I know Starcraft 2 has been released for quite some time but today seemed like a good time to write about it.

I love Starcraft. When Broodwar came out I really dug the additional units they added and tore through all the campaigns. When Starcraft 2 was announced I was ecstatic. All I really wanted was Starcraft with an upgraded interface and smooth graphics, the original formula I felt was perfect. I pre-ordered the collectors edition(as I sort of do now days) and when the game launched I raced through the single-player game.

The game is fantastic. It takes place after Broodwar and stars Jim Raynor as the leader of the human opposition to General Mengsk and the other bad stuff out there in the Universe. The game improves on the ol' Starcraft formula and takes it up a few notches by enhancing multi-player and your options in single player as well. The single player story is lengthy and fun. Blizzard really changed up the kinds of things you did in single player so it didn't feel boring or formulaic. Some missions you build your base, some are essentially "hero maps." Each mission allows you a main quest line but you can optionally finish the side missions if you so desire.

Unlike Diablo 3, Starcraft 2 comes with a offline single player mode after you install it. I played it on battle.net and as such experienced trophies, something I felt really added to SC2's unique spin. Each map has special trophies you can earn for doing awesome stuff, like beating it on hard mode or doing other map specific radness, like killing a bad guy only using lava in a map where you have to avoid lava yourself.

A really fun element of Starcraft 2 for me was the story. I liked Jim Raynors character and how he related to the Blizzards world. I liked how the game wove in the Protoss for a few really awesome missions in the middle of the game(I won't spoil the story, but its a fun set of missions). As per Blizzard normal, the cinematics are great.

I delved a smidge into online multi-player but I didn't really stick with it. For a few weeks I played as the Zerg and got a pretty reasonable build going that stacked up to hard bots and a few humans. Playing with friends is always fun but for whatever reason SC2 multi-player didn't stick with me. Don't get me wrong, its really really fun just not something I come back to often for whatever reason. I imagine it has to do with that I know few of my friends that have it and fewer that play it. If you want to play sometime, drop me a line id love to dust off my Zerg build.

I am very excited for Heart of the Swarm to drop and now that Blizzard has released the awesome Diablo 3 I am hoping they drop the release date for Heart of the Swarm. I love playing as the Zerg so I am doubly excited for this expansion. I wonder what fun bits await they that snag the collectors edition? The new units they add will be great as they generally are. I guess we will find out the details at some point, hopefully soon!

Travis   Admin wrote on 06/06/2012 at 12:46pm

So how do all these games fit together? I know the first Starcraft 2 was Terran only, and Heart of the Swarm is Zerg. Are they separate games, or is Heart of the Swarm an expansion? Based on some pre-orders I've seen, they are both a full $60.

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/07/2012 at 02:06am

Starcraft 2 was Terran only for single player WITH some added Protoss levels. Multiplayer allowed you to play as Terran, Zerg and Protoss fully. Heart of the Swarm is the Zerg single player with additional units to multi-player. As far as the price, I am not sure I wouldn't be surprised if it was $60.

Travis   Admin wrote on 06/11/2012 at 02:22pm

Oh yeah I know multiplayer allowed you to do all three. I'm just curious if they'll all fit together as one game or if they're three separate games.

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/11/2012 at 02:45pm

The sort continues from game to game. For instance the thing to do at the end starts up Heart of the Swarm.

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