StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Debut Trailer Makes Bugs Sexy Again

[Earnest Cavalli]

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Debut Trailer Makes Bugs Sexy Again

Blizzard Entertainment has finally unveiled the official debut trailer for the second part of its StarCraft II trilogy, the Zerg-centric Heart of the Swarm.

This trailer marks the culmination of a recent stream of media on the new game, which includes a teaser trailer dropped a few days ago [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110464-StarCraft-II-Heart-of-the-Swarm-Teaser-Trailer-Leaked] and a batch of fresh screenshots straight from the title.

[video=3337]

It would take thousands of words to give a proper backstory for this trailer (no hyperbole [http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/StarCraft_storyline]), but in case you're a StarCraft naif, I'll attempt to offer something of a primer.

That pretty girl in the skin-tight lycra/spandex/kevlar/magic space clothes featured heavily throughout the trailer is Kerrigan. There was a time when she would have been the space marines' busty female analogue of Solid Snake, but during the events of the original StarCraft she was captured by the Alien [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AQO3QA/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00000ILDD&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1CRCF9WCVMXC11G8XVFG]-esque Zerg and turned into something of a Zerg/Lady hybrid.

Apparently this process gave her an intense desire to genocide mammal-kind (along with rad chitinous dreadlocks), and at the time of Heart of the Swarm, she serves as the half-breed warhawk leader of the bugs.

Obviously her bloodlust is a problem for the humans, and the techno-shamanistic Protoss see her as an anathema to the natural order that must be purged lest her creepy crawly army turn the entire universe into a live-action Giger painting.

Aside from that, the trailer is notable for giving us a relatively good look at the Zerg unit upgrade screens. They seem pretty analogous to the ones the human forces used in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, only with the requisite insectoid aesthetics.

As with all Blizzard games, the official company line is that StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm will be done when it's done.

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[LegoDudeGuy]

Do want. NOW.

OT: Looks good so far, those Zerg characters though look genuinely creepy.

Rage begins in 3, 2...

 

[SonofSeth]

Looking forward to the Zerg take on the single player campaign. Loved the hero mechanic in Warcraft 3 and I'm itching for some Kerrigan on Terran and Protoss violence. Unit mutations look awesome and fun and here's hoping for more specialist missions without needing to build a base and maintain it.

For the Swarm!

 

[Gxas]

Honestly? A bit upset at the use of Kerrigan as a hero unit. They were the reason I hated Warcraft 3. I'd rather just have more RTS style play. Still excited though!

 

[Wierdguy]

Honestly? A bit upset at the use of Kerrigan as a hero unit. They were the reason I hated Warcraft 3. I'd rather just have more RTS style play. Still excited though!

The heroes is what made WC3 special - without them it would just be anotehr RTS game with a cool story.

OT - Trailer looks awesome! Cant wait.

 

[Moffman]

Honestly? A bit upset at the use of Kerrigan as a hero unit. They were the reason I hated Warcraft 3. I'd rather just have more RTS style play. Still excited though!

They might do what they did last time, occasionally having her as a hero unit like with Jim, Tychus and Zeratul in the first.

But this game is about Kerrigan amassing her power from what I know, so you could be right.

(I'm personally happy either way )

 

[Gxas]

without them it would just be anotehr RTS game with a cool story.

Which is exactly what makes an RTS. Not hero units. WC3 was ruined, in my mind, by the overuse of hero units.

 

[rsvp42]

Genocide is a verb now?

OT: looks awesome. I'm interested to see how Kerrigan falls back in with the Zerg.

 

[Slim-Shot]

Damn thats a lot of Tyranids...

 

[Gxas]

Honestly? A bit upset at the use of Kerrigan as a hero unit. They were the reason I hated Warcraft 3. I'd rather just have more RTS style play. Still excited though!

Don't worry, heroes in SC2 are -extremely- simplistic, which is why I think they also work incredibly awkwardly compared to War3. Either way, the focus won't be on farming creeps and managing items, you can be sure of that.

Yeah, but look at the trailer again. Directly upgrading Kerrigan? I don't like it. Not one bit.

 

[MetalGenocide]

Hello.
Ahhh... there's the zerg rush I ordered.

Juzz points:
Leaping lings'.
Sputterlings.
Swarmling upg.

I wonder what Gourgeling and Raptor do.

Kerrigan re-corrupted confirmed.

 

[shintakie10]

Me likey. Hopefully it'll finally silence all the whiners who still use the idiotic argument that Blizzard is chargin everyone 3 times for the same game.

 

[sunburst]

This is all very nice and everything but I'm still waiting for Blizzard to tell me about the new multiplayer units, maps and balance tweaks already. We'll probably have to wait til BlizzCon to learn anything substantial on that front though. They always make us wait. Crafty jerks.

Me likey. Hopefully it'll finally silence all the whiners who still use the idiotic argument that Blizzard is chargin everyone 3 times for the same game.

The only thing that could silence that argument is a price tag. It all depends on how much ActiBlizz thinks expansion packs are worth.

 

[Gxas]

snip

Well, they did say the expansion is going to have RPG elements... But it's still just the single-player. The single-player in the last one didn't call for much strategy at all. If multi-player had heroes introduced, that's when you should start getting worried. As it is, this is just a way to spice up the gameplay a little, keep it from the monotone melee matches.

But thats what I enjoyed about the first game. Massive RTS battles with a hero unit thrown in that barely does anything different than other units. Basically a named zealot/zergling/marine. Bah... Whatever. It's not like I won't still preorder the collectors edition.

 

[JediMB]

during the events of the original StarCraft she was captured by the Alien [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AQO3QA/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00000ILDD&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1CRCF9WCVMXC11G8XVFG]-esque Zerg and turned into a something of a Zerg/Lady hybrid.

Apparently this process gave her an intense desire to genocide mammal-kind

Yes. The fact that her human allies abandoned her on a Zerg-infested planet had nothing to do with her hatred.

(Well, that and a general hunger for power that manifested.)

 

[fix-the-spade]

Nevermind Kerrigan and the Zerg, what's going on with that Xel-Naga looking creature? Interesting to see how Kerrigan takes to being separated from the Zerg in Wing of Liberty, so far the evidence says... not well.

Damn thats a lot of Tyranids...

Surely you mean a lot of Gieger-Heinlein-esque bugs.

 

[ThePirateMan]

Warhammer rip-off!
Gah, they should have had it all in one game! Greedy corporate tards!
Blizzard should go die, they're all Koticky now!
This game sucks! It should be more like Company of Heroes and Men of War!

There, all the whine covered.

OP: Hell, it's about time! I can't wait to kick some ass with my favourite race on Starcraft.