YMMV / Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

• Awesome Music: Paul Ruskay returns to Homeworld with Middle-East-influenced scores. The album is available as a Steam DLC, which serves as a backdrop for expedition campaign in vast deserts pretty well.
• Broken Base: On the one hand, fans of the original space opera haven't been happy that the series has jumped its gameplay style from 3D tactical space RTS to something more similar to the Command & Conquer series, while on the other hand there are those fans who are pleased to see development into the origins of the Kushan before their grand journey across the galaxy. The extensive retcons needed to make the plot work aren't universally popular either.
• Demonic Spider: Gaalsien is this both in-universe and in actual gameplay.
  • While outlawed by the Coalition at large, they managed to excel in the desert and created a self-sufficient armies that constantly threaten all other kiithid for years.
  • In game, Gaalsien usage of Production Cruisers to supply units and hit you from multiple fronts at once can be very dangerous in right hands. Most of their units are fast-moving. Also, their version of Carrier that hovers can take advantage of sand dune that Coalition's Sakala-class cannot go to.
• Fan Nickname: Murdercarrier or Assaultcarrier, when a fully-upgraded Carrier diverts all power to weapons/sensors and starts actively clobbering any crafts in sight.
• Game-Breaker: Cruisers in singleplayer. Once you have a good mix of them rolling, all you have to worry about are Gaalsien EMP projectile and carrier's missile attacks. The AI's tendency in early levels to deploy them singly with minimal support means you'll be able to steal them in large numbers. Battlecruiser in particular can soak a lot of damage and kill any unfortunate ground units nearby while being decent at Anti-Air. They're just as deadly in multiplayer, but naturally a lot harder to successfully research, build and keeping them alive.
• Good Bad Bugs: On the game's launch, there are reports of Carrier that manages to balance itself halfway off a cliff or worse, launches itself upward for several meters before landing on some poor LAVs...
  • During the ending cutscene for some unknown reasons there i— GAALSIEN AIR UNITS INBOUND.
  • Vehicles popping wheelie are rather common during the game's development. They worked properly in the release version however.
• Metagame: The metagame evolved quickly in the first few weeks. Examples include Baserunner Turret Expand, Cruiser Rush, Rails Spam or Skimmer Spam, and so on. Of note is Gaalsien dual Production Cruiser, a very cheesy tactic which can end games in just a few minutes if you're sleeping... Due to how researches are done inside the Carrier itself, care must be taken in reading opponent's units to guess his/her current tech and counter properly.
• Tainted by the Preview: The game itself is generally well-received. However many reviewers bashed its multiplayer due to troubled matchmaking system and lack of observer/replay feature.
• Tear Jerker: When the final mission to claim the Khar-Toba has come to a close, we get a look at the kiith sigils on the ruins of the great ship that carried the Hiigarans to Kharak. Along the wall are S'jet, Somtaaw, Naabal, Soban, Paktu...Gaalsien. When all is said and done, the Gaalsien were still Hiigaran. Their goal the entire time was to get the Northern Coalition kiithid to abandon space exploration, for fear it would draw the wrath of Sajuuk and burn Kharak. Is it possible they remembered something the other kiith didn't? Some memory of the treaty that came with their exile, warped by time into a religious tenet that if they left Kharak, the Taiidan would punish them?
  • When you destroy his flagship, the K'Had Sajuuk actually sounds like he's beginning to weep, not just because his entire Kiith is about to be destroyed, but he's utterly convinced that all of Kharak will follow in his wake. And he's right..
  • Jacob's death. One half of the reasons Rachel partake in such dangerous expedition was all for naught. The best she gets is to close the body bag of her late brother. Not even a parting word.
• Tough Act to Follow: The game is a prequel to a well-beloved franchise following a well-received remastered collection of the first two games. This has lead to some people negatively comparing the game to the previous ones.