Finally, after 10 years of waiting, we have our sequel. This game has been one of the most talked about in recent years. With speculated release dates falling through and the big shocker that it would be split into three separate games I truly wondered if we would ever see it. Starcraft II is here now and I believe its here to stay.
The New
Blizzard spent a lot of time developing new units for WoL. Most notably:
Terran
- Marauder (Heavily armored ground units with a slow ability)
- Reaper (Extremely mobile gunners with abilities to jump up ledges)
- Hellion (Combination of Fire Bats and Vultures)
- Thor (Late-game unit with a siege-like stance for heavy damage)
- Viking (Mix between Goliaths and Valkyries in two separate modes.)
- Medivac (Replacing medics)
- Raven (Detection unit with turrets)
- Banshee (Valkyrie analog)
Protoss
- Stalker (Dragoon analog with the ability to blink)
- Sentry (Ground to ground unit with the ability to shield other units)
- Immortal (Heavy armored ground unit)
- Warp Prism (Shuttle analog with the ability to set itself up as a pylon)
- Colossus (Large aeo ground unit with the ability to walk up cliffs)
- Phoenix (Corsair analog)
- Void Ray (Air unit with an increased damage over time ability)
- Mothership (Late-game unit with Arbiter-like cloaking and heavy damage)
Zerg
- Queen (Defense unit witht he ability to spawn larvae)
- Baneling (Trap unit that can blow up on enemies)
- Overseer (Altered Overlord with greater detection and speed; also can infiltrate enemies)
- Roach (Ranged ground unit with quick regeneration)
- Infestor (Mind control unit that can move while burrowed)
- Corruptor (Late-game unit that causes enemies to take more damage)
- Brood Lord (Gaurdian analog with living missiles)
These units are all new to the single and multi-player scene. Most of the old standard units are also in the multiplayer but many of the units with new analogs are only seen in the single player game. It is clear that blizzard is trying to phaze these new units in but still give fans of the original attention.
The Game
Starcraft II is very much the same as Starcraft and Broadwar were in terms of play style and strategy. Obviously with new units comes new strategies but when sitting down to play it is easy to feel at home. The multiplayer is every bit as engaging and the new ladder systems over Battle.net are great. Whether you’re fighting in Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, or Diamond you’re in for an exhilarating battle.
The single player campaign is extremely compelling and it is obvious that story was no sacrificed in the development process. The new areas in between mission where you get to explore as Jim Rayner are a fresh taste on story telling.
The Bad
The main issue I have come across in this game is the main issue in almost every online multi-player game…balance. All I hear from friends and rivals is how zerg is weak, terran is strong, and protoss is fun. These issues are expected and presumably with patches they can all be fixed. Also, there is a lot of “cheese” being incorporated into the game currently with a goal of boosting stats rather than having a good game. Yet that issue is really up to the community to solve.
The Score
For me, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is a 9/10. The graphics are inviting. The gameplay is exhilarating. The story is immersive. This is a game to buy as soon as possible. You can buy it here. If you decide you only want to rent you can grab it from Gamefly
