StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Review

Slycne

Tank Ninja
Feb 19, 2006
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StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Review

Grab it if you?re really into the competitive side of multiplayer or looking to see how the StarCraft saga continues to unfold.

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Denamic

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Aug 19, 2009
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Capitano Segnaposto said:
In before: "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! They cut up the game! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

OT: Haven't played it yet, but I can't wait to see how these units change the game for some of my favorite SC2 players.
But people have been playing the beta competitively for quite a while already.
 

Denamic

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Aug 19, 2009
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Capitano Segnaposto said:
Denamic said:
Capitano Segnaposto said:
In before: "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! They cut up the game! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

OT: Haven't played it yet, but I can't wait to see how these units change the game for some of my favorite SC2 players.
But people have been playing the beta competitively for quite a while already.
Oh, I know. However a few of my favorite SC2 players barely touched the Beta for some reason or another.
Fair enough. Can't say I'm not excited myself.
rhizhim said:
would it be trolling if i asked you if you ran into some major bugs.....?
The Zerg aren't insects.
 

Peace Frog

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May 31, 2008
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There was still payoff from Raynor's actions in WoL because Kerrigan has returned to being Kerrigan, albeit a zergy one. She has her own thoughts whereas before she was a pure evil Queen of Blades who only wanted what's best for the swarm.
 

Alar

The Stormbringer
Dec 1, 2009
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What the... how did you play the Kaldir missions with Prime QoB? Can you really put that mission off long enough to become upgraded? That's... surprising!
 

Leftnt Sharpe

Nick Furry
Apr 2, 2009
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So when are we going to get the Prince Valerian/Matt Horner spin off game? That mission was one of my favourites in the entire campaign.
 

Kekkonen1

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Nov 8, 2010
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I think it is an enjoyable game, but it saddens me a great deal seeing the design choices Blizzard has made. Before, Blizzards three franchises, Diablo Starcraft and Warcraft, used to have a very distinct design and feel to them but now all share basically the same cartoony look.

I mean when did the Zerg go from being inspired by insects with nice use of few colours and darkness: http://i.neoseeker.com/n/1/hydralisk.jpg

to looking like over-designed colourful dinosaurs?
http://60s.com.vn/image/32008/21/GAMEGATE_9565039.jpg
or
http://divinity87.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/23351_ultralisk2_normal1.jpg

When did this happen?

http://www.tribbleagency.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/starcraft-sarah-kerrigan.jpg
vs
http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/7628/starcraftqueenofblades.jpg
 

synobal

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Jun 8, 2011
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Sigh I want to play Starcraft again but 60 dollars is just too much of an investment these days for me. I simply can't afford it.
 

Lvl 64 Klutz

Crowsplosion!
Apr 8, 2008
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Kekkonen1 said:
I think it is an enjoyable game, but it saddens me a great deal seeing the design choices Blizzard has made. Before, Blizzards three franchises, Diablo Starcraft and Warcraft, used to have a very distinct design and feel to them but now all share basically the same cartoony look.

I mean when did the Zerg go from being inspired by insects with nice use of few colours and darkness: http://i.neoseeker.com/n/1/hydralisk.jpg

to looking like over-designed colourful dinosaurs?
http://60s.com.vn/image/32008/21/GAMEGATE_9565039.jpg
or
http://divinity87.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/23351_ultralisk2_normal1.jpg

When did this happen?

http://www.tribbleagency.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/starcraft-sarah-kerrigan.jpg
vs
http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/7628/starcraftqueenofblades.jpg
You can't compare marketing/concept art to in-game units. All units in-game have to be color coded for obvious reasons, it was the same in the first Starcraft.
 

Kekkonen1

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Nov 8, 2010
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Lvl 64 Klutz said:
Kekkonen1 said:
I think it is an enjoyable game, but it saddens me a great deal seeing the design choices Blizzard has made. Before, Blizzards three franchises, Diablo Starcraft and Warcraft, used to have a very distinct design and feel to them but now all share basically the same cartoony look.

I mean when did the Zerg go from being inspired by insects with nice use of few colours and darkness: http://i.neoseeker.com/n/1/hydralisk.jpg

to looking like over-designed colourful dinosaurs?
http://60s.com.vn/image/32008/21/GAMEGATE_9565039.jpg
or
http://divinity87.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/23351_ultralisk2_normal1.jpg

When did this happen?

http://www.tribbleagency.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/starcraft-sarah-kerrigan.jpg
vs
http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/7628/starcraftqueenofblades.jpg
You can't compare marketing/concept art to in-game units. All units in-game have to be color coded for obvious reasons, it was the same in the first Starcraft.
But thats just nitpicking. Anyone can see, regardless what kind of art you compare, that the design philosophy of Starcraft has changed in a big way between the original and now.
 

tautologico

e^(i * pi) + 1 = 0
Apr 5, 2010
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I'm liking the expansion a lot, at least until the point I've played the campaign, and the new matchmaking system may finally make me try my hand at the multiplayer again (I dabbled in MP with the original Starcraft, but I'm quite the noob). Also, there are many interesting things in the arcade, so although this is not from HotS I'd say the game is quite better now than it was at the time Wings of Liberty released.

In terms of the campaign it seems to me that WoL had more maps in which the objectives were somehow different and unique and not just "turtling" until ready to make a big push against the enemy base, but HotS has more of a "zerg rush" feel to it, the first levels especially have parts where the game explicitly asks for you to do a zerg rush. But I'm 1/3rd in, so it may change ahead (no spoilers please).
 

Soods

New member
Jan 6, 2010
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I really loved the campaign. This game has boss battles! Boss battles where you have to dodge attacks like it was a raid in WoW! Not many startegy games can say the same. And really just every mission had some new twist to gameplay or a new unit to play with, usually both. Also the leveling system in multiplayer is nice as it rewards you even if you lose.
 

Eric the Orange

Gone Gonzo
Apr 29, 2008
3,245
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Alar said:
What the... how did you play the Kaldir missions with Prime QoB? Can you really put that mission off long enough to become upgraded? That's... surprising!
Master Archives let you replay levels with the maximum possible upgrades that you could have on that level.
 

R.Nevermore

New member
Mar 28, 2008
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Soods said:
I really loved the campaign. This game has boss battles! Boss battles where you have to dodge attacks like it was a raid in WoW! Not many startegy games can say the same. And really just every mission had some new twist to gameplay or a new unit to play with, usually both. Also the leveling system in multiplayer is nice as it rewards you even if you lose.
Yes! I thought the campaign was awesome. Great story, but yes, cheesy dialogue. And the boss battles took my back to my old WoW days. Don't stand in the fire!
 

lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
19,316
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Kekkonen1 said:
Lvl 64 Klutz said:
Kekkonen1 said:
I think it is an enjoyable game, but it saddens me a great deal seeing the design choices Blizzard has made. Before, Blizzards three franchises, Diablo Starcraft and Warcraft, used to have a very distinct design and feel to them but now all share basically the same cartoony look.

I mean when did the Zerg go from being inspired by insects with nice use of few colours and darkness: http://i.neoseeker.com/n/1/hydralisk.jpg

to looking like over-designed colourful dinosaurs?
http://60s.com.vn/image/32008/21/GAMEGATE_9565039.jpg
or
http://divinity87.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/23351_ultralisk2_normal1.jpg

When did this happen?

http://www.tribbleagency.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/starcraft-sarah-kerrigan.jpg
vs
http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/7628/starcraftqueenofblades.jpg
You can't compare marketing/concept art to in-game units. All units in-game have to be color coded for obvious reasons, it was the same in the first Starcraft.
But thats just nitpicking. Anyone can see, regardless what kind of art you compare, that the design philosophy of Starcraft has changed in a big way between the original and now.
My neon-pink Zerg swarm eating the electric blue swarm while being attacked by lime green Terrans in Starcraft 1 disagrees with you and accuses you of nostalgia-goggles.

OT: Looks good. I may have to pick this up before it goes on sale.

(COME ON, PAYDAY! YOU CAN MAAAAKE IIIIIIT!)
 

Tar Palantir

New member
Jan 16, 2012
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Soods said:
I really loved the campaign. This game has boss battles! Boss battles where you have to dodge attacks like it was a raid in WoW! Not many startegy games can say the same. And really just every mission had some new twist to gameplay or a new unit to play with, usually both. Also the leveling system in multiplayer is nice as it rewards you even if you lose.
That was surprising, but I'd seen it before in Dawn of War II.
Some missions are truly unique, something WOL had too, like the infestation of the protoss ship.....but they always feel a bit simplistic and linear. There are custom maps on battlenet (Parasite, Who is the Alien) made by fans, with the same concept but executed better, or when you take control of the Hyperion.....it feels like a minigame. But I'm nitpicking, the gameplay is solid, the story and dialogue not so much. It starts out very promising, slows down around the middle and then we get that anticlimatic ending...

Hey Mengsk, how about using that fraking alien artefact a little sooner???