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Revision as of 02:49, 24 October 2012
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is a real-time strategy game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. [1] It is the sequel to the original Starcraft series and the first game of the Starcraft II trilogy. [2] Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm and Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void are the other two unreleased titles in the series. [3] The game sold over 1 million copies in the first 24 hours of release, and holds the record for fastest-selling strategy game of all time. [4]
Just like in the original Starcraft, players must collect resources, build structures, and train units with which to crush their opponents. [5] Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty features a campaign (single player) mode, online multiplayer, and an editor for custom map makers. The game has received high praise from critics and players alike and is currently considered one of the most popular "e-sport" titles in the world. [6]
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm is currently in closed beta. [7]
Campaign
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty's single player campaign follows protagonist Jim Raynor in his battle to save humanity from the tyranny of Arcturus Mengsk, the recent Zerg invasion led by the Queen of Blades (which players will remember from the prior games), and the mysterious evil threat of Protoss-Zerg hybrids whose intentions are still unknown. The campaign features 29 missions, all with unique features and objectives for the player to complete.[8] Although the campaign larger focuses on the Terran's struggle (players play as Terran), the game does feature a handful of Protoss missions. Players are introduced to a number of new characters who play a role in the storyline as well as returning characters that veterans of the original game will remember. Players receive currency (credits) for completing missions and bonuses for completing them in special (often more difficult) ways, with which they may spend on upgrades to existing units or mercenaries to aid them in subsequent missions.[9] The single player features 4 difficulty modes: Casual, Normal, Hard, Brutal. [10]
Gameplay
In typical RTS fashion, Starcraft II is a game of strategy, mechanics, and unit control. The very best players are able to do well at all three.
Macro
Players start out with a central command structure (Command Center for Terran, Hatchery for Zerg, Nexus for Protoss) and a small group of harvesting units and must expand their presence by gathering "minerals" and "vespene gas". Building structures and training additional units costs one or both of these resources. Players must also obtain supply in order to be able to support more units and trying to create more units without enough supply is known as a "supply block" within the community. Creating units, buildings, and supply as well as minimizing the idling time of harvesting units and structure build queues is known as "Macro" and is the primary indicator of a good player. [11]
Micro
Players must also control their units effectively in order to maximize their impact on the battlefield. This is known as "Micro" in the community and is essential for victory, especially at the highest levels of play. The Starcraft II interface gives players a few ways to do this well. First, players may "hotkey" units to a key on their keyboard (individually or in groups) to make selecting units quicker (the alternative being dragging a box around the units with the mouse). Second, players can "hotkey" abilities in the same way reducing the time it takes for units to use spells or switch battle modes while in the fray. Positioning is very important and units that do not have spells typically benefit from being moved while fighting. Kiting, spreading, and maximizing the amount of "arch" you have over your opponent are examples of this (arch referring to the surface area of your attacking units compared to your opponents). Because skirmishes in Starcraft II are over in a matter of seconds, doing all of these quickly and correctly is very challenging. [12]
Strategy
Strategy plays a roll as well in Starcraft II. Scouting what your opponent is doing, creating units that are effective against their unit composition, baiting him/her out of position, hiding important tech, expanding to additional resources quickly, or sacrificing tech/economy for an all-or-nothing push are all examples of strategy. Many strategies focus on a quick and heavy investment in tech, economy, or units (in some cases 2 of the 3 but never all). Maps often play a role in deciding what strategy to use. Features like the placement of cliffs, wideness of ramps, distance from opponent, amount of airspace, and number of paths to your opponent should all be considered. Some strategies are also better suited towards a particular player. For instance, player's with good Micro may favor technical "All-Ins" where success is solely based upon unit control and execution. Due to the amount of units, the array of maps (which are ever-changing), and the 9 possible racial match-ups, understanding Starcraft II strategy takes problem solving, critical thinking, and many logged games of experience.
E-Sport
Designed from the ground up for the purpose of being played professionally, Starcraft II is one of the most popular e-sports in the world. Garnering support from it's predecessor's fanbase (Starcraft and Starcraft: Brood War), which was only hugely popular in South Korea and mildly so elsewhere, Starcraft II has found much more success in Europe and the Americas. [13] Tournaments (both offline and online) are featured everyday with major tournaments boasting prize pools of $150,000+. [14] Currently, the most prestigious and lucrative tournament is the GSL (Global Starcraft II League), although other big-name leagues have adopted the game since it's release, specifically in the West. MLG (Major League Gaming), ESL, DreamHack, IEM, IPL and others are among these. [15]
The success of Starcraft II as an e-sport can be attributed to both the developers and it's community. Games are viewable by spectators live without affecting the players and the feature-rich interface makes knowing what is happening transparent. Statistics such as the players' harvester count, supply count, current income, units lost, current production, APM (Actions Per Minute) are all available to casters during the game via tabs. Map vision may be restricted to one player or both, and the casters camera may be synced with a player's to deliver the game from that player's viewpoint.
Starcraft II's community, which largely clusters around Team Liquid ([22]), is supportive of the game's longevity and further success in the e-sport scene in a number of ways. Fans from "newbs" to pros discuss strategy and competitions, watch live streams of players or tournaments, and form groups for online play. There is also a dedicated map-making community that makes use of the editor to make fun custom games, and/or serious melee maps for possible tournament use. Starcraft II's fanbase has proven loyal since the release in 2010 and the game observability has allowed casual or former players to enjoy watching even if they themselves do not intend to play at a high level. [16]
Criticism
Despite a hugely successful launch in all regions, Starcraft II has suffered criticisms ranging from it's "newb-friendly" interface to it's online-only playability. [17]
Other criticisms of the game stem largely from a select group of original Starcraft fans claiming that the game's improved AI and user interface allows for lower-skilled players to perform better than they should. Professionals of the original game who are now transitioning to Starcraft II believe the game's simple control scheme has made the multitasking and hand speed less important and has as a result, lowered the skill ceiling of the game. [21]
References
- ↑ [1]http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/sc2/
- ↑ [2]http://topnews.us/content/216096-blizzard-entertainment-comes-starcraft-s-sequel
- ↑ [3] http://www.shacknews.com/article/55267/starcraft-2-now-a-trilogy
- ↑ [4]http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/03/starcraft-2-sells-1m-day-one-1-5m-in-first-48-hours-roughly-62/
- ↑ [5]http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/guide/whats-sc2
- ↑ [6] http://www.gamespot.com/news/starcraft-ii-the-making-of-an-e-sport-6302329
- ↑ [7]http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/7157306
- ↑ [8]http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Campaign
- ↑ [9]http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Campaign
- ↑ [10] http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Campaign
- ↑ [11] http://www.squidoo.com/starcraft-2-strategy-micro-macro
- ↑ [12] http://www.squidoo.com/starcraft-2-strategy-micro-macro
- ↑ [13] http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/South_Korean_SC2_scene
- ↑ [14] http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Premier_Tournaments
- ↑ [15]http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Premier_Tournaments
- ↑ [16]http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=251781
- ↑ [17] http://www.computerandvideogames.com/240704/starcraft-2-no-chance-of-lan-support/
- ↑ [18]http://www.petitiononline.com/LANSC2/petition.html
- ↑ [19] http://www.mineski.net/news/1164/prime-wins-5-2-over-startaleq-in-gstl-finals
- ↑ [20]http://www.tomshardware.com/news/blizzard-starcraft-warcraft-doda,8169.html
- ↑ [21]http://www.gosugamers.net/starcraft/news/20491-bisu-talks-sc2-the-easier-controls-make-my-multitasking-less-impactful
