The main character, Rachel S'jek (random apostrophes rarely imply good sci-fi, but Deserts of Kharak overcomes them) departs aboard the carrier Kapisi on a do-or-die mission to recover a powerful artifact from the heart of the desert. As it opens, your civilization is clinging to life on a vast desert planet, besieged by technologically advanced religious fanatics, the Gaalsien, who make their home in the desert wastes. It finds in the desert the same stark beauty that Homeworld found in the darkness of space, and uses it as the setting for an approachable yet satisfying real-time strategy game.ĭeserts of Kharak takes place long before the events of the original Homeworld, but never feels overshadowed by what's to come. It creates a setting and story that is at once distinct from the earlier games, yet also enriched and informed by them. But Deserts of Kharak does more than mine the iconography of a strategy classic for nostalgia.
