams when ships are taken over and the almost anguished gutteral growl that the beast voice makes when it speaks (especially when it's trying to impersonate formerly friendly ships).
It ends up being the case that your imagination comes up with something so much worse than any graphical effects from 2000 could show.
It's amazing how much atmosphere could be made with so little to work with compared to any other genre.
I never even heard of this series till his videos. Was never too close with RTS or PC games for that matter when this series was coming out. My god this one horrifying for just how little you see. Talk about amazing audio direction for this game, feels like they did something close to what System Shock 2 did, and it worked in it's favor.
Unfortunately, Cataclysm didn't and can't get the Remaster treatment since the source code was lost, likely back when Barking Dog was absorbed by Rockstar.
From a 2015 interview during the lead-up to the Remastered release.
Sure, it could be rebuilt from the ground up, but at this point it'd nearly be the same amount of effort as making a HW3 which is probably easier to sell. Which is why that's what's happening.
In case anyone didn't see it, Mandalore pinned a comment on the video about a discount for GOG. It's a little over 2 dollars for all 3 games with his discount code
Cataclysm is still my favorite of the series. It just improved on the first in so many ways, especially in QOL improvements, while also introducing a lot of new and interesting mechanics. In contrast, going from it to HW2 felt like a step back in some ways, like they completely forgot about the advances they made.
I replayed this recently and this game was just amazing as I remembered. The atmosphere is just amazing as he says here. Also amazing how "Babylon 5" that speech to the Bentusi feels lol.
His comments in the ending are spot on though. Sometimes a lot of dedication to tradition end up making something feel less like the original and not more. Reminds me a lot of the disney Star Wars where revisiting the same things over and over again out of nostalgia can cheapen the experience a lot instead of improving it.
I love his videos. I’m addicted to Total war Warhammer because of his videos. I feel my tastes align greatly with his and most of the things he recommends I can go back and play. His type of humor also appeals to me.
Still own the disc for this game, and the manual.
Anazing game with amazing voice acting. As he points out in the video, the captain giving the Bentusi the buisness is fucking epic.
I'm glad he played the scene where the engineer is trying to explain the beast, and you hear the fear in his voice. Just so epic.
I'm sure some dedicated modders will take a crack at this.
New Mandy Homeworld video? Evening will be great