Never played starcraft....however I like sci-fis and RTS,plus this is a blizzard game so Im getting this one.
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty Updated Hands-On - More Campaign, Beta Updates
We get some updates on the ongoing Starcraft II beta and delve into a bit more of the single-player campaign.
If you're reading this, you have some idea of what Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is. It's the first of three chapters of Starcraft II--the sequel to one of the most popular and influential real-time strategy games ever, Starcraft. Starcraft II is currently in a multiplayer beta specifically built for testing balance between the game's three famous factions: Terrans (human marines), Protoss (ancient alien lorekeepers), and Zerg (a genocidal swarm of insectlike aliens). During a recent press event, we received an update on the game's beta status and also played through three additional missions in the game's single-player campaign--and we have much to report. Please be aware that this story may contain minor story spoilers.
The beta itself, for those who aren't keeping track, currently offers only one-on-one or two-on-two head-to-head multiplayer matches online. Blizzard lead designer Dustin Browder was quick to point out that this is because the beta isn't intended to be a full-on playable demo for the purpose of giving players a sense of how fun the entire Starcraft II experience will be, but rather, it's for balance testing only. Browder did suggest that the beta team is making much better progress than he'd originally hoped for and is now focusing on nitty-gritty details that will make each individual matchup great, such as making Zerg vs. Zerg matches more interesting.
However, the designer did point out that because Starcraft is an internationally well-known product with beta testers all over the world, there still seem to be gray areas in which it isn't quite clear whether certain factions or units are overpowered, or one group of players knows the game better than another. As an example, Browder cited the current state of the beta in Asia, where the Zerg are the most popular race by far and are considered to be somewhat overpowered, while in North America, the Zerg are far less popular and are considered to be underpowered. According to the designer, ironing out those details will make all the difference to the final game's balance and gameplay. Browder also gave an update on the next rumored beta content patch, which should have the map editor and possibly stronger computer AI--the patch should ideally be out by the end of the month but "may slip to a bit later."
After being briefed on the beta, we hunkered down in front of a fairly early part of the single-player campaign to play through a few more missions. As we've related in our previous coverage, the single-player campaign in Wings of Liberty tells the continuing story of the original Starcraft Terran hero, Jim Raynor, who is now considered to be an intergalactic outlaw with a bounty on his head placed by the evil Terran Dominion. Raynor continues his fight against the Dominion, rejoined by his contemporaries Matt Horner and Tychus Findlay on his ship, the Hyperion.
The ship works as a hub area in the game from which Raynor can commission mercenaries at the cantina. He can also purchase single-player-only upgrades for his units at the armory, which come in the form of two different upgrades for infantry, vehicles, and structures--a cheaper, lower-level addition and a more-expensive (and more-powerful) addition. For example, the Terran bunker structure that can be garrisoned by up to four low-level marines to take cover while unloading their combined fire can be upgraded with a relatively cheap armor bonus, as well as a much more expensive, but very worthwhile, ability to garrison up to six marines instead of four.
In addition, the Hyperion lets Raynor conduct either Protoss or Zerg "research" in the ship's lab. Research is powered by research points--which come from either Protoss artifacts or Zerg DNA that appear in certain missions as optional goals. Each line of research (Protoss or Zerg) is tiered from five points up to 25 points and offers two-sided choices at each tier. For instance, the first tier of Protoss research, once you've recovered five points' worth of artifacts, will let you add either a permanent, single-player-only bonus of 5 percent damage to infantry upgrades purchased at the engineering bay structure or a permanent, single-player-only bonus of 5 percent protection to any infantry armor bonuses purchased at the engineering bay. At each tier of research, you can pick only one of the two choices available, at which point the second becomes locked out. Browder suggests that by the time players get through the single-player campaign for the first time, they should be able to unlock at least 50 percent of the game's research upgrades and about 80 percent of the game's credit-costly unit upgrades.
208 comments
I love Blizzard .. this game is perfect .. I played it hours and hours with out getting tired .. Thanks blizzard ..
@mohsenezio this is the best RTS game ever... if you dont like these gnre then you can't say this is crap, because this Sh!t is the best
I think a wait and see approach is best for this. It would be unfortunate to get caught up in the hype and wind up spending full price for an outdated RTS. I'll wait for my friends to get and and get their feedback before I consider jumping in. Right now it seems like a slightly beefed up Starcraft, gameplay-wise, and that's not nearly enough for me.
Damn. I can't believe how boring this looks. oO After CNC3 and 4 and RA3, this actually doesn't look so interesting anymore. I thought the campaign might not suck this time around since they've actually worked on it this time, but this looks really dull so far and i don't think excellent cinematics will help. SC2 feels like a very ambitious expansion pack. It will of course interest SC fans and hard-core RTS fans, but i doubt this game will be fun for people who don't take RTS seriously. Too little too late. This should have been released five years ago. The classic RTS genre is only good for esports nowadays, i'd say.
I'm playing the beta right now and I will say it is spectacular. The depth and scope of the many builds and strats is just amazing. I cant wait to see more custom maps come out, what some players have made already is just ridiculous.
Blizzard have made a fortune out of copying others. You'd have thought they'd have enough money to work on something unique. Obviously, they have never heard of 'giving something back'.
Anyone who has played Warcraft 3 since the expansion knows exactly why Blizzard can demand such a price for their strategy games. The always-included map editor not only allows the creation of infinitely diverse multiplayer and campaign maps, it also allows the creation of completely new units, buildings, upgrades, and abilities creating unlimited opportunities for unique and interesting play. And the best part is, you don't have to know squat about modding to use their map editor. I would pay sixty dollars for that without a second thought.
I really love the enthusiasm and the pride that blizzard have been showing. They really have been working hard to create a great release title. 10 patches? that is probably 14-15 now. Inspiring work really and I for one cannot wait for the 27th of July to swing round!
Love the new looks, makes the SC I, *extra* cartoony looking...no doubt it will bring several asian nations to a halt for a while...;-)
@vortex6666 - There is Command and Conquer 4. Not overhyped. Lots of blood. Bigger explosions. Crazy vehicles. Plus no one waited too long for that. Maybe that's the kind of game you're looking for. Go on! Git!
@xXrebel666Xx: What did you expect? lol. truly stupid thing to do. @vortex6666: Why people are excited? I guess for strategy fans Starcraft is one of the truly spesial games. Its still dominant game online even after 10 years. Had a LAN party last year just to play StarCraft with my friends. Its such a balanced game providing different style of play. There is nothing like it... I agree that its a bit annoying that there will be 3 games to get. But hey you have a choice. All three will have the multiplayer anyway. So its just a personal preference. I agree that Blizzard copy alot of stuff from others *caugh* Warhammer unverse *caugh* but at least they do it well...And everybody gets inspired (ie copy) from something anyway....
I realy dont understand why the masses are so exited over this overhyped piece of crap game. its nothing more then a graphical update nothing more maybe some extra things to do with your army and base but nothing special. But what realy pisses me off is that for blizz with so much money and over 10 years off dev on this game give you this lol. 3 races only 3 races cmon man put some heart into it and then whers the combat movements form the chars you see a little blood and the rest off the things go up in smoke thats fukkin cheap And then again howmuch is ripped from other games and you know what im talkin about its just pathetic.
omg come on already I want to see this friggin game I wana see the queen rule the universe MUAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH anyway I have been watching this game's progress for years, and yes bliz the strange water like ripples in the air was me using my cloaking device to spy on u at ur HQs, u have no idea how many times I wanted to paint the building with a lazer dot and .....well we all know what happens after that. but it seems u have done a good job, o well still w8ing.
@xXrebel666Xx You're complaining because an illegally obtained copy of a game that isn't even out yet didn't work for you? Let's just hope you were running Windows and not Wine-on-Linux or something, it would really make my day to know that a person like you got some malware. Oh, and try learning how to mask what you're doing from your ISP if you're so concerned about it. Or try waiting for the game to come out, going to the store, purchasing it without your moms' money and then come back and complain. But you're right; Blizzard probably just didn't want an uber-cool player like you with an uber-cool name like "rebel666," getting on their beta and kicking so much ass! Lolzorz! u r teh 133t g4m3r
Was really interested in this game, so much so that I tried to join the beta just to have a sneak peak at what I "would have" being purchasing when the product was released. Didn't matter anyway because it didn't even work...so I didn't even get to see anything. A couple of hours later ISP sends e-mail saying Blizzard is considering taking out legal action for a copyright breach. Go to hell Blizzard, I thought this game was all about the money with the three releases and now I know it when they take such an action against a fan eagerly checking it out. It's not like I even got to use the content it doesn't download or patch anyway. There goes my sale.
well blizz may give activ. a cut of there money but other that that they have no controll over good old blizz
@Whitewizardg from girls you probably get Chlamidya or Cutties or Heart Breaking...anyway, Chlamydia is Fatal-SC2 is not!
@tomer_sss no, the thruth is that all these years they've spent theyr time developing those good for nothing WoW games!They killed the Warcraft series & brought those time wasting games.
More good news for starcraft fans, according to industry analysts mmo's are on the out and casual gamming still strong.Blizzard is actually downsizing their wow division and spending more money and time on starcraft and diablo.
Pre-Order!! Can't wait for the game + the cool engine (e.g. map editor) that these guys has developed for us :D. Thanks Blizzard!
Blizzard.... so much damn confidence in them. So, excited, and the beta is awesome so far!
How insecure is Whitewizardg that he has to come onto these forums and spew garbage like that. I think its pretty obvious who the virgin here is.......not that it matters anyways, it will happen for you one day I'm sure (maybe).
I just hope they keep creepy atmosphere of the first one...I mean the music for each race, deep creepy voice acting and those crazy "alien" like movies for zerg :D I remember when first Starcraft came out somewhere around when "Alien" movie was famous. Zerg hydralisk somewhat reminded me of Alien hehe :D
@Whitewizardg You have commented on this page several times now. How do you ever talk to girls if you spend all of your pathetic time calling people losers on Gamespot forums?
Im more of a gaming geek than is good for any person, my child is 11, and most of the girls ive been with have been amazingly beautiful. Back to the point, Starcraft 2 for GOTY!!! easily, ive spent the last 2 weeks buried in the beta, and it has been amazingly addictive!
@ Whitewizardg geeks? Havnt seen girls? You've joined a gaming site just to call us sad and geeks do you not see how much more pathetic that makes you look then any of us? I think you need to cut down on your fapping and bumbhole fingering it seems to be messing with your brain
i love how easy it is to start the troll wars XD gotta love it! and cmooon give us a date already!!! teasing douches... i bet they enjoy doing that...
Aww...lay off Whitewizardg, guys. He's just jealous that his job as a fry cook (which I'm sure he is quite adequate at) barely pays enough to buy him a second-hand GameCube, much less a $60 video card to play modern PC games. He'll lighten up after I convince his mother to raise his allowance. She's never been able to say "no" to me. I know what she likes.
@Kishobran I completely Agree with you, Whitewizardg sounded like a complete arrogant idiot.
This is awesome both an awesome SP and a perfect multiplayer... also.. CUSTOM maps... god! this is gone be so great! sadly I fear that the dota will kinda be fail:P without heros from war3. Also I think the most most popular race in Europe is either Terran or protoss least here in Norway,Sweden and poland
i hope they still use the same sound track with better qualitiy cuz its still awesome and so is the game
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Review Scores
| Platform | GameSpot | Metacritic / User Score |
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Game Info
- Release Date: Jul 27, 2010 (US)
- ESRB: TTitles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older.
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Starcraft II: WoL Navigation
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