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Review: ‘StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty’
It’s a testament to the brilliant, irresistible game design going on at the house of World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment, that I even finished the single-player campaign of the PC/Mac game “StarCraft II.”
The game is a real-time strategy game and I have found, over years of growing frustration, that I’m simply terrible at them. Games like “StarCraft II,” “Command & Conquer: Red Alert” and “Company of Heroes” require the ability to juggle lots of activity across a map at one time and to be a good micromanager. These are not my strong suits.
But “StarCraft II,” the long-awaited sequel to the 1998 original, announced in 2007, is so finely crafted and contains cinematics and a storyline that were so enthralling that I waded through more than two dozen missions just so I could see how it all played out.
Very well, it turns out. The tale of a space renegade’s quest to free the universe from a human dictator and alien swarms (led by his ex-girlfriend, who’s been turned into an evil “Queen of Blades”) is told with top-notch art direction, voice acting and even spots of well-placed humor. It easily beats the thrills of most big-budget action and sci-fi movies and draws you in with great characters and missions that tie together seamlessly with the narrative unfolding around them.
After running into some missions that I had to replay over and over after crushing defeats, I ended up playing most of “Wings of Liberty” on “Casual,” the easiest skill level. With my stress level down to levels that put me out of heart attack-danger range, I was able to appreciate the gameplay and to progress. It’s solid, with just the right amount of new challenges per missions, plus enough variety in its environments and new troops to keep you from getting bored. There are even some secret missions and branching storylines that aren’t required to complete the game, but which add more shades to the story and which provide you with more cash to upgrade your troops.
The game’s menus are supplemented by gorgeous environments on your space vessel where you can interact with other characters, watch humorous news reports and commercials, view your mission history and even play an arcade game in the ship’s Cantina. There’s also an economy of weapons, troop and laboratory updates that contribute to your success on the field.
After completing the single-player campaign after many nights of playing, I finally dipped my toe into the multiplayer portion of the game. Of course, I was soundly defeated, even after honing what I thought were some formidable skills. The multiplayer portion of the game is where the Pros go to compete, but even if you only stick with the single-player game, you’ll be more than satisfied.
The game is a power hog, however. In order to enjoy the game at its full graphical glory, you’ll need a very powerful PC or Mac. My high-end PC suffered on some of the more frantic missions with some slowdown.
The worst news for someone like me, who finished the single-player missions and doesn’t have the stomach for multiplayer, is that the second and third parts of the “StarCraft II” trilogy are likely years away. Blizzard hasn’t announced release dates for the next installments, “Heart of the Swarm” (focused on the Zerg alien campaign) and “Legacy of the Void” (the Protoss campaign), but nobody expects the next one will be here before 2012.
It’s a long wait, but like the 12-year gestation period for “StarCraft II,” I have a feeling it’ll be worth it.
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By Pylo
September 21, 2010 3:12 PM | Link to this
If you're a bit intimidated by the multiplayer aspect, you could always find some friends and create a custom co-op game where you all compete as a team against AI opponents (from very easy to insane). I find working with someone to defeat a computer is a nice way to ease into the multiplayer. Once you feel comfortable with that, try and take on some human opponents (Battle.net does a reasonable job of setting you up with equally skilled opponents, from novice to pro).