Starcraft 2

[Melbosa]

So I've been playing through this game over the last couple of weeks, and thought I would share with you my experiences.  First I'll start by saying the game is true to the original, so much so that even the buildings and units are almost identical, only with updated graphics and balancing.



The Good

Story
True to Blizzard fashion, the stories writing and cinematics are of fantastic quality. So much so that you want to just play one more mission to see what the next one is.  Blizzard should seriously consider making a CGI movie, as they have the talent.

Game Play
Not much changes here from the classic RTS stuff.  But why break a good thing.  The controls are easy to pick up if you have played an RTS before.  Standard keyboard shortcuts and mouse clicks.  And if you haven't play many or any RTSs, there are those handy tutorials and in game help.  Overall an easy interface and good play.

Graphics
As you would expect, as I said before, great cinematics, and the actual game play graphics are well done as well.  And it doesn't push your video card over the edge in large battles either.

Achievement System
Like most Steam games, this game has its own achievement system, unlocking non-gameplay stuff and scoring you as you go.  Gives you little "side" things to try and complete, allowing you to have more replay out of the game

Easter Eggs
Good old Blizzard Easter Eggs keep you laughing with unit retorts and funny blurps.

Collectors Edition
Finally a Collector's Edition that gives you meat with your purchase.  I know not everyone would find this a "Good" as it does cost $40 more than the $60 regular game price, but this Collector's Edition gives you a lot of goodies:

• Game Media
• DVD - How it was made
• Game Soundtrack
• 2GB Custom USB Stick
• Starcraft 1 and Brood Wars Expansion -  on USB stick
• Concept Art Book
• World of Warcraft Pet
• Comic Issue 0
• 2 Free Trials, Starcraft 2
• 2 Free Trials, World of Warcraft

A link to show above: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/07/exploring-the-starcraft-2-collectors-edition-in-pictures.ars



The Bad
Multi-player vs Single Player
So you would think that everything you have learned in the Single Player campaign would get you ready for the Multi-player experience?  Well MP is different in may ways.  Missing units, research trees that are givens in SP, and functionality changes that you took for granted in SP (like your SCV - construction unit - which in SP auto repairs units and structures near it, requires you to actually tell it to repair things manually in MP).  Now speculation abound on why the differences.  Some are changed because the work in the story but can't in MP, or some are for balancing, or some might come in future DLC/Episodic/Expansion releases.  No one seems to know, but it does require you to practice MP before jumping out to the real world.

Single Player - Single Campaign, mostly Human
So not that the SP is crappy, but there are some things missing.  First of all there is only one Campaign in Starcraft 2.  In the original Starcraft and expansion Brood Wars, there were 3, one per each race.  This one there is the Human Campaign, with some Protoss missions thrown in.  But there is not a single Zerg mission in the bunch, as they seem to be the main enemy you fight.  While you may feel competent to play the Humans in any situation after the Campaign (although see the Multi-player above), you would need a lot more practice with the Protoss and definitely Zerg based on the SP experience.



Overall
8.5/10
While it may have some short comings, I still really enjoyed it.  I plan on playing through again, now that I have finished it, as there is hidden content I missed the first time through, plus want to try it at a harder difficulty.  I will also be trying it next week at a yearly LAN I attend, so I'll see how well that goes.  So if you are an RTS fan, and like the Sci-Fi stuff, I would recommend this game for sure!!!!



Anyone else tried it?