StarCraft II Wings of Liberty: Best Real-Time Strategy Game 2010
StarCraft brand has earlier generated nationally televised competitions, a professional league complete with large cash prizes, and even a television station. Now StarCraft II is all set to woo gamers again. So get set for the sci-fi real time strategy game to drive you crazy again as it is always difficult to compete with a legend.
When StarCraft first came out in 1998, it was well received and sold around 1.5 million in its first year, so a sequel seemed inevitable. And so we have StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty which offers one of the best games in the real-time strategy genre ever made.
Game History:
The original game was set in 25th century. Humanity has come to be known as Terrans and naturally, we are still fighting amongst ourselves. Amid the struggle for power, a Marshall on a backwater planet named Jim Raynor begins to fight an alien swarm called the Zerg. He soon crosses paths with the oppressive Confederacy of Man, and shortly after, Raynor joins a growing revolution that is fighting both the Confederacy and the Zerg. Raynor is soon betrayed and leaves to form his own paramilitary group called “Raynor’s Raiders”.
It soon emerges that the man Raynor is following, Arcturus Mengsk, is using the Zerg as a weapon and sending them to attack enemies of the Confederacy. Megsk soon betrays everyone and reveals that he will do anything to gain power, including sacrificing his second-in-command, Sarah Kerrigan, in order to destroy the Confederacy and seize power in the subsequent chaos. Mengsk forms the Terran Dominian and becomes it’s emperor, and Kerrigan- who is also Raynor’s friend and burgeoning love interest- is captured by the Zerg and mutated into the Queen of Blades.
Soon a third race, the Protoss, enter the fight but the three races constantly find themselves in combat against each other. An uneasy alliance of sorts forms between the Terrans and the Protoss, and especially between Raynor and a Protoss commander, Tassadar.
Together with Raynor, the Protoss attack the Zerg Overmind and eventually destroy the Zerg threat. That is the incredibly abbreviated version of a series that has had 12 years to grow through expansion packs, novels and years of fans’ imaginations to gestate in.
Graphics:
Graphics are solid and look great, the character models look good, and the maps and locations are engrossing. The sound is also top notch, and the jukebox in the cantina will frequently play songs that are original to the game, including one that talks about shooting Zerg. It is details like that which will make you smile, but you’ll quickly forget about them and move on. StarCraft II’s toughest competition is likely to be the expectations it faces. If you come in without any hype, you will likely be blown away.
Multiplayer:
When the StarCraft II beta came out, it was hard to get a real impression of the online side of the game. It was a beta, after all, and the point was to check the technical side of the game more than the gameplay or “fun factor”. After playing the beta, it seems obvious that Blizzard knew exactly what they were doing.
The multiplayer aspect of the game is an incredibly well polished experience, and one of the best online games ever made. While the campaign might look great, and the cinematics are what you will see in the ads, it is really the multiplayer that will make this game a worthy successor, or a failure. In truth, only time will tell if players fully accept StarCraft II. The original became something of a phenomenon that took on a life of its own, but Blizzard has made sure to do their part and offer the tools to make this game the new “go to” game for RTS fans.