Forget StarCraft’s reputation as a punishing, multiplayer click-fest
played only by rocket-powered Korean pro-gamers.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty includes a lengthy and compelling singleplayer campaign, alongside some of the best multiplayer and co-op functionality I’ve seen. It offers a kind of baffling but welcome nostalgia. It looks, sounds, plays and feels like a game you may have loved from over ten years ago – the original StarCraft.
When you sit down to play it for the first time, if you’re a PC gamer of any experience at all, you’ll immediately understand what’s going on, and what you need to do to succeed.
Let’s examine that campaign. You play Jim Raynor, veteran space marshall, part-time cowboy. He is world weary, drunk and grizzled. He has faced multiple threats to the galaxy, from human dictators and rebellious traitors, to the repellent Zerg – squishy cartoon bugs that can infest a planet and tear it apart. And there are his old sparring partners and occasional allies the Protoss: mystical space-elves. In the original StarCraft, Raynor and the Protoss formed a loose alliance against the Zerg. That’s all been forgotten. Now, the human dictators are being dicks, the Protoss are back on the scene, and the Zerg are advancing. It’s the perfect time to lead an army.
And what an army. In the campaign you (mostly) lead the Terran forces – heavy metal space warriors that start every battle with a cigar fixed firmly to their bottom lip.
The Terran units at your command are brilliant. I love the Marauders: robot-suited men with rocket launchers for hands. And I adore the Siege Tanks, which drive into position before planting extended feet firmly into the ground and pounding away with an upturned artillery battery. I think the basic marines are hilarious, particularly when upgraded with a small shield and dosed with stim packs (they run faster, shoot quicker and die easier). And I’ve got a complete soft spot for the Firebat: a singleplayer-only soldier with flamethrowers for fists.
Terran units ooze expression. It’s not just in their barks and responses to being clicked on. It’s in their art and animation. They jog into battle, arms swinging, eager to please. They die in glorious balls of goo. When a tank takes one too many rounds, it doesn’t just fall apart, it explodes. StarCraft II is intensely readable – the results of every artillery shell and Void Ray beam instantly apparent.
click here to download starcraft II
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty includes a lengthy and compelling singleplayer campaign, alongside some of the best multiplayer and co-op functionality I’ve seen. It offers a kind of baffling but welcome nostalgia. It looks, sounds, plays and feels like a game you may have loved from over ten years ago – the original StarCraft.
When you sit down to play it for the first time, if you’re a PC gamer of any experience at all, you’ll immediately understand what’s going on, and what you need to do to succeed.
Let’s examine that campaign. You play Jim Raynor, veteran space marshall, part-time cowboy. He is world weary, drunk and grizzled. He has faced multiple threats to the galaxy, from human dictators and rebellious traitors, to the repellent Zerg – squishy cartoon bugs that can infest a planet and tear it apart. And there are his old sparring partners and occasional allies the Protoss: mystical space-elves. In the original StarCraft, Raynor and the Protoss formed a loose alliance against the Zerg. That’s all been forgotten. Now, the human dictators are being dicks, the Protoss are back on the scene, and the Zerg are advancing. It’s the perfect time to lead an army.
And what an army. In the campaign you (mostly) lead the Terran forces – heavy metal space warriors that start every battle with a cigar fixed firmly to their bottom lip.
The Terran units at your command are brilliant. I love the Marauders: robot-suited men with rocket launchers for hands. And I adore the Siege Tanks, which drive into position before planting extended feet firmly into the ground and pounding away with an upturned artillery battery. I think the basic marines are hilarious, particularly when upgraded with a small shield and dosed with stim packs (they run faster, shoot quicker and die easier). And I’ve got a complete soft spot for the Firebat: a singleplayer-only soldier with flamethrowers for fists.
Terran units ooze expression. It’s not just in their barks and responses to being clicked on. It’s in their art and animation. They jog into battle, arms swinging, eager to please. They die in glorious balls of goo. When a tank takes one too many rounds, it doesn’t just fall apart, it explodes. StarCraft II is intensely readable – the results of every artillery shell and Void Ray beam instantly apparent.
click here to download starcraft II
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