StarCraft 2 Review

On March 31, 1998, a historic global event took place - Blizzard launched StarCraft. At that time, the RTS genre was really just emerging and, in addition to the battle of the titans (Westwood / C & C vs. Blizzard / Warcraft), such projects as Age of Empires, Z, Total Annihilation, The Settlers ... had a huge impact on it.

After 12 years, we can confidently say that it was StarCraft that became the most successful representative of the genre and, in general, one of the most successful and successful games of all time - we won’t count any awards, just remember 9.5 million copies sold. By the way, about 4.5 million boxes with the game were sold in Korea, where the first StarCraft became a real national sport. Professional players there are rich and popular no less than other celebrities, and the matches are broadcast on national television.

As you know, it is not surprising that millions of players were waiting for the offensive on July 27 with bated breath. And when expectations are overstated as much as they can be overstated, this inevitably leads to disappointment.


Of course, the main reason for the “eternal” youth of the first StarCraft is not the storyline campaign or technical perfection, but the almost perfect balance of three unique races in multiplayer modes. But, despite this, a huge number of veterans for 12 years waited for the continuation of the story of the conflict in the Koprulu sector of our distant descendants - the Terrans, the noble and technologically advanced Protoss and the giant bloodthirsty beetles - Zerg. By the way, if you forgot something, or if you were too young in those days - watch this video , which tells the story of StarCraft and Brood War.

We can safely say that everyone, except the most avid duelists, was waiting for a new generation campaign from Blizzard and were not ready to accept anything less. But before we go through the story and single-player mode, it is worth remembering that Wings of Liberty is only the first part of the trilogy, and therefore, final conclusions cannot be drawn.

However, you cannot help but notice that little remains of the epic sweep of the first game in the StarCraft 2 campaign. The main emphasis in the new part of the series is made on individual characters, their experiences and personal tragedies. Numerous novelties were not in vain, and the Blizzard screenwriters clearly tried to give Hollywood a touch - with a pronounced protagonist, a love story and colorful supporting actors. Many will surely be disappointed with what StarCraft “crushed”, but it can be assumed that this is just an introduction and the epic will return to Legacy of the Void.


If you expect unexpected plot twists and numerous puzzles, you will be disappointed. Even with all the reservations, the StarCraft 2 screenwriters went too far — the world has probably not seen so many clichés since the time of black and white cinema. Just one step separates Blizzard from the badges: Hero, Faithful Helper, Naive Love, Brilliant Engineer, Scientist-fanatic, Honest Journalist ... It’s clear that this can be called irony or sarcasm, but it seems that even schoolchildren will not take what is happening seriously.

Some details are designed to remind you that an epic war between races is raging around. However, news releases rather retell the contents of the previous mission than inform about the course of the interplanetary conflict, and tragic events on a galactic scale still do not cause a sense of ownership, unlike the sameMass Effect with a similar intrigue.

It is unlikely that a company like Blizzard did not notice these shortcomings. StarCraft 2 was clearly made for a mass audience, the game should be understandable in Asia and America, and in Europe from small to large. Therefore, it is difficult to blame the scriptwriters for not being offered an intellectual thriller, but a typical blockbuster. Don't you think that Avatar is a bad movie? And you are unlikely to see at least one plot twist less than 10 minutes before it is shown.


And if you were waiting for StarCraft 2 to provide a high-quality presentation of the storyline with good directing, then you will not be disappointed and really feel like aboard a space cruiser, in a bar on a provincial planet or in a field camp in enemy territory. Blizzard’s attention to detail does its job, and all sorts of little things create the right atmosphere and fit perfectly into the gameplay.

Therefore, 99 out of 100 users will enjoy the passage of the campaign - the vibrant atmosphere of the space western will remind you of the Firefly series, and the quality of localization can even be called the standard. Of course, if you have the knowledge and the ability to appreciate the original, then you should prefer the English version of the game, but believe me, everything is translated into the domestic StarCraft 2, and it is translated with high quality and with soul. You probably could not imagine a game from Blizzard with Russian inscriptions on game buildings and synchronization of facial expressions for your native language - absolutely everything is translated, and you will not find a single inscription in English, and certainly you will not hear. By the way, the selection of dubbing actors is also beyond praise - the dialogs leave far behind most of the domestic films.

Needless to say, from a technical point of view, the game is executed flawlessly? Screensavers on the game engine far surpass everything that you saw earlier in this genre, even the wonderful Dawn of War 2 . It's no secret that Blizzard is able to make great videos, and their skill is shown throughout the Wings of Liberty campaign.


Fortunately, in addition to watching dialogs and videos, Wings of Liberty can also be played. Designers have a non-linear approach to choosing missions, so, as a rule, you will choose one of two or three available missions. But do not worry, this does not mean that they are mutually exclusive - you can go through almost everything (in StarCraft 2 there are only three alternative missions plus one secret).

At the beginning of the journey, you have only a handful of Marines, but in almost every new mission you will open new units that you can freely use in subsequent tasks and improve in the Arsenal and the Laboratory. Thus, the sequence of missions depends on the set of units available in each of them. By the way, a significant part of the units available in the campaign, you will not find in the multiplayer modes of StarCraft 2.

The strategic part of the campaign consists of researching the Zerg and Protoss technologies in the Laboratory, as well as in the use of credits earned on missions in the Arsenal and on the mercenary market (elite versions of ordinary squads).


Since you don’t have enough money for all purchases in the Arsenal, you will have to choose exactly the ones that are most suitable for your style of play - infantry, equipment, aviation or a mixture - it's up to you. But you can hire all the mercenaries, so that they can fill in the gaps in your strategy. Of course, I would like to be able to earn more money on missions for masterly completing and completing additional tasks, but this, perhaps, would be a bust - the achievement system is also enough.

As for scientific research, it also will not work out within the framework of one passage of Wings of Liberty. The fact is that the technologies of Zerg and Protoss are divided into five levels and at each level you will be forced to choose only one of two possible studies. Thus, you will be faced with a difficult choice - to take additional armor for the bunker or equip it with an automatic turret, choose an instant construction for storage or increase the speed of extraction of spring ...


Neither the Arsenal, nor the Laboratory have a “right” or “wrong” choice - all options are attractive and facilitate the process of completing tasks, which is especially critical at high levels of difficulty. Unfortunately, to see all the technologies in action, you will have to go through the campaign again, which is really difficult to call a punishment - almost all StarCraft 2 missions are original, and you still want to go through them at a higher level of difficulty in order to earn new achievements and try new tactics.

Since we are talking about missions, it’s worth recognizing that the designers did their best - you’ll encounter a massive invasion of zombies, go down into underground tunnels, and take part in operations to extract resources on an unstable planet, where lava periodically floods the lowlands ... you will practically not have to perform classic assignments with mass buildings and huge "packs" of units. And at high levels of difficulty, where there is already no room for error, you have to sweat pretty much to just complete the basic tasks, not to mention the additional ones.


Oddly enough, the quality of the development of artificial intelligence (AI) raises questions. The level of “intelligence” of the units can be judged by two important criteria - the algorithm for finding the path and the choice of goals. Both of them are not perfect.

On the one hand, in StarCraft 2, squads learned to part and let allies through, then returning to their place, and your workers and doctors will “repair” everything that is within the game screen. On the other hand, AI fails when it is necessary to find a path through a multi-level terrain, especially when it comes to Reapers.

As for the choice of the target, the AI ​​is really surprising - one gets the feeling that the goals are chosen randomly, and the number of remaining "hits", armor and other little things are not taken into account at all. You can safely leave the wounded soldiers in the group - the next wave will try to finish them off, if only by chance.

As you know, these problems concern not only the campaign, but also fights with AI, and the behavior of your squads in battles with real rivals. It is hoped that Blizzard will make the work necessary errors, especially considering that there are already more advanced algorithms created by users, for example, Green Tea AI . And if you plan to train “on cats” before rushing into the pool of online battles, use the improved scripts.


So we come to the main point, for which StarCraft 2 was worth the wait for more than 10 years, and thanks to what the next 10 years will play. Multiplayer modes are exactly what made StarCraft great. Dueling, team matches, tournaments, custom modifications are the very part of the giant iceberg that is hiding under the water.

Blizzard was surely tempted to leave things unchanged, given the perfect balance and millions of fans. The game engine was updated, the network functionality was expanded - what else is needed? Nevertheless, picking up a scalpel, the developers with confident movements removed many old units from the game, then added new ones, and taught some new tricks to some old “dogs”.

Unfortunately, if you think that having gone through the campaign at the highest level of difficulty and learned to play for the Terrans, you will find cruel disappointment - in the multiplayer game you will not find half of the units that are familiar with story missions. Anticipating a similar situation, Blizzard has prepared a wonderful guide for beginners and a special game mode - Challenges, which should prepare you for the cruel world of duels.


There is good news - when you, having read the theory and practiced enough against AI, decide to challenge a live opponent, you will end up in the special StarCraft 2 training league. If you feel confident, you can skip this “training camp” and go straight to the next initiation stage - five qualifying matches. Based on the results of these matches, you will be identified in one of four leagues (bronze, silver, gold and platinum), each of which is divided into divisions. There, presumably, you will find equal rivals and gradually rise to a more prestigious league or lower to a weaker one.

StarCraft veterans will surely note the improved dynamics of the game. For example, in addition to ordinary minerals, there are special rich fields where the production rate is much higher. These tidbits are usually located in the open places of the card, which greatly complicates the control over them. In addition, the starting locations now have two Vespen geysers, but then the gas now ends with time, which in fact forces you to get out of your place and expand your possessions. Add here important locations such as Zel-Naga towers and you will get war across the map, and not just on the approaches to the main bases. Given the above, an increase in the mobility of the Zerg and Protoss was very helpful.

It’s too early to draw final conclusions - too few games have been played, and many “pros” are just studying StarCraft 2 - but it’s already clear that a solid foundation has been laid, and there is nothing that cannot be fixed with patches. By the way, currently the matches last for 15-20 minutes, which once again emphasizes the dynamic nature of the new game.


It seems that nothing can be more important for the long life of SC2 than high-quality duels and professional leagues, but there is something else that extended the life of the first StarCraft and still maintains fire in the veins of Warcraft 3. You probably guessed that we are talking about custom maps and modifications created using the game editor.

Perhaps you don’t know, but it was for the first “old man” that the Aeon of Strife map was made, which formed the basis of the Defense of the Ancients modification based on WC3. The new editor gives users truly enormous opportunities, allowing you to create not just maps and campaigns, but also completely new games. Suffice it to say that it was with the help of this editor that the arcade Lost Viking was made, which can be found in the cabin of Hyperion.

The other day, Blizzard organized a special contest for authors of maps and modifications, but some prototypes of future hits have already appeared - there is even a real network shooter with a third-person view, and the first versions of DotA have arrived.


Unfortunately, several barrels of tar were found for the barrel of network modes. The new Battle.net brought some unpleasant surprises that threaten the bright future of StarCraft 2.

Firstly, the players were divided by continent, which cannot but upset. Of course, it is difficult to assess the load on servers and channels while connecting millions of users, but it is still very sad, and a company like Blizzard should be able to solve such problems.

Secondly, it’s now almost impossible to talk to a player who is not on your friends list. One can imagine that the developers were simply trying to protect players from the flood of selective curses that could often be heard in Warcraft 3 or StarCraft. However, this seriously complicates the search for new friends to play outside the usual circle of friends. Even integration with Facebook does not help, unless you have several hundred friends there. By the way, this “trick” can play a trick on you if your work colleagues ask you for a contact list in SC2 ...

Finally, thirdly, the game modes on the local network have disappeared from StarCraft 2. But computer clubs and cyber cafes have made a huge contribution to the growing popularity of SC. Whether pros agree to play for serious prizes in the face of possible delays (“lags”) remains a question. It’s scary to imagine, but the new generation of StarCraft 2 players won’t know how cool it is to give a partner a slap in the back for another blunder in a team game.

In fairness, it should be noted that the developers promised to fix the first two points over time, but so far no exact dates have been announced. But, you know, you will not recall the drawbacks of Battle.net when you have headphones with a microphone and several friends online. The system for selecting opponents works like a clock, and you are unlikely to wait for the match to begin for more than 15 seconds (not counting the time the map loads). The leagues will sort players over time, and you are guaranteed to receive a worthy opponent for a duel or team game in a matter of moments.


Despite the predictable plot, which raises some concerns about the remaining parts, Wings of Liberty offers an exciting campaign that you probably come to pass more than once. Add to this the magnificent editor and network modes that have everything to surpass the successes of the eminent ancestor - StarCraft 2 did not change the old formula, because it did not need to be changed.

And if the first great StarCraft came out only this year, it would be just like StarCraft 2. This game proves that there are timeless values, and some games are so successful and attractive that they do not go out of fashion for many years. You can be sure that millions will play in SC2 ... until the third part comes out.

In an ideal world where all developers are as good as Blizzard, you could put StarCraft 2 less than 10 points, but even today, when high-budget games spawn like mushrooms after the rain, this game simply does not have real competitors.

Verdict: 10/10 (Phenomenal!)