Gateway II: Homeworld

aka: Gateway 2: Homeworld
Moby ID: 318
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Description official descriptions

A huge, strangely shaped object was spotted just outside the orbit of Pluto. Scientists dub this object "The Artifact", assuming it to be a spaceship possibly connected to the mysterious alien race, the Heechee, who have disappeared without a trace, leaving only ships with cryptic destinations behind. Meanwhile, a terrorist sect is planning to use The Artifact to lure in the Assassins, an alien community bent on destroying other species. Eventually, a sole explorer reaches the enigmatic ship, only to discover traces of former Gateway prospectors . This leads him to believe that something might be malfunctioning at the very core of the Heechee civilization.

Gateway II: Homeworld is a sequel to Gateway. It is the last adventure game by Legend Entertainment to use text-based input, after Companions of Xanth introduced a purely graphical engine. Its interface is identical to that of Eric the Unready: while most commands can be either typed in or selected from a list combining verbs and available objects, conversations with characters are handled by choosing pre-set topics and displayed on separate screens. The game also features some animated cutscenes.

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Credits (DOS version)

19 People · View all

Producer
Based on Hugo and Nebula award-winning Heechee Saga by
Design and Implementation of Part I: Escape
Design and Implementation of Part II: The Artifact
Design and Implementation of Part III: Rescue
Design and Implementation of Part IV: Homeworld
Additional Design
Computer Illustration
Special Cinematic Effects and Animation
Music Composition
AdLib Transcription
System Architecture
System Programming
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 81% (based on 10 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 26 ratings with 5 reviews)

A wonderful successor to Gateway 1.

The Good
Gateway 2: Homeworld is made in the same style as the Gateway 1, with a similarly involving storyline and acute attention to detail. All of the puzzles are clever and make sense in their context, and you never get "stuck" -- as long as you pay attention to the important conversations and remember to TAKE everything you come across, you'll always have access to everything you need to solve a particular puzzle, even if it isn't immediately apparent how to do so.

The Bad
The game isn't quite as impressive as its predecessor: it has none of the truly mindblowing puzzles of the first one, and the storyline is completely linear. At times the dialogue options are obnoxious or tongue-in-cheek, as if the designers felt they needed to make up for an uninteresting dialogue script. The graphics are primitive, but that isn't important, and the music didn't work on my machine, but I take it that's a plus :).

The Bottom Line
A very well-made and interesting adventure game. While you don't need to have read the Gateway books to play it, you should definitely play Gateway 1 first; it also helps to have a general background in science fiction, and being familiar with common science-fiction cliche's will help with some of the puzzles. If you're not a sci-fi buff you might not appreciate this game, but if you are it is a jewel... I thought the story was better than some of the Gateway books.

DOS · by rananite (2) · 2003

Puzzles preferred to plot in this sequel

The Good
Atmospheric, thought provoking sci-fi adventure. Beautifully designed, carefully constructed, and hard to fault. And, as you travel across the universe, you get to meet the alien race (the Heechee) that are introduced in the first Gateway adventure.

The Bad
However when you compare it to the original Gateway it's not as strong. (But then the original Gateway is one of the all-time great adventure games.) I think its because it's longer. This means although you get more game for your money, and more puzzles and gameplay, the plot tends to ramble in places, and the dialogue is sometimes a bit long and irrelevant.



The Bottom Line
You'll have trouble tracking down the first Gateway. I think there were more Gateway 2 published. Certainly they come up on e-bay regularly, and it's a game thats definitely worth playing.

DOS · by jossiejojo (37) · 2005

This game proves it is possible to repeat succsess, even in the gaming world!

The Good
As the first game; this sequel also has a superior atmosphere, good story (which seems to be a bit inspired by several other sci-fi novels such as A.C. Clarke's Rama - which is good), excellent artworks, and also being much longer then the original game.

The plot:

A huge alien starship enters the outskirths of the Sol-system, howering just outside the orbit of Pluto - as if its waiting for something.. or someone...

You, continuing your role from the original game, are contacted by the Earth's government, to brief the ambassador that are to pilot a nuclear-driven scoutship to rendezvous with this huge craft. However, an obscure religious sect calling themselves "The Pheonix" has put a prize on your head, and further yet, they plan to take control of the scoutship to make their own rendezvous with the artifact - beliving it to be of Assasin origin (the alien species called "The Assasins" where the main enemy in the original game), in an attempt to allert that species as to mankinds existance - and in effects threatening all life on planet Earth...

So starts a new and amazing journey, filled with unexpected plot-twists, hard puzzles, sci-fi ideas an dreams, and mind-boggling concepts.

The Bad
Having replayed the game 5 times, I've yet to find anything bad in it...

The Bottom Line
Yup, it really is possible to not only repeat succsess, but even to make the successor bether then the original game!

As I have said before: today's gaming companies clearly have a lot to learn from these classics.

DOS · by Stargazer (99) · 2003

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

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Related Sites +

  • Fan Page
    information about Gateway 2 - covers, credits, walkthroughs and a transcription of the handbook that was included with the game

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  • MobyGames ID: 318
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by RmM.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, formercontrib.

Game added October 22, 1999. Last modified January 19, 2024.