OMG – Six more weeks until the most highly anticipated game (IMHO) hits the shelves, StarCraft II. When the original came out in 1998, it sold over 11 million copies. It came out at a bad time, the genre had been beaten to death for many years before with games like Masters of Orion and Command and Conquer. But this game offered something quite different. It had only three races and game play was superb. Add to that the voice acting talents of some Mystery Science Theater 3000 alumni and that game was ready to take off.
Now we find ourselves in 2010. To quote a famous Paul McCartney and Wings song, “You’d think that people would have had enough of silly top down viewers.” That’s what I would have thought. Being an old school gamer, I love top down view games. They’re a bit nostalgic but also familiar. The view is perfect for this and other types of games. Sometimes it’s done well and sometimes not so well (I’m talking to you, Civ 4). I’ve been playing the BETA and it seems that they focused on 3d control, not camera control. Take out the fancy camera controls and you’ve got smooth, brilliant 3d graphics that look and play great!
I’ve read on some other boards that people are complaining about he fact there are still only three races (protoss, terran, and zerg). IMHO, there should be no more than those three. Why? Well, have you ever played Warhammer 40k? There are so many army types, races, and variants that it drastically cuts into the game play time and also adds to the total confusion that could ensue when certain rules / abilities are challenged. Sometimes, you can have too much of a good thing. Any Games Workshop product is a testament to that. (Let the hate mail begin…)
The three races keeps it simple to understand and makes you a smarter player by understanding your enemy better. You’re head can be clogged with strategy and tactics rather than remembering complex and numerous one-off rules. To make up for only having three races, they have drastically expanded the types of units that each can produce, and some of the familiar units that return in StarCraft II will have new tricks up their sleeves, which will give the game its own unique flavor. In addition, Battle.net will be overhauled with some new and exciting features to enhance online play and competition, while the single-player campaign will also offer some unique aspects for players to enjoy.
StarCraft II will also be a fully featured multiplayer game, and all three races will be available for competitive play. However, the campaign expansions are race specific, so play a bit with all three races to find the one you want to advance with, then order the expansion specific to that race.
See you on BattleNet!