Entering and exiting hyperspace emits a sustained, pulsing buzz that becomes the series' call to adventure. Individual sound effects take on similar meaning. The Turanic battle music remains a highlight: Rhythmic drums and nasal reeds pierce through droning electronic tones, impressing upon you the otherworldly nature of your newfound foes-quite a feat given a setting that is, by nature, already otherworldly. The game's true sonic successes were the work of composer Paul Ruskay and an audio team that created a wondrous sound that far surpasses the science fiction New Age cliches that occasionally plague games set in space. The song by Yes that closed the original Homeworld is gone, though I hardly miss it. This sense of mystery is paramount to Homeworld's success. It is a place to live, but it is not a home. At least, that's true of the original's mothership Homeworld 2's vast vessel fills in architectural spaces left open in the original, and looks more structurally sound and elegant, prizing practicality over mystery. It creates a striking parabolic silhouette against the starry background, and its center pylon, which is covered with individual light sources, looks like it must house a vast network of engineers and operators. The mothership-your base of operations in any given Homeworld mission or skirmish-is a particular wonder. You can still play those original versions in this remastered collection, though the vibrancy of the newly textured ships and sumptuous backgrounds are an inescapable lure. Like many games set in space, Homeworld and Homeworld 2 remain attractive even through a modern lens, though directly comparing them to their remastered versions reveal their ages. The Homeworld games-and the original in particular-are not just classics in our mind, but classics in practice, standing tall beside any strategy game that dares draw comparisons by being set deep in the cosmos. Returning to this universe in Homeworld Remastered Collection illustrates the series' timelessness. Yet Homeworld refuses to be outdone, beautifully capturing the loneliness of the black void, and then disturbing its eerie allure with the light trails of starfighters engaged in conflict. Outer space has been famously referred to as the final frontier, but it's a well-worn setting in video games at this stage-even in real-time strategy games.
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