The Original StarCraft and Brood War Are Now Available For Free

[Steven Bogos]

The Original StarCraft and Brood War Are Now Available For Free

In preparation for StarCraft Remastered [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/169901-Blizzard-Confirms-StarCraft-Remaster-Original-Game-and-Brood-War-Free#&gid=gallery_7100&pid=1], the original version of the game is now free for everyone.

Are you an old school StarCraft fan who lost your original disks for the game? How about a newbie to the series wondering what all the fuss about the original game is about? Well, I've got some good news for you: now you can play the original StarCraft and the Brood War expansion absolutely free! No strings attached.

The change in price is in preparation for the game's upcoming HD remaster [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/169901-Blizzard-Confirms-StarCraft-Remaster-Original-Game-and-Brood-War-Free#&gid=gallery_7100&pid=1], which will have a price tag, but we're not sure exactly how much it will be. Blizzard has confirmed that those who pay for the upgrade will still be able to play with those using the free, classic version of the game.

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The free version of the game can be downloaded here [https://battle.net/download/getInstallerForGame?os=WIN&version=LIVE&gameProgram=STARCRAFT]. As well as being made free, a recent patch to the game has made a host of improvements concerning online, and Windows 7,8 and 10 compatibility.


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[Riddle78]

Brb; Reinstalling childhood.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Brb; Reinstalling childhood.

Error. Childhood has stopped responding. End now or cancel?

 

[Alfredo Jones]

Ah yes, StarCraft. The first game I beat only because I looked up the cheat codes. Now I know what I'll spend the next two days I have off from work on.

power overwhelming

 

[ccggenius12]

Wow Blizzard, way to make me feel worse about my Wings of Liberty collector's edition...

 

[Luthor55555]

As the only computer I have now is a mac I really appreciate that they have updated it so it can run on Mac OS 10! I was so mad when they started dropping support of their games for mac. That's why they were one of my favorite developers. and now they are back at it! thanks guys

 

[Jadak]

Wow Blizzard, way to make me feel worse about my Wings of Liberty collector's edition...

A seven year old game that included a 19 year old freebie? Get over it?

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

Ah yes, StarCraft. The first game I beat only because I looked up the cheat codes. Now I know what I'll spend the next two days I have off from work on.

power overwhelming

I was able to beat vanilla StarCraft without cheat codes (except the fog of war one), but I could only get through half of Brood War before I couldn't beat it without codes. Seriously, screw that level with all the ghosts locking my shit down and then nuking the crap out of me.

 

[TheScorpion]

Wait, It wasn't already?

I've had my free copy from a friend since High School. I think he figured out how to do that same thing with Warcraft 3. Then again, It could also be some form of piracy so OK.

 

[RJ 17]

Ah yes, StarCraft. The first game I beat only because I looked up the cheat codes. Now I know what I'll spend the next two days I have off from work on.

power overwhelming

I was able to beat vanilla StarCraft without cheat codes (except the fog of war one), but I could only get through half of Brood War before I couldn't beat it without codes. Seriously, screw that level with all the ghosts locking my shit down and then nuking the crap out of me.

That's why you take out the nuclear silos instead of the physics labs in the mission before that. Then all you have to worry about is a few battle cruisers coming in with every wave, and they're by far much easier to deal with than trying to spot out where you're getting nuked and killing the ghost.

I didn't like using the cheats, defeated the entire purpose for me. The only missions I ever had trouble with were the last Protoss mission from BW (I hate "last stand" type missions) and the last Zerg mission, also from BW (gotta love being completely surrounded by two Terrans and a Protoss). Still, the fun for me always came from the challenge.

 

[Hawki]

Ah, cheats. The lifeblood of SC1.

I'll be honest, first time I played SC1...well, the N64 version aside...I played through using cheats, but I went back and attempted the game without cheats not long prior to SC2 coming out. I made it without cheats to "The Drawing of the Web" (the Shakuras mission from the zerg Brood War campaign), at which point I just couldn't make it any further.

 

[Tanis]

That's...nice I guess?

I still have my big boxes from back in the day.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Welp, guess I'll construct additional pylons then.

 

[Hawki]

Welp, guess I'll construct additional pylons then.

But only if you have enough minerals.

 

[mad825]

Ah yes, StarCraft. The first game I beat only because I looked up the cheat codes. Now I know what I'll spend the next two days I have off from work on.

power overwhelming

Nah, just show me the money.

 

[Xerosch]

I'm a bit confused. On the one hand 'Starcraft' still is a mighty RTS game and getting it for free is a cool thing.

On the other I don't quite understnad the business decision by Blizzard so close to the Remaster. Do they think it will sell more if people get a low res taste or what?

 

[Bedinsis]

I'm a bit confused. On the one hand 'Starcraft' still is a mighty RTS game and getting it for free is a cool thing.

On the other I don't quite understnad the business decision by Blizzard so close to the Remaster. Do they think it will sell more if people get a low res taste or what?

It works as advertisement, both because outlets such as this one write about "Hey, you wanna play the highly praised game Starcraft? Now you can for free!", and because people actively playing the original are more likely to invest in the Remaster.

It also helps to populate the e-sport scene, since there will now be a whole lot of players coming onboard since there won't be a financial barrier to entry, and an active e-sport scene requires that there are people playing.

The only thing that would be financially negative in giving it away for free is if Starcraft is such a poor game that it would actually turn people away from the remaster(not likely, since it got the nickname "The national sport of South Korea" for a reason) or if it is so good that people won't bother with the remaster. And graphics sell, so i don't think that is a concern. And there are probably more people that are willing to invest in the remaster if they've tried the original than there are people that are willing to invest in the remaster without having played any Starcraft previously.

 

[pookie101]

ah starcraft. played it back in the day and it was the game i was most wrong about. i dismissed it as just another C&C clone that was running around at the time and gave it a year before people forgot about it.

its great that blizzard are giving away a part of gaming history like this

 

[CaitSeith]

Oh, cool! I never finished Brood War, so now there is a chance.

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

Ah yes, StarCraft. The first game I beat only because I looked up the cheat codes. Now I know what I'll spend the next two days I have off from work on.

power overwhelming

I was able to beat vanilla StarCraft without cheat codes (except the fog of war one), but I could only get through half of Brood War before I couldn't beat it without codes. Seriously, screw that level with all the ghosts locking my shit down and then nuking the crap out of me.

That's why you take out the nuclear silos instead of the physics labs in the mission before that. Then all you have to worry about is a few battle cruisers coming in with every wave, and they're by far much easier to deal with than trying to spot out where you're getting nuked and killing the ghost.

I didn't like using the cheats, defeated the entire purpose for me. The only missions I ever had trouble with were the last Protoss mission from BW (I hate "last stand" type missions) and the last Zerg mission, also from BW (gotta love being completely surrounded by two Terrans and a Protoss). Still, the fun for me always came from the challenge.

I remember the fact I had to make the choice, and I always went for the nuke silos. Were there still ghosts that could appear in the following mission, or maybe I was just getting my ass handed to me on the mission where you can choose which to take out. >.< Either way, it was something I could never get through and just cheated from then on out. I prefer to play games without any cheats (though Starcraft/WarCraft I always lift the fog of war), but I just couldn't get through without them. At least with WCIII and Frozen Throne, I got through the entire game with no cheats except for the last level...for the same reasons as the last BW Zerg mission.