If there had to be one title to act as the envoy for the video games industry in 2010 it would have to be Starcraft 2.
You’d be hard pressed to find any other game appeals to everyone from the 30 minutes a day casual player all the way up to the professional Korean player making seven figures with an entourage of bodyguards and female groupies.
Yes, you read correctly. Seven figures. Groupies. Entering live tournaments on rock stages on a speedboat.
There’s three audiences that I think should run out and give this game a shot:
- Tower defense game junkies (whether it’s on your phone, iPad, computer, or console)
- People who already enjoy real time strategy games (How can you like RTS games and not at least give Starcraft 2 a shot? That’s like saying I like action movies, but I refuse to watch Inception.)
- Professional Starcraft players. (though I think those don’t really need to read this review)
Starcraft 2 is an interesting game because it’s one that’s physically impossible to play on any current console. It doesn’t mean that the game is that complex, it just means that it’s a genre that’s best controlled with a mouse and keyboard due to the nature of the tasks needed to be done. The game will run on almost any modern computer, Mac or PC alike, so chances are if you own a computer made within the last few years, you can play it.
The game belongs to the “real time strategy” genre. Ten years ago this would have required no explanation, but it’s been 12 years since the original Starcraft was released. There’s an entire generation who will see video of Starcraft 2 and think it’s the craziest variant of Plants vs Zombies ever. In broad terms, the goal of the game is to establish an economy, build an army, and tactically command them to destroy your opponent.
Most RTS games’ single player campaigns are a linear progression of missions. That’s certainly what I expected with Starcraft 2, but Blizzard actually exceeded my expectations in this regard. Once you finish the first couple of missions, the game takes a surprisingly non-linear turn. The meat of the game consists of 3 to 4 mission lines all going on simultaneously. You can choose to complete these in any order. There are even some optional missions, though you would be be missing out on some content if you choose to skip them.
On top of this, Blizzard has included several RPG-like elements to the campaign as well. Finishing missions and optional objectives earns you credits. These credits can be used to either upgrade some aspects of your units/buildings or they can be used to hire Mercenary units that can be deployed on any subsequent mission. There’s also two sets of talent trees that you can develop by completing certain bonus objectives throughout the campaign by accumulating “research points.” Every 5 research points you obtain, you can choose one of two new abilities for your forces. There’s really no wrong way of going about developing your forces. Most of the choices have some merit, so you can feel free to pick whatever suits your style of play best without fear of choosing incorrectly.
The story and cinematics of the game are solidly constructed and presented. With Wings of Liberty, we’re given the Terran side of the story. Most of the missions are played through as the Terran race, with a short Protoss mini-campaign. The tale is a fairly straightforward space-opera, yet doesn’t seem overly hackneyed. Blizzard is well versed in crafting gorgeous cinematics and entertaining backstory/lore for their gaming “worlds” and Starcraft 2 is no exception. We’re not getting Battlestar Galactica or Firefly quality stuff here, but if you like space epics, you’ll find yourself wanting to complete the story.
Many people were concerned that Blizzard’s decision to split the game’s single player storyline over the course of 3 titles would produce a substandard single player experience. Their concerns were for naught. It arguably ends up being a better experience, as we’re given more time to get invested in the plot and characters. After playing through Wings of Liberty, I undoubtedly cared about Jim Raynor more than I would have if he only showed up in a handful of missions.
Despite this, I will say that the ending to Wings of Liberty campaign felt a little rushed and had me scratching my head in a “it feels like there had to have been some plot holes there…” kind of way. Regardless, I still ended up wanting the next installment of the series to arrive, STAT.
Beyond the single player campaign, there lies a transitory “gametype” in the form of challenges. These short mini-games are meant to teach you the basics of playing the multiplayer mode of Starcraft 2 and they are a much welcome addition to the game. Multiplayer Starcraft 2 is a complete different animal from the single player and these challenges are a sort of “training wheels” to get you in the right mindset. You’ll learn how to use hotkeys, when to use what units, and defend against early rush attacks. There’s bronze, silver, and gold medals to earn for each of the 12 challenges and they’re a fun way to “learn” the multiplayer game.
I wish they would have included more challenges, though. Multiplayer Starcraft is essentially an extremely layered version of rock-paper-scissors. The included challenges only teach you what to do when rock fights paper, so to speak. When you have a game that can support leagues professional players, there has to be a certain level of complexity, but the game can feel like walking down three steps into a pool and suddenly dropping off into the deep end.
Fortunately, Starcraft 2 employs one of the best matchmaking systems for a computer game. The game will have you play 5 placement matches and then put you in a league of similarly skilled players. Even if you’re one handed and incompetent, you’re supposed to be matched up with someone equally as inept. Eventually the goal is to have you winning the same amount of games as you’re losing.
This is as far as I’m going into the multiplayer component as there’s literally thousands of hours one could spend reading and talking about it. If you manage to get this far into the experience, there a wealth of communities for you to discover and engage in.
Oh, let’s not forget the fact that Starcraft 2 is extensively moddable. And it’s not confined to just new maps or even real time strategy game variants. Enterprising developers have sculpted amazing games with the engine, such as a 3rd person zombie shooter, a recreation of the Playstation Network game flOw, and even a version of Final Fantasy.
All of this adds up to an extremely comprehensive gaming experience that can be enjoyed whether you’re a casual gamer or a professional player with groupies. Even if you’re not going to touch competitive multiplayer, there’s enough compelling content within the single player component to be worthwhile.
