A free demo for Homeworld 3 is available until February 15th

Blackbird Interactive has just released a demo for Homeworld 3, the long-awaited third (and perhaps final?) installment in the legendary RTS series. The demo is available until February 15th steam and that Epic Games Storehighlights the game’s roguelike “War Games” mode, which allows you and your friends to play increasingly difficult levels with randomly selected targets and enemies.

A screenshot from Homeworld 3's wargame mode, showing three carriers playing cooperatively. — Progress made in the War Games demo will carry over to the full game on March 8th.

I spent several hours with the demo, which provides a small vertical slice of what we can expect when the game launches on March 8th. The demo contains an abbreviated version of the War Games mode with only three stages, but includes the full progression system that will be present in the retail version of Homeworld 3

, which allows you to unlock new ships and cosmetics. As an added bonus, any progress players make during the demo will carry over to the retail version of the game.

The demo serves as an excellent showcase Homeworld 3The game’s technical and gameplay improvements, but a number of frustrating issues, have somewhat shaken my confidence in the Blackbird studio’s ability to deliver a sequel to a beloved franchise tied to expectations spanning more than two decades.

A screenshot of the artifact selection screen in Homeworld 3's Wargame mode — Each run in War Games features random objectives and bonuses to help you customize your fleet.

While the demo may be representative of an older version of the game, I encountered issues such as particularly awkward camera controls and questionable pathfinding. An important addition in Homeworld 3 is terrain in space designed to give your units a tactical advantage. However, this feature often resulted in my units having difficulty finding the most direct route to an objective. The in-game camera also struggles to provide the best view, often cutting into the terrain and obscuring units. This problem is made worse by the painfully slow controls, which rotate and zoom at a glacial pace even with increased sensitivity. It’s possible that Blackbird Interactive has already addressed these concerns, but seeing them in the demo made me wonder what kind of game we should expect in about four weeks.

A screenshot from Homeworld 3 — The terrain often resulted in my units having difficulty finding a path to their objectives

Despite its problems, I still enjoyed it Homeworld 3 Take a demo and respect the immense effort that Blackbird Interactive puts into this title. If you want to try the game for yourself, be sure to check out the demo before it releases on February 15th.