After Relic's acquisition by publisher THQ in 2004, fans of the Homeworld series were left with little - if any - hope of ever seeing a true Homeworld 3 sequel, as Sierra / Vivendi Games now own the rights to the Homeworld universe. But that doesn't mean that the space strategy genre is doomed for all eternity. Far from it! Revealed at this year's E3 2006, Genesis Rising: The Universal Crusade already looks like a very promising addition to the genre, and this new batch of screenshots released by DreamCatcher should give you a hint or two about the game's visuals - which are based on a "revolutionary 3D engine that allows real-time morphing of gigantic spaceships".

Genesis Rising is predictably set in a distant future, when the human race has come to brutally dominate the Universe, by the use of "organids" - genetically engineered, organic ships that can adapt themselves to the strategies employed by the enemy. There is but one zone of space that is yet to be conquered (or even fully understood), and that is the so called Universal Heart, said to be the home of an enigmatic entity, from which all life and matter originated. Are you ready to meet your creator? Because, most obviously, that's where the powers that be in Genesis Rising will be sending you and your fleet.

It sounds cool enough, but with a mix of strategy, RPG, adventure, diplomacy, trade and arcade-like gameplay with intense close-up combat, it almost feels like things are bound to go wrong in some way or another. Nevertheless, developer Metamorf Studios is doing its best at keeping things coherent, and hopefully they'll bring us us one hell of a space game in November 2006.

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)