Is This the Leaked Ending of the Next StarCraft 2?

[_Janny_]

If it's authentic, then I pretty much lost my faith in the ST story ever being good again. It's just too melodramatic lately, like some bad romance fanfiction, IMO.

 

[Apathetic Flamingo]

Activision claimed copyright... I can't see the video, but it's clear that it's truly IS the Starcraft 2 expansion's ending.

 

[DTWolfwood]

Booo missed it

 

[Andy Chalk]

Sorry guys, looks like ActiBlizz has done a bang-up job of killing this one, it's still available on various download sites but nothing we can link to here. If you missed it, you can still see it at Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5709838/ending-leaked-for-starcraft-iis-next-chapter], and before anyone asks I have no idea why it's okay for them to keep hosting it but every other site on the net gets slapped with a copyright takedown. That's internet, I guess.

 

[Delusibeta]

Sorry guys, looks like ActiBlizz has done a bang-up job of killing this one, it's still available on various download sites but nothing we can link to here. If you missed it, you can still see it at Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5709838/ending-leaked-for-starcraft-iis-next-chapter], and before anyone asks I have no idea why it's okay for them to keep hosting it but every other site on the net gets slapped with a copyright takedown. That's internet, I guess.

Still, it seems Blizzard has got really leaky, and considering ActiBlizz's response I'm going to assume it's genuine. And with that, I'm going to award them with a Corporate Achievement:

 

[SinisterGehe]

Now they just do "Valve trick", Aka recall all the content leaked from production table and start something different... Thanks leaker, expansion for SC2 just got delayed by 2 years...

 

[Warachia]

Thank Tassadar I love spoilers.

I didn't believe it.
Then I believed it.
And the last 20 seconds made me not believe it out of sheer absurdity. Still, Metzen's one of those VA's you can recognize quickly. It sounded very close.

I would explain why, but I'll get a suspension for spoilers. I know it. Quick, someone tell me how to do spoiler text.


This is ain't the endin'.

hit quote on me, and read the message, copy the tags if you must.

Spoiler

figured it out?

 

[Andy Chalk]

And we've got it back. Enjoy!

 

[Dectilon]

Pretty well done for a hobby project

its a leak from blizzard, if it was a hobby project it would be entirely polished instead of using concept art. It has all the placeholders and rough work for commercial purposes.

It just looks like it was made in the map-maker. The writing is on par with Sc2 though (in that it's terrible), so I guess it could be a concept sketch kind of thing.

 

[Slycne]

Hypothetically speaking, if it IS the design for the final scenes of Heart of the Swarm, WHY LEAK IT?!? *RAWWR*. How is this good for the public? Why would you want to see a shoddy, part-storyboard, incomplete hodgepodge version of what is supposed to be an awe-inspiring closing sequence to one of the most popular and revered games around? IMO, we're better off without.

I think "leak" generally implies a release not under your control, despite a few cases being suspect in the past.

Spoiler: My Thoughts on this(Spoilers for Starcraft 2)

I'm of the opinion that this is likely a very early draft and not what we'll see in the final ending. Kerrigan being back to fully the Queen of Blades really doesn't make sense from a narrative standpoint when you essentially spent the entirety of the first game working to change that. It would mean that your actions get wholly reset and ultimately meaningless if that's the case.

 

[Capt. Crankypants]

*snip*

I think "leak" generally implies a release not under your control, despite a few cases being suspect in the past.

No I get that it wouldn't be Blizzard leaking it =P , but why would anyone want to be the one to release this sort of information? Some disgruntled employee? Why would they want to spoil what could be part of an epic saga (debatable, but that's not what we're discussing here =P) by releasing a half-arse dodgy concept video?

 

[Worgen]

nice to know blizz is as original as ever >.>
such a silly ending

i see a LOT of people saying "bad ending" and i want to know
why is it bad? it doesnt seem like something i ever expected so its not unoriginal.

seriously, why are so many people saying it's a bad or silly ending?

honestly, i liked it

well the weird guy controling someone with a remote and being able to use it to kill our hero is overused as hell, its got a bad guy who likes to give speeches and waits to long to kill them, and its got a weird cuddling thing going on with the zerg for freedom, which is stupid, Im sure they will do something during the game (assuming that was really an early version of the final cinematic) were all the zerg are oppressed masses forced to fight for a cruel master when all they want to do is hug and make friends, they are the orcs from wow

 

[Kris015]

Must.... not... watch.... oh gawd

RESIST!! YOU MUST! Oh god, it's hard not watching.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

nice to know blizz is as original as ever >.>
such a silly ending

i see a LOT of people saying "bad ending" and i want to know
why is it bad? it doesnt seem like something i ever expected so its not unoriginal.

seriously, why are so many people saying it's a bad or silly ending?

honestly, i liked it

well the weird guy controling someone with a remote and being able to use it to kill our hero is overused as hell, its got a bad guy who likes to give speeches and waits to long to kill them, and its got a weird cuddling thing going on with the zerg for freedom, which is stupid, Im sure they will do something during the game (assuming that was really an early version of the final cinematic) were all the zerg are oppressed masses forced to fight for a cruel master when all they want to do is hug and make friends, they are the orcs from wow

still dont get why things being happy is what makes them bad
besides, you should read up on your starcraft lore if you want to make that assumption about the zerg, because that would retcon WAAAAY too much for it to work

At first I thought fake...then I watched for ten seconds more. Those were the real models with low polygons and low textures for animatics. I also recongnized Metzen's voice, artwork, and cheesy voice acting.

I remember being displeased at Wings of Liberty's ending.

Spoiler: It seemed like bad fanfiction

Thankfully, it is only 1/3rd of this story.

Because that was a super duper weak ending.

In Brood War Jim swore to kill Kerrigan despite his past feelings for her. After she betrayed him and murdered Fenix. At the end of Brood War, every other faction in the Galaxy united together to try to kill Kerrigan and she still kicked all their asses!

What happened here? She gets beat by the union of a poor ass militiant group and half the Dominion's fleet. These guys with their collective forces in their prime teamed with the Protoss, UED, Kel-Morian Combine, and Psi-Disruptor and still couldn't defeat her. Of course they didn't have their magical Xel'Naga MacGuffin at that time.

Sarah Kerrigan, the supreme leader of the Zerg Swarm - a being who controls trillions of beings simultaneously across the stars, who shrugs off direct nuclear explosions and regrows limbs in seconds is defeated by a magical MacGuffin.

Then Jim Raynor, knight in bulky armor comes to rescue Sarah Kerrigan, helpless-dainty-damsel-in distress.

And what the hell was Mengsk planning? I seriously don't get it. All the forces in the universe combined couldn't kill Kerrigan, and he expected some prison thug to be able to complete the job? Oh was it because he somehow knew Raynor could get close enough, and by putting him next to Raynor he could accomplish it? I don't know. It would have made more sense for Mengsk to have ordered him to kill Jim instead.

Back to the regular program, Jim and Sarah live happily ever after. Sarah who is now human is good again! Yay!

It feels like bad slash fiction. It is as if at the end of Star Trek: First Contact, Data turned the Borg Queen towards good, both turned human, and got married on the bridge of the Enterprise. It's so sugary lovey-dovey, I feel embarrassed. Maybe if I were still ten (That's when I played the original SC), I would've liked this ending.

(We're talking about the person who accidentally killed her mom when she was eight by making her head explode with a thought. We're talking about the Zerg supreme leader who can simultaneously control trillions of beings across worlds. She doesn't need a normal man to take a bullet and shoot someone for her!)

Many practitioners of the Starcraft cult flamed me endlessly. They told me "this is not the real ending, this is only one third of the story. Blizzard has been conceptualizing this since 1997, they wouldn't let us down." Unfortunately at 2/3 of the story Blizzard is repeating same mistakes.

Similarities:

-Sarah Kerrigan the baddest ***** in the universe, voted number one game villain of all time is depowered and transformed into the damsel in the distress.
-Boring handsome male lead has to save her.
-Cheesy one liners.
-Infested Kerrigan's opposition has to use stupid MacGuffin to stop her.
-Zerg retconned to a noble species.

can you do any better in writing the story? no really, i want to see you try to write this and see if you can do any better in a universe that was conceived and very meticulously crafted

you have to create your OWN universe with its OWN rules and races and whatnot. i wanna see if you can do any better

besides that, the zerg were NOT just retconned as a noble species. nowhere in the lore does it say they were ever bad, just slaves

 

[Worgen]

nice to know blizz is as original as ever >.>
such a silly ending

i see a LOT of people saying "bad ending" and i want to know
why is it bad? it doesnt seem like something i ever expected so its not unoriginal.

seriously, why are so many people saying it's a bad or silly ending?

honestly, i liked it

well the weird guy controling someone with a remote and being able to use it to kill our hero is overused as hell, its got a bad guy who likes to give speeches and waits to long to kill them, and its got a weird cuddling thing going on with the zerg for freedom, which is stupid, Im sure they will do something during the game (assuming that was really an early version of the final cinematic) were all the zerg are oppressed masses forced to fight for a cruel master when all they want to do is hug and make friends, they are the orcs from wow

still dont get why things being happy is what makes them bad
besides, you should read up on your starcraft lore if you want to make that assumption about the zerg, because that would retcon WAAAAY too much for it to work

At first I thought fake...then I watched for ten seconds more. Those were the real models with low polygons and low textures for animatics. I also recongnized Metzen's voice, artwork, and cheesy voice acting.

I remember being displeased at Wings of Liberty's ending.

Spoiler: It seemed like bad fanfiction

Thankfully, it is only 1/3rd of this story.

Because that was a super duper weak ending.

In Brood War Jim swore to kill Kerrigan despite his past feelings for her. After she betrayed him and murdered Fenix. At the end of Brood War, every other faction in the Galaxy united together to try to kill Kerrigan and she still kicked all their asses!

What happened here? She gets beat by the union of a poor ass militiant group and half the Dominion's fleet. These guys with their collective forces in their prime teamed with the Protoss, UED, Kel-Morian Combine, and Psi-Disruptor and still couldn't defeat her. Of course they didn't have their magical Xel'Naga MacGuffin at that time.

Sarah Kerrigan, the supreme leader of the Zerg Swarm - a being who controls trillions of beings simultaneously across the stars, who shrugs off direct nuclear explosions and regrows limbs in seconds is defeated by a magical MacGuffin.

Then Jim Raynor, knight in bulky armor comes to rescue Sarah Kerrigan, helpless-dainty-damsel-in distress.

And what the hell was Mengsk planning? I seriously don't get it. All the forces in the universe combined couldn't kill Kerrigan, and he expected some prison thug to be able to complete the job? Oh was it because he somehow knew Raynor could get close enough, and by putting him next to Raynor he could accomplish it? I don't know. It would have made more sense for Mengsk to have ordered him to kill Jim instead.

Back to the regular program, Jim and Sarah live happily ever after. Sarah who is now human is good again! Yay!

It feels like bad slash fiction. It is as if at the end of Star Trek: First Contact, Data turned the Borg Queen towards good, both turned human, and got married on the bridge of the Enterprise. It's so sugary lovey-dovey, I feel embarrassed. Maybe if I were still ten (That's when I played the original SC), I would've liked this ending.

(We're talking about the person who accidentally killed her mom when she was eight by making her head explode with a thought. We're talking about the Zerg supreme leader who can simultaneously control trillions of beings across worlds. She doesn't need a normal man to take a bullet and shoot someone for her!)

Many practitioners of the Starcraft cult flamed me endlessly. They told me "this is not the real ending, this is only one third of the story. Blizzard has been conceptualizing this since 1997, they wouldn't let us down." Unfortunately at 2/3 of the story Blizzard is repeating same mistakes.

Similarities:

-Sarah Kerrigan the baddest ***** in the universe, voted number one game villain of all time is depowered and transformed into the damsel in the distress.
-Boring handsome male lead has to save her.
-Cheesy one liners.
-Infested Kerrigan's opposition has to use stupid MacGuffin to stop her.
-Zerg retconned to a noble species.

can you do any better in writing the story? no really, i want to see you try to write this and see if you can do any better in a universe that was conceived and very meticulously crafted

you have to create your OWN universe with its OWN rules and races and whatnot. i wanna see if you can do any better

besides that, the zerg were NOT just retconned as a noble species. nowhere in the lore does it say they were ever bad, just slaves

given how smart each individual zerg seems, then they are probably slaves in the same way dogs are, the whole concept is stupid, the zerg were orignialy copied from the tyranids, who are capable of being much cuter by the way
and now blizz is turning them into the orcs by having them be controlled by space demons and fighting for freedom and all this bullshit, blizz is bad at plots and its getting worse

 

[DarthYam]

I don't see how the zerg were "noble". When Kerrigan said that they are "free" it was more that the Zerg themselves control their own fate, not outsiders like the UED or the Dark Voice. The Zerg head honcho (in this case, Kerrigan) is the one in charge. Also, it was mentioned in one of the books that the reason that Kerrigan became a psychopath was because her conditioning undermined her sense of ethics and morality, leaving her with the ethical perespective of an abused child. when an abused child gets their hands on a devastating weapon they are definately going to use it to get revenge on those who wronged them. The weapon (which is somewhat similar to the weapon in the protoss campaign in brood war) most likely didn't fully deinfest her, it just removed enough of it for the conditioning to be shattered, thus allowing the good person she had once been to reemerge. If she is reinfested, they probably modified the process so that she keeps her view of right and wrong.

And the reason the Xel Naga created the Zerg was to merge with the protoss to create a hybrid (a natural kind, not the bastardized version that the dark voice created.) The Fallen one simply changed the directive from "merge with peacefully" to "killinate with extreme prejudice and leave no traces at all by forcibly absorbing their essence." The Overmind also knew that once this was done, he and the zerg would be on the chopping block. All of the species that the zerg had assimilated was to prepare for the inevitable fight with the protoss, so if the voice hadn't forced them to go after the protoss, he may have avoided them. The Overmind would have wanted to keep his race from being destroyed (in starcraft I he was devoted to them, albeit in a twisted sort of way), so defying his master was as much race preservation as it was altruism.

In a way Kerrigan's redemption can work. In Brood War she's essentially a heartless monster who gleefully murders billions with her swarm. With her human ethics restored, she's going to want to atone for her sins. If she frees the zerg and uses their power to help defeat the dark voice, she will help to save the universe, allowing her to achieve redemption for her sins. IN warcraft, the orcs were already somewhat free. here, we have to witness the efforts to remove them from the dark voice; i doubt they'll be flowers and love. They'll (or their single controlling mind) just be deciding their own affairs from now on. Kerrigan outright states that no matter what they choose, outsiders won't determine their path. As far as she's concerned, it could go either way. Whoever leads the zerg determines their fate.

Wings of Liberty had a good ending because for once the hero gets something of a happy ending rather then just being betrayed and loosing something.

Kerrigan also kicks copious ass in the video, so I doubt she'll be a damzel in distress for long.