GC Leipzig: Starcraft 2 Preview

Starcraft 2 already has us drooling by the pint. Announced this year in Korea in front of a crowd quickly approaching hysteria, Blizzard “simply” settled in reproducing its Blizz-con presentation, which took place a little while ago. Here is a brief recap of what we know about Starcraft 2 and our first impressions on the multiplayer, gleaned from an all-too-short play in Leipzig.

We start with the single player campaign, which made the first Starcraft game a legend. During the press conference last Wednesday, we were able to learn how it will pan out with the Terran at least. Here we are on a Jim Raynor’s Battlecruiser. The surviving hero of the first instalment has since developed something of a drinking problem, but he’s essentially the same character, faced with a new task.

We’re in the proximity of a planet and it is time we found out what we are here for. One of the new features introduced is that you can now interact with the other people present on board, more in the manner of an adventure game than a usual real time strategy. They’ll give you their advice and won’t hesitate to tell you what their opinion is. Some will even dislike your little friend, Jim [euphemism police ? –Ed].

The Battlecruiser-HQ is also a place where you can buy technology to build units. Yes, in Starcraft 2, the campaign will not immediately give you access to all units like most RTS singleplayer campaigns ; you have to acquire them as you go.

You’ll unlock Viking for one of the singleplayer missions where you need units as comfortable on land than in the air, or tanks for a defence mission. Where does all this money come from ? Another new element, funds are drawn from planets conquered during the campaign progression. It’s a feature we’re hoping to see carried over for tournament multiplayer.

At least for the Terran, the system of conquering planets is quite similar to what we saw in the singleplayer campaign of Empire at War. Raynor’s Battlecruiser moves in a galaxy sprinkled with planets, each of which contain specific missions. There are planets which are compulsory for plot progression but most will be tangential and will bring you precious war treasures (in credits) facilitating the story.

Do these secondary planets have an impact on the scenario ? We still don’t know. Blizzard was very quiet with anything that touched the campaign. The same is true of our with regard the Zerg and Protoss, who don’t collect credits with planets. There are still many questions left on the campaign (will it be possible to come across Zerg or Protoss ships ? Will there be space battles ? How will you defend a planet ? etc),it seems even Blizzard doesn’t have all the answers as there are still many uncertain things concerning the gameplay conception.

All that we know is that Kerrigan will make a comeback, that we will discover the secret of the Xel-Naga’s disappearance and that the powerful Zeratul will make a thunderous comeback. Fans will be in heaven.

Minor victory, it’s still as gory as before.

Once this presentation was over we ran to the stand where it was possible to play the multiplayer. Here we were two against two, with the choice between Terrrans and Protoss. We chose the latter. When Blizzard said they didn’t want to disrupt the habits of the players they weren’t lying.

The changes at the start of the game are minimal ; from the price of units to buildings which is identical to those in the first game. Pylons still cost 100 Crystals, Zealots are still the same price as ten years ago. From the building icons to the technology tree, barely anything has changed. It’s still necessary to build a forge to build ion cannons.

With the Protoss at least, the changes seem to be done at high level, the Robotics Facility will take a more important place (for example, the Colossus that we saw in the first gameplay video), but the Stargate will see some newcomers too. Not everything has been implemented (it was impossible to access to the Zealots speed upgrade for example), which might bias some opinions. It’s important to remember though that the game isn’t finished, we may see dramatic changes in the run up to release. Really, we leave Starcraft 2 with mixed feelings. Let’s be honest : we are very far from having seen Starcraft 2 in anything like the detail of Company of Heroes or Command and Conquer 3. It’s certainly not bad though ; we’ll vouch for that.

We can easily recognise the graphics that are so particular to Blizzard, a Warhammeresque mixture of the vaguely cartoon and inspired artwork we’re used to. It’s a pleasure for fans to find these old familiar buildings and units modelled in a classic 3D style after so long.

The décor wasn’t a model of beauty but its coherence with the Starcraft universe and the ambiance it generates is compensation enough. Thankfully there was no lag, not even a slight slowing down during large battles. It’s for the best ; Blizzard has said that it hopes for Starcraft 2 will run on modest machines (which should keep the floor open for competitive players of limited means).

Our opinion ? enthusiastic, yet reserved

Let’s hope that Blizzard puts a lot of effort into the finishing touches to make Starcraft 2 a worthy successor to its older brother.

Frankly, we couldn’t play long enough to get a proper measure of the game. So much of Starcraft’s success is built around it’s careful balances that it would be impossible to say if this aspect has been preserved. That said, Blizzard seems to be well on the way to making a more than adequate remake of the first Starcraft : not many new features but some changes in size (for example the Protoss’ mothership) and in continuity (for example the Zealots’ new powers) might well prove a winning combination.

Is this bad ? Commercially speaking, no. Rather than completely revolutionise the mechanic, Blizzard concentrated on the basics. Having an absorbing campaign (we can really trust them on this one) and a multiplayer that is effective and that nearly everyone already knows goes a long way. It’s the solution that should please as many fans as possible.

Doubtless it will disappoint some who were relying on Blizzard for more innovation… There is still the issue of the release date ; which is at the moment the rather vague, “When it’s done”. Following the Blizzard game tradition, the developers have not announced a release date or even the state of game development.

After having played it for a short while, it is certain that the game is not due for release this year and probably not for a good while next year either. There is still a lot to be done on the with regards the game’s balance and most importantly the studio doesn’t seem to have defined all the basics of the gameplay. We will almost certainly talk about it again at next year’s game convention…