| Starcraft 2 Video Game Preview for PC |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Games | |
| Written by Yaniv Perrry - Edited by Olin Coles | |
| Tuesday, 02 October 2007 | |
Introduction: Starcraft 2Many RTS gamers across the world, including yours truly, consider Blizzard's Starcraft as one of the best RTS titles ever created. After almost 10 years, Blizzard's Battle.Net servers are still hosting thousands of dedicated players who still battle against each other and enjoy every second, despite the poor graphics and low resolution (640x480), compared to today's standards. Blizzard keeps updating and improving their servers, which is a great and rare thing for such an aging game.
For years, gamers speculated and spread rumors about a sequel being developed, but nothing seemed to happen. Then, on May 19th 2007, Blizzard Entertainment unveiled the highly anticipated sequel at the 2007 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational event in Seoul, South Korea. The exciting news split the fans, creating roughly two groups.
One group is consisted of those who believe that Starcraft 2 will become the new standard in RTS gaming, the new king of the hill. The one game that will attract thousands of RTS gamers into one place, creating a huge, strong community. A community that will last long after the game will be released, holding tournaments, leagues, free style games and who knows what else. It will be a killer.
But on the other hand, there is the camp of fans who believe that the original Starcraft was so perfect in every aspect that any change in the gameplay, or in anything else for that matter, will only break the classic to pieces, creating balance problems and many other issues. New 3D graphics will only result in problematic control scheme and take the whole gaming experience away.
I know I belong to the first group. If you still haven't decided, or just want to get some information about the game, join me as I explore the new and fresh sequel for a legendary RTS - Starcraft 2. By: Blizzard Entertainment Genre: Real Time Startegy Release Date: Who knows, it is Blizzard after all... Official Website: https://www.starcraft2.com/ Starcraft 2 StorylineOne of the strongest aspects of the original Starcraft is the storyline behind it. Forget what you are used to from other RTS games, where the storyline is just an excuse to wipe out your enemy base. Starcraft's creators really invest in the background story, making a detailed and interesting world inhabiting deep characters while describing the relationship between them in a wonderful and fascinating way.
Not much is known about the story at this point. In global, Starcraft 2's events occur about four years after the events of StarCraft: Brood War. A few of the characters we learned to love (or hate) in the previous game will be back, among them: Raynor, Zeratul and of course, Sarah Kerrigan.
Too few details were exposed about the Zerg's story. All we know is that during those four years, Kerrigan and the swarm disappeared into the darkness and no one knows when they are going to strike. Arcturus Mengsk and his son, Valerian, will dominate the Terran's side, probably fighting among themselves for the leadership (just a thought...) while Jim Raynor joins a new group called "Moebius Foundation" and investigates the Xel'Naga history. Tychus, the famous marine from SCII's teaser, will also be a part of the story and will join Raynor on his voyage.
After the Zerg swarm, lead by queen Kerrigan, invaded Aiur, the Protoss forces retreat to Shakuras, the dark templar's homeworld. There, they try to reunite and join forces, preparing for the bloody battles that await them in the Koprulu sector.
Besides the three known races, Blizzard intends to throw into the story (but not into the gameplay) a super race that has been in the shade in the original title, the Xel'Naga. The Xel'Naga are the ancestors of both the Protoss and the Zerg and will be a key element in the new title's story. Starcraft 2 GameplayThe Gameplay in Starcraft was highly addictive and the sequel will do anything to keep its gameplay as close as possible to the original. This is not a simple task at all and the expectations are extremely high, especially when the graphics are fully 3D now.
First, Blizzard announced that all the three factions will be back, including many (modified) units from the original and lots of new units and abilities to each race. All three races will be tightly balanced yet, fundamentally different from each other, as we learned to expect from Blizzards RTS titles to be.
Starcraft's gameplay is known for its fast pace, high pressure and the need to have complete control on what's happening on the screen (and off it) in each second. If you want your guys to know how to handle themselves in battle, use special abilities or anything else, this is not the game for you. Starcraft makes you concentrate on the battlefield at all times, micro manage your soldiers, position them in the correct formation and in the meantime, make sure your economy is stable as well. Judging by the gameplay movies released by Blizzard, the gameplay of Starcraft 2 amazingly resembles the original and fans will feel at home right from the first mouse click. The interface and controls was refined and polished but the basic functionality was not changed greatly. One of the problems in Starcraft was the path-finding algorithm for certain units (Goliaths, Dragoons). This is going to change. Units will find their way to their targets more cleverly and other units will clear the way for them to pass through. Also, players will be able to select as many units as they want (max 12 units in the original).
The single player campaign, besides featuring a great storyline, will not be linear. The player will be able to choose which missions he wants to accomplish, earn money and purchase additional abilities / units to use in future missions. This gives the game a valuable replayability option. Each one of the three campaigns will feature different elements, unique briefing methods and interesting environments (like the Terran's interactive battlecruiser shown at BlizzCon 2007). The game will use pre-rendered cinematic as well as in-game cut-scenes to unfold the storyline. The storyline is amazing, the single player campaigns are great, but the reason Starcraft is still on the map for almost 10 years is its amazing multiplayer mode. Blizzard intends to make big improvements in their Battle.Net servers, adding some ladder options, leagues, matchmaking option (which was really missing in the previous) and so forth. The replay mechanism will be improved as well. In addition, there are plans to implement VoIP into the game as well.
Blizzard also offers a great campaign editor, allowing fans to create custom maps, simulate different situations and create various mods for the game. Also, units that will not be included in the final version of the game will be available in the custom designs for fans to experiment with, cool! Starcraft 2 Graphics & SoundThe sequel will feature, as you probably understood, a whole new 3D engine in order to render the beautiful world of Starcraft. The really great news is that Blizzard thinks about fans that still have weaker machines and wants them to enjoy the game as well. The game's minimum requirements will be kept as low as possible while still providing amazing graphics for those with newer and more powerful machines.
Although fully compatible with DirectX 10, it is yet not certain if the game will offer special effects for DirectX 10. What we do know is that DirectX 9 (Pixel Shader 2.0) will be supported.
Also, Havok physics engine will be used to create a more realistic reaction in the dynamic game world.
The sound effects in the game, again - based on the gameplay movies, highly resemble the original sounds used in Starcraft, which is great. Background music seems to be the same style as well, but nothing is final yet, so it's a little too early to say.
Starcraft 2 Minimum Requirements:
Preview Conclusion: Starcraft 2Starcraft 2 will not be revolutionary in any aspect, it won't reinvent the genre and won't be marked the most innovative and original game of all times. But that is the only negative statement I can think of regarding this title. All other aspects seem to be just perfect, polished and accurate, Blizzard's people will not settle for anything less. The storyline will continue to fascinate us as we go through the dynamic and refreshing single player campaigns. Gameplay, well, that is the last thing I expect to go wrong when Blizzard is involved. Cool new units and abilities combined with intense and exciting battles will result in highly addictive and fun gameplay.
Graphics, which is one of the very few things that needed an upgrade in the original, are now fully 3D. Starcraft 2 is DX10 compatible and looks amazing.
All in all, I feel this is going to be the next RTS we will all be playing for many years to come.
Please note that Starcraft 2 is still in development and all of the above information is tentative. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Visit the Benchmark Review Discussion Forum and submit your feedback!
Related Articles:
|
|
