StarCraft II: The Wings of Liberty Review

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Written by Troy Benedict Tuesday, 05 October 2010 19:04

The original StarCraft was released 12 years ago, and there is undoubtedly a lot of excitement in the PC gaming community now that StarCraft II has finally hit retail and digital store shelves.

During that time, the real-time strategy genre has changed and evolved immensely. Can StarCraft II appease the old-school purists, and still keep it fresh by introducing new elements to keep today's gamer interested?

 

The Good:

  • If you've played StarCraft, you'll feel right at home.
  • Compelling story and characters, and well-done cinematics.
  • Varied mission goals. More to do than just base-building.

The Bad:

  • Micromanaging can still feel overwhelming.
  • There will always be a better online player than you.
  • Might not run, or look good, on older computers.

In short, yes. There is something for just about everybody, but to fully enjoy StarCraft II, you need to put in the time. Like any good real-time strategy game, you've got to understand and master the basics, or you might as well hang up your big metal suits and call it a day.

Let's begin with the visuals. StarCraft II is breathtakingly beautiful--that's if your computer has enough horsepower. The environments are extremely detailed and have personality. No two areas are alike.

The game has two types of cinematics: prerendered and 3D-engine pre/post-mission. Blizzard has done a great job with the details for both, with some really nice character models and very well-done lip-syncing.

StarCraft II mimics its predecessor in almost every way. While the visuals have taken a huge leap forward, the gameplay mechanics themselves are still rooted in 1998-- and that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you've played the original StarCraft, then you'll have no problem understanding the concepts and gameplay mechanics of the sequel.

StarCraft_II_Zerg (22K)While the user interface is much more helpful and user-friendly, there is still a lot of micromanaging to successfully complete a mission. If you find yourself focusing too much on exploring the level, and not building up your forces back at the base, you may find yourself at the mercy of a surprise Zerg rush. In most instances, learning the game's hotkeys, to quickly access units and build structures, helps immensely!

There are some new features thrown in to add a little variety to the gameplay. At a certain point, early in the campaign, you're given access to rewards to upgrade your units and base structures.

Also new to the series are the branching mission paths that you may choose to take, rather than following a single specific path of missions from beginning to end.

Xbox and PlayStation gamers are familiar with the concept of in-game achievements/trophies, and StarCraft II has those as well. Do well during a mission by completing them quickly or without significant loss and you'll unlock a few achievements.

Initially, there was a lot of backlash when Blizzard announced that even Local Area Network gaming would require an Internet connection with access to Battle.Net, Blizzard's multiplayer hub world. This is still very true. A connection to Battle.Net is also required to unlock campaign achievements and play through the single-player game properly. It is possible to play offline, in either skirmishes against the computer-controlled A.I. or through the campaign, as a guest account, but what is the fun in that?

If you're planning on taking the battle online, I'd recommend trying out the campaign first, to familiarize yourself with the new gameplay mechanics. However, a lot of people like to learn as they go. Battle.Net put together a really nice guide for beginners, with some really cool Flash animated character pages. Check out at Battle.Net's StarCraft II: Beginner's Guide if you're in need of some assistance.

StarCraft II: The Wings of Liberty is an amazing masterwork that is both faithful to the original game, and introduces some new ideas to keep the experience fresh and enjoyable. This is supposedly the first of a trilogy, and here's to hoping that we all won't have to wait more than another year or two to find out what happens next in StarCraft II--that is, if you actually play StarCraft II for the story.

 

Comments  

 
# Kenny007 2011-01-31 11:42
I wasn't terribly impressed with the title. Seemed like nothing more than some gloss that took 12 years to apply to a dated game. That and the fact that they ignored so many innovations in the RTS realm over the last decade made SC2 a 'meh' title for me.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I was never terribly impressed with the original either.

I do like how well balanced the 3 races are, and the leaderboard setup is pretty promising.
 

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