Starcraft II

I'm going to be attempting to work full time and then pursue a degree in Software Engineering So I'm contemplating cutting back on my posting. Possibly even putting the blog on hiatus. If you want to weigh in on the subject post a comment please.

Concept: 3/5

There was no real amazing concept behind Starcraft II. Make a blockbuster sequel to a hit Real Time Strategy Game that has captured the attention of nations. I'm a huge fan of the original game and was incredibly excited when they announced the sequel but I have to admit. The concept wasn't exactly lightning striking the brain.

Graphics: 2/5*

Unfortunately I have just recently moved so I only have my laptop working at the moment and it's so weak that the graphics are running on the lowest settings. This makes the game quite ugly I have to admit. It still works and the cinematics are still pretty, but during the game the graphics are only tolerable at best. I'm willing to assume that the problem is because I'm running the graphics at the lowest setting so when I can get my desktop up and running again I'll revise this section of the review.

Sound: 4/5

The sound is sound. Everything works the way it should plus it's good to just hear Raynor, Mengsk, and Kerrigan's voices again. The humor of the units saying silly things if you click on them enough is also a point in favor of the audio. Making the sound of this game not just solid but good as well.

Playability: 5/5

This is probably one of the best playing games of this style of RTS. A lot of modern RTS games have moved towards Morale of the units and cover. There aren't that many twitch quick button RTSes anymore like what Starcraft came to embody. But this is probably the best fine tuned game of this style to ever come out and probably ever will come out in this style since the rest of the genre has moved on to a different style.

Entertainment: 5/5

If you're a fan of the first game you will love to see what has happened to your beloved characters. The story is great and continues the saga of Raynor and crew well. The multiplayer is another great entertaining experience. Especially with the new battle.net system Blizzard has set up that lets the community create new maps and sell them to make the online community grow and expand beyond just the RTS genre.

X-Factor: 4/5

I was never really big on competitive online playing of Starcraft. I would enjoy a good comp stomp every now and then and really enjoyed the custom maps, especially the Diplomacy maps. But I definitely feel like the comp stomp nature of the online game is gone completely. You can go toe to toe in a 2 human versus 2 computer player match or even a 3v3 match as well. But you can't out number the players or outnumber the computers. It will always be "fair." And while I was singing the praises of the custom maps earlier, something feels wrong. When I go to the custom maps screen it feels like there's only half a dozen maps to choose from when in the original there were dozens if not more. I'm sure there are more but it feels like there's less. I'm sure the fact that the game is so new doesn't help the lack of variety of custom maps. But I know if I keep playing the game online it will only get better and better.

Total: 23/30 Very Good

The game is still a great example of RTS and should be bought by anyone who is a fan of the genre. If you're wondering if you would like RTS games, buy this one to understand how great the past of the genre was and get Dawn of War II or Company of Heroes to understand how good the RTS genre has become.