The long-awaited return of StarCraft has been rumored for years, and now is finally official. Blizzard officially announced on May 19, 2007 the sequel to its incredible strategy title Starcraft.
Gameplay
According to its creators, StarCraft II is designed to be the "ultimate competitive real-time strategy game", building on the successes enjoyed by its predecessor, StarCraft. It will feature the return of the three races from the original game Protoss, Terran, and Zerg; Blizzard states these will be the only playable races in the game. StarCraft II is also designed to focus more heavily on the multiplayer aspect, when compared to the original StarCraft. The changes include overall improvement in Battle.net, a new competitive "ladder" system for ranked games, and new matchmaking mechanics designed to "match-up" players of equal skill levels. In addition, the replay function, which allows players to record and review past games, will be improved. Blizzard has also stated they are monitoring fan feedback to the game's revealed features and are taking such feedback into consideration, which has already led to some features being altered.
StarCraft II will continue its predecessor's use of cinematic cut scenes (pre-rendered, high-quality CGI movies) between levels to advance the plot, while also improving the quality of in-game cut scenes (rendered on-the-fly using the same game engine as the graphics in the game proper) within levels the player is striving to complete. Blizzard states that with the new graphics engine that StarCraft II uses to render the gameplay, they "can actually create in-game cut-scenes of near-cinematic quality".
So far, only a handful of units and mechanics have been officially confirmed in the Seoul video demonstration and website, but a number of others were briefly shown in the demo. An improved system of "doodads", small background features made solely for realism and environmental depth, was also shown. Improvements included advanced scenery allocation and more detailed and involved space terrain, such as floating space platforms with planets and asteroids in the background. Small cliffs, extensions, and even advertising signs were shown to have been improved and refined.
Units
StarCraft II will feature approximately the same number of units as the original game. Some units from the original game will return, some featuring new upgrades and abilities. For example, the Protoss Zealot, a melee unit from the original game, now has the ability to "charge" into combat; while other units have been replaced, or re-imagined. Other unnamed units have been removed entirely, while units from each race are planned to be dropped. Other changes to unit design have been inspired by story events in StarCraft and its expansion, Brood War, replacing old units with new, or renamed, versions which sport different attributes and abilities.
The video demonstration also revealed new abilities that encourage more complex interaction with the game environment. Among these are the inclusion of units that can traverse varying levels of terrain, or that become more powerful after gaining a number of kills, or that have the capability to teleport short distances for pursuit or escape. Protoss units can be deployed nearly instantly into combat areas using a specialized structure.
The new Protoss Colossus, a spider like unit that houses its control center atop four spear-like legs, seems more than equipped to deal with your everyday Zerg Rush, using a beam ray pointed at the floor. Preoccupied with ground threats, the Colossus is hugely vulnerable to air attack.
You get the idea, it's a game of counters, as is every RTS out there. Blizzard's point is that you get good by learning the counters, you get great by developing your reflexes and making eight decisions at once. The Protoss also have access to Phase Prisms a mobile shields that can float around and protect areas as you see fit. When you combine this with the ability to "warp in" your units, you can more or less create a Protoss army anywhere in the field.
Development
The development of StarCraft II was announced on May 19, 2007, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea. StarCraft II is being developed for concurrent release on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Mac OS X. Blizzard has not announced a release date, but they have stated that the game will not be released in 2007. It has been stated that development on the game began in 2003, shortly after Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne was released. The retail development is in the early stages, but the core game is "very far along" and can currently be played in multiplayer mode.
StarCraft II will support the DirectX 9 (Pixel Shader 2.0) software and will be fully compatible with DirectX 10 as well, although the development team has not yet decided whether to add exclusive DirectX 10 graphic effects. The Mac client will utilize OpenGL, instead. The game will also feature the Havok physics engine,allowing realistic interaction with the environment, such as "debris rolling down a ramp".
Gameplay Movie 1
Gameplay Movie 2
StarCraft 2 looks to be one of the greatest games to hit the Real-time Strategy scene. It will definitely leave it's mark in gaming history with it's unbelievable graphics and upgrade to the units. I will be on the lookout for all the little news leaks, updates with units and features. So keep an eye on the Gotgames site as I believe this game will be a massive hit in Australia. I ensure Gotgames will be focusing on the RTS games also, so obviously are bound to have some great SC2 competitions ran in the future. So stay tuned folks and happy gaming.
-saBa