StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm [ Page 3 ]

More Heart of the Swarm Goodness

Bear with me people, Starcraft: Heart of the Swarm was released and apparently I love it. Apparently I like sharing bits related to it that I find awesome. So yeah, Starcraft.

PC Gamer covered the HoTS launch with a few videos that are pretty awesome. The one above featured above features the actor that played the voice of Jim Raynor. They also posted a longer video that covered more of the launch event you can watch below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngTFih13HXk#!

"I won't give up on you Starcraft, so don't give up on us!"

Starcrafts: Heart of the Swarm Trailer Parody

Starcrafts created a Heart of the Swarm parody trailer I found very cool. Pair it up with the actual trailer and I think you will find it is much less dark. Fun to see this kind of thing get made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCsGTP3-Jlw

Install, Playthrough and Thoughts About HoTS pt. 1

Cut to the chase, Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm is a worthy successor to Wings of Liberty. Is it perfect? Nope. But it's really damn good.

Install/Collectors Edition

Ok so I bought the Collectors Edition and made the video above to show it off a bit. I nabbed the ol' Blizzard battle chests back in the day and then the collectors editions for Starcraft II, Diablo III and now Heart of the Swarm. I have never felt like any Blizzard collectors edition wasn't worth it and this is no exception. It is very similar to the Wings of Liberty Collectors except Heart of the Swarm contains a few more digital goodies and the Zerg Rush mouse pad. Looking forward to tearing through... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 03/13/2013 at 01:08pm

In terms of character arcs, I kinda felt that the main characters of Diablo 3's story were Leah and Tyrael. You were just playing the powerful friend. The two of them had stronger arcs.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2013 at 01:52pm

Hmmm Tyrial I could see. But Leah? I don't know. Was thinking about this last night. Blizzard often has a character change into something evil without their consent. I don't know if that's an arc.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2013 at 02:24pm

The more I think about character arc's and games the more I think I realize that most video games don't do that. Its hardly a Blizzard thing really.

And you are right about Tyrael, he really does have one and its actually a cool one too. After playing a few more missions, Kerrigan is changing, but its more like she is going from Angry => More Angry. That's an arc, but its pretty one note. They have some in game conversations that seem to give her some humanity but it was pretty clear she would move the direction they wanted and I saw it a few missions in. Id talk more about it but spoilers and all that.

Anyways, so I want to backout on my Character arc thing a bit as with more reflection it seems most games I play with a story don't really use them either. And after playing the game more, yeah there is one here its just not amazing. BUT you know, by the end it might have changed.

PS this doesn't mean the game isn't fun to play or the story isn't good, it is.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/13/2013 at 04:07pm

Nah, Leah went through an arc, from being incredibly skeptical and dismissive about her uncle (somehow), to losing him, and then becoming steadfast in helping along her uncle's work. I mean, it wasn't an amazing arc or anything, very little about D3's story was, but I'd call it an arc. I don't even count being a vessel for Diablo as part of her arc, really.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/13/2013 at 04:09pm

Combine with that her lack of faith in her own abilities, finding her mother who trains her, and then betrays her as she's getting confident. So I guess in that way being the vessel for Diablo *could* be part of the arc.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2013 at 04:13pm

I don't count that Diablo III spoiler you mention as being an arc because she didn't choose it. And yeah, you are right she did have an arc.

I think I am confusing a few points in my mind about Blizzard games. I guess you have a few kinds of characters in the Blizzard verse. Good people and then everyone else that murders babies and wipes out entire continents and civilizations. Again, its a broad stroke but its fairly prominent in HoTS and D3. Maybe its just a over reaction or something, I don't know.

But again, the game is good I am just taking a stab at a few things that rubbed me the wrong way. But then again, if I want fuzzies and rainbow happiness I shouldn't go to Blizzard. :D

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/13/2013 at 07:53pm

Well, Tauren, Worgen and Pandaren are fuzzy.

I know, that added nothing to the discussion. You're welcome :P

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2013 at 08:19pm

They are fuzzy and warm. But so much murder.

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Heart of The Swarm Drops

I love opening collectors editions. Listening to the soundtrack right now. More as it develops.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/12/2013 at 06:01pm

You'll have to tell us how it is! I'll probably wait for a big sale like I did with WoL. Starcraft isn't a game I dive into and play obsessively, I kinda go back and forth on it.

BR Supporter wrote on 03/12/2013 at 06:59pm

I still need to get the base game. I'm a little behind.

krcDeuce Supporter wrote on 03/12/2013 at 07:04pm

Jon always was a huge StarCraft fan. I haven't played since the original myself. If there was anything I did appreciate about it, I liked that the different factions had units that weren't exactly equal to each other. With games like Age of Empires, each civilization generally had the same types of units, and they all were generally good against the same things (e.g. use pikemen against cavalry). From what I remember about StarCraft back in the day, there wasn't exactly an equivalent of the Zerg ability to burrow. You really had to understand the nuances of your faction.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/12/2013 at 11:57pm

Holy loot-drop, that looks amazing!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2013 at 02:46am

Yeah its a great package. Very similar to SC2: Wings of Liberty Collectors.

Ill post more of my thoughts later this evening, so far enjoying the Swarm and yeah... lots of Zerg swarming in the single player missions.

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Starcrafts Ep 25: The Season Finale

Kind of ends on a cliff hanger.

/rimshot

eSports & Multiplayer Features Preview

"In the third of our three StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm preview videos, Community Manager Cloaken takes a look at how eSports looks to be evolving with the coming expansion, the look and feel of the multiplayer game, ladder play, and more."

Coupled with the majority of Indie Kickstarter and Greenlight games, I add SC2: Heart of the Swarm to my most anticipated games in 2013 list. Next month can't come fast enough!

Who else is going to pick this up at launch? Bueller, Bueller...

StarCrafts Episode 24: The Uneggspected

Just when you get to the base... Its all over.

Heart of the Swarm: Ways to Play

Blizzard released a video showing off the new UI for Heart of the Swarm and how you can go about playing the game. Starting with training, to playing with bots the game works to ease you in to getting you in the game.

Very excited to see this drop next month!

StarCrafts Episode 23: I Spy

Think before you leap friends...

New Social Features Overview

To keep the run up to the release of Heart of the Swarm going, Blizzard released another video covering the new social features. Being able to create an in game group or clan is a pretty fun idea. I plan on creating one for Cheerful Ghost for the people that will be playing this at launch.