StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Preview

Game: StarCraft II:Wings of Liberty

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment

Available on: PC/Mac

Release Date: 27/07/2010 (EU/US/South Korea)

It has been over a decade since the first StarCraft game was released back in 1998, with new technology available in the online era much is expected from the sequel. If any developer is capable of producing an improved sequel it is Blizzard, the company prides itself on releasing quality products with the motto of “it’s done when it’s done”. That motto certainly tells true with StarCraft II as its development has taken a while to say the least. The tag line “it’s about time” was seen at Blizzcon ’08 and it really is about time with just about two months to go until release. StarCraft II is due to be launched soon with the all new and improved Battle.net which is a promising platform for the latest Blizzard games. With the PC market dwindling Blizzard are flying the flag for PC gamers with impressive products. Hit the jump for the full preview.

StarCarft II gameplay

GRAPHICS: The StarCraft II visuals have come along way, it has been over a decade since the original game was released. Gone are the two dimensional sprites and in their place are 3D models. Technically the graphics in StarCraft II are more akin to Warcraft III with comparisons made at the lowest graphical setting, ramp up the graphics to the top end and crystal clear beauty will meet your eyes. The art style is true to the original StarCraft with all the glory of modern technology to add much needed polish. StarCraft II is a colourful vibrant game, each faction has a distinctive art style which tells true from the largest of buildings to the smallest units.

SOUND: A very important component, sound not only gives a sense of atmosphere in StarCraft II but is very much part of the gameplay and strategy. The music does well to ease players in, starting out calm as players build their base and farm crystals. The music is ramped up later, a ramp up which usually coincides with battle. Units have their own unique sound which includes voice work to give each unit personality. Whilst the music and voice work gives a  good sense of atmosphere it’s the tone of the smaller sometimes unnoticed sounds which can hold the key to victory, the swoosh of a stealthed unit or the burrowing of a nydus worm in your base unnoticed can do irreparable damage.

MULTI-PLAYER: Very much the corner stone of the game, multi-player is what made the original game a huge success and with 3 million players still logging on daily much is expected from the sequel. The beta has no single player or even a tutorial, testers are thrown into the thick of it with a slow paced online practice match to gain a feel for the game. Once the practice is over its down to the placements matches to decide a players skill  and ultimately place players in a relevant league. Blizzard have done a good job with the placement matches and leagues ensuring matches take place between similarly skilled players whilst giving long term incentive with promotion and demotion at stake.

Multi-player gameplay tends to be competitive where knowledge is power, its no use building a bunch of ground attack units when your opponent is launching an attack from the air. Every unit has some sort of counter and players will do well to identify threats early and seek a solution. The help section does well to aid players identifying every multi-player unit in the game with a brief description, highlighting foes the unit will do well against and enemies that can counter the unit in question. At the core of each match-up is base building and the economy that comes with it, StarCraft is more about macro rather than micro, whilst micro managing units is key in certain situations with the best players being prolific in their ability to manoeuvre units for the best effect. The macro or managing of base and economy will win a lot of matches, at least in the lower leagues, StarCraft II is all about the build order, going for a distinct strategy whilst covering your ass in case you opponent launches an attack.

Battle.Net neural interface

All three species or factions are well balanced, all matches that I have experienced through out the beta have been relatively competitive with no “I win” strategies guaranteeing victory, there have been various updates through out the beta tweaking certain elements, adding a few more hit points to some units and decreasing the damage of others. Blizzard are trying to balance the game as much as possible and with player feedback streaming in I’m sure they will continue to tweak through out the rest of the beta and probably after release.

Whilst the three factions are well balanced they are unique both in look and play style. The futuristic Protoss mix it up with both melee and ranged units, Protoss use rechargeable shield technology and are the most advanced of the three races. The Terran originating from earth taking the role of the “humans” are less advanced compared to the Protoss and are completely ranged based, Terran buildings have the unique ability to take to the sky and relocate. The Zerg an insectoid race do not use technology, instead using mutation to create buildings and a myriad of units, Zerg tend to focus more on the melee side of things compared to other factions whilst retaining the benefits of ranged attacks.

Multi-player will certainly be the draw for some players and ensure longevity past the single player for others.

SINGLE-PLAYER: The single player campaign will take on a more objective based style of play with an over arching story to push things along. In-game objectives  move along with voice overs whilst pre rendered cinematics can be seen in-between missions, a news network will also be present to report on players decisions. Some role play elements have been introduced this time around with currency earned for each mission, players will be able to upgrade and buy new units to suit their style of play. The 29 mission campaign is non-linear allowing players to plot their own path making decisions that have consiqueces, how deep the decisions are remains to be seen for now but the added element is a welcome one.

When StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty hits retail it will come packed with only the Terran campaign leaving the Protoss and Zerg to a later expansion. Blizzard have stated that the Terran campaign in StarCraft II will be just as long, if not longer than all three campaigns in the original game so players will be getting value for money.

Check out this preview video of the Terran campaign.

BATTLE.NET: The all new Battle.net is present in StarCraft II offering some nice features such as the achievement system, the system will be similar to the one found in the World of Warcraft with some achievements unlocking cosmetic items such as new portraits allowing players to show off. Battle.net is also responsible for intelligent matchmaking, learning a players skill and finding the right opponent. The online service will connect players across Blizzard games allowing friends to text and voice chat from one game to the next, there is some evidence of cross game rewards with the StarCraft II collectors edition offering a WoW in game pet but further details are thin at this point.

Pre-Order StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (EU | US)

Pre-Order StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Collector’s Edition (EU | US)