Brood War Due

The first run of about 300,000 copies of Starcraft: Brood War is off the presses and bound for Blizzard Entertainment offices and warehouse in Southern California.

GameSpot's Tahsin Shamma, who spent some time playing a recent build of Brood War before the title went gold this week, told GameSpot News, "The great thing about Brood War, and the most important thing that makes this add-on different from many others, is how much of a different game Starcraft becomes with the new Brood War units. The new units shift the balance of the game in different directions, and to such a degree that veteran Starcraft players who have no experience with the new units could easily be defeated by less experienced players who know the basics of how the new units work.

"The new emphasis is mainly on cloaking/cloak detection, air superiority, and effective use of the new abilities. Some may say that Brood War unbalances Starcraft, but if you know the Blizzard guys, you know that balance has always been their hallmark."

Blizzard spokesperson Susan Wooley says retailers should be selling copies of the game by the weekend.