Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak isn't just a great game, it's a gorgeous one to boot. Those carriers, those tanks ... but the best unit of all is probably your Baserunner, which has been recreated here perfectly by a fan.

Indie games development is more competitive than ever, but the community hasn't lost its love of sharing and helping out. Blackbird Interactive, the studio behind Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, is continuing the trend, promising to share some of its internal technology with other developers.

When Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak finally became available to press late last month, I wasn't the only one in the office who immediately perked up. I asked around, and it turned out that Gizmodo editor Campbell Simpson was just as keen for some strategy time as I was.

So we acquired two codes and proceed to play. After a few weeks, we reconvened to combine our thoughts on Blackbird's take on the Homeworld formula -- and it started with perhaps some of the highest praise I've heard in the office.

In 2007, Rob Cunningham (of Homeworld fame) formed a brand new studio called Blackbird Interactive. By 2009, work had begun on an ambitious new strategy game strongly inspired by Homeworld's art design and setting. In 2013, everyone working there was laid off.

Most Fine Art posts on Kotaku tend to show stuff like environment art and character design because they're the best fit for a website. Sadly, this often ignores a lot of the great work done in other areas of games development that are just as important in determining how pretty a video game looks.

I liked a lot of things about Homeworld: Deserts Of Kharak, but the thing I liked most was just how awesome the game's unit design (and overall aesthetic) was.

"It's Homeworld, but with sand" was my first thought when I saw Deserts of Kharak, a brand new prequel set in the same universe as Relic's classic space strategy games. After actually playing it, that's...about the gist of it. Homeworld, but with sand.

It was always going to be interesting to see how heavily Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak borrowed from the original Homeworld games, considering the developers had chosen to isolate the game to the confines of a planet rather than the surroundings of space. Fortunately, Blackbird Interactive has fixed what might be one of the biggest hurdles for new players.

IGN has a video preview of the new Homeworld game, with developer commentary from Blackbird CEO Rob Cunningham and lead designer Rory McGuire. We haven't seen nearly enough of the game thus far, considering it's meant to be released on January 20th, but it's looking very, very Homeworld.