Review: StarCraft II
- Thread starter Greg Tito
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Tiamat666 said:
You had been working for Mengsk son since the start of the campaign, you just didn't know it. In the same way that Mengsk didn't know what his son was up to. Raynor also makes it quite clear why he's tagging along (not only to save Kerrigan, but because there's no point in beating mengsk if then the zerg just kill them all). And the general is only there because of Valerian, and before Raynor saves his ass he makes it quite clear he doesn't like having Raynor around.
I might agree on the "way too fast", but it certainly wasn't a WTF moment.
I might agree on the "way too fast", but it certainly wasn't a WTF moment.
Xocrates said:
Maybe I need a second playthrough to fully grasp everything that was going on there. It could be that I missed some details on the way because I was too enthusiastic about making progress. But it certainly felt very WTF to me when I found Raynor on board of the Korhal starship just after the mayhem I caused in the capital.
I finished the campaign last night, had to slow down because the GF was at the house, and it was definitely worth my $60. I kind of expected the ending but only from the clues in the campaign. I probably would of played the campaign alone in a couple days if I didn't have to work or log off. There was enough variety in the missions for me to stay interested. The missions where you only have a couple guys are the best, in my opinion.
Who cares if you have a DRM. Don't buy the game or buy the game and suck it up. That's really the only choice you have in the matter. IDK if you can't install/play a million copies on your PC and all of your friends. Make them buy their own copy. You can't play a LAN game? Connect to the net and join your friends. It's not that hard.
Who cares if you have a DRM. Don't buy the game or buy the game and suck it up. That's really the only choice you have in the matter. IDK if you can't install/play a million copies on your PC and all of your friends. Make them buy their own copy. You can't play a LAN game? Connect to the net and join your friends. It's not that hard.
Aside from the ending of the game being a huge let down for me, I really enjoyed the Starcraft 2 campaign. Blizzard put tons of effort into it. I love all of the little details that add flavor to the setting. They're a nice addition for me since I love to learn everything I can about the setting, technology, creatures, and factions whenever a game interests me. All of the missions are surprisingly varied, having their own unique hazards and objectives I didn't expect Blizzard to implement. I expect the campaign to be highly similar to the Starcraft campaign. Instead, it was very different (in a good way).
And while the animated cutscenes are (usually) impressive, I still prefer it when games tell the story through the gameplay. Which is why my favorite mission in the game was the last Protoss one. It has far more impact because you're the one in control, rather than watching characters in a cutscene.
And while the animated cutscenes are (usually) impressive, I still prefer it when games tell the story through the gameplay. Which is why my favorite mission in the game was the last Protoss one. It has far more impact because you're the one in control, rather than watching characters in a cutscene.
I agree that the story is very chiché. I think Blizzard should tone done the "Epicness" of their games and instead create an intriguing story by good and creative writing. Seriously, you can only save the universe this many times before it starts getting old. And the *Craft type games have had more of their share of prophecies and artifacts. I remember my soul hurting a little when they started talking of prophecies and artifacts and the 3rd or 4th impending Zerg apocalypse... but I didn't let in ruin the otherwise great experience.Cristian Capatana said:
StarCraft 2 is not an "average" game. Perhaps it has "standard" game mechanics, as all RTS games do. But then it is made so much richer by the strategic choices you have to do between missions and the story presentation. I've also never played an RTS with "dynamic mission elements" before, such as rising lava, nighttime zombie raids or burning planet surfaces.
Tiamat666 said:
Based on the ending, it seems like Mengsk was in control of the kill switch for Tychus. Which to me makes no sense. If Mengsk could communicate with Tychus and control his suits functions, why the hell didn't he stop Tychus from plowing through his army in the Odin!?
The first line of this review tells me you pay too much attention to Internet denizens.
Blizzard spent >10 years working on this game, of course it's a full game.
Original? No. See Warhammer 40000.
Modern? In graphics only. In terms of gameplay this game fits better in 1999 than 2010. They've pretty much ignored everything that's happened in the RTS genre since SC1.
Nostalgic? Yes.
A good primer for the RTS genre? Yes.
Well-crafted? Yes. The Blizzard polish is in full effect.
Compelling story? That depends on how much you like sci-fi space opera. A plot synopsis of SC1 is a pre-requisite for anyone new to the series to get full enjoyment out of the story.
Bottom line: It's amazing how they've managed to give such a classic game a modern look and feel. Any fan of space opera or SC1 should purchase. Also a great game for someone wanting to learn the fundamentals of RTS. Blizzard played it exceptionally safe with this game.
Your review was a little too starry-eyed for my taste.
Blizzard spent >10 years working on this game, of course it's a full game.
Original? No. See Warhammer 40000.
Modern? In graphics only. In terms of gameplay this game fits better in 1999 than 2010. They've pretty much ignored everything that's happened in the RTS genre since SC1.
Nostalgic? Yes.
A good primer for the RTS genre? Yes.
Well-crafted? Yes. The Blizzard polish is in full effect.
Compelling story? That depends on how much you like sci-fi space opera. A plot synopsis of SC1 is a pre-requisite for anyone new to the series to get full enjoyment out of the story.
Bottom line: It's amazing how they've managed to give such a classic game a modern look and feel. Any fan of space opera or SC1 should purchase. Also a great game for someone wanting to learn the fundamentals of RTS. Blizzard played it exceptionally safe with this game.
Your review was a little too starry-eyed for my taste.
Another question like this:Zhukov said:
Is it worth getting it if you'll like the story campaign and are kind of interested in the multiplayer, but know that you're going to be terrible at it? I'm assuming that plenty of multiplayer... players are veterans from the original starcraft; is it possible to get into multiplayer, maybe after going through the story, and not getting the shit kicked out of you to the point of frustration?
I too would also like to add my disgust of that phrase, even though it is used in jest. [a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terrible"]Terrible[/a] could either mean severe or it could mean extremely bad. That was a terrible storm or that was terrible coffee. The context is supposed to disambiguate which is meant. While I can eventually disambiguate what is meant, my first take is always the 'terrible coffee' meaning. This phrase is used a couple of times in the game.chstens said:
There are other elements of the writing that aren't up to par.
I completed the mission that broadcasted the incriminating audio file and was treated to a cutscene of Raynor laughing about how they finally were able to take down the emperor of the Dominion. In the very next mission I team up with the emperor's son to defeat the Zerg and my ship's crew start to riot because they were afraid I was going to side with the Dominion.
We just started the rebellion against the Dominion! How could anyone possibly believe I was siding with the Dominion?
We just started the rebellion against the Dominion! How could anyone possibly believe I was siding with the Dominion?
These and other inconsistencies in the writing led me to believe that Blizzard didn't have any professional writers who worked on Starcraft II. It seems like Blizzard let their programmers write everything (and then do the voice acting).
Don't get me wrong, the actual campaign gameplay is really good. It is just the plot, the writing and the voice acting that I can't stand.
The game comes with single player challenges specifically designed to teach you some core multiplayer tactics and help you improve your micro, as well as having some fairly decent skirmish AI.Blue_vision said:
Beyond that, the multiplayer has a practice league with newbie-friendly maps to help you come to grips with the game. Once you're ready for some real competition you'll have 5 placement matched designed to determine your level of skill which the matchmaking will use to try and find suitable opponents. It also saves the replays of all your games, including a bunch of info such how fast players were gathering money, so you can study them and help you improve.
And while for some stupid reason, the matchmaking seems to be placing me against players above my league a lot lately, it still does a fairly good job in ensuring they're not too much above you.
In short, the game does everything it can to ease new players into multiplayer, including a fairly solid skill based matchmaking system.