BlizzCon 08: StarCraft II Three Games For You, Plus Hands-On Impressions

by Chad Lakkis on October 10, 2008 at 6:34 pm

Word from BlizzCon 08 is that the new StarCraft II single player game is being split into three separate campaigns. According to Blizzard, the game was becoming so large that they felt it would be best to split it into three separate products — each with their own respective ending.

Each of the products is listed out below followed up by its focus.

Wings of Liberty: Terrans
Heart of the Swarm: Zerg
Legacy of the Void: Protoss

I am guessing that your jaw is somewhere near your feet right now, and frankly, I don’t blame you. Those who played the original StarCraft who that it too contained three seperate campaigns, however they were all enclosed in one pretty little box.

It seems that the merger of Activision and Blizzard is already seeking out new ways to make even more money — as if the gobs and gobs they already have aren’t enough.

The news regarding the game doesn’t end there, as our own Donne Ingalls just finished spending some quality time with the build on hand. His comments can be found below:

I was unimpressed with the sinlge player gameplay of Starcraft II. It seems very slow at this point, and I found myself constantly waiting around for my drones to gather resources.

I was also able to play a multi-player match against another writer, during which he grabbed Terran and I took on the role of Protoss. The result — I destroyed him with little effort.

As in Starcraft 1, little has changed as far as tactics. As Protoss, I built four Carriers, waltzed into his base, and proceeded to watch the carnage unfold.

In terms of pure aesthetics, the game does look much better, and I must add that the game is still in its early states of development in terms of balance between factions.

There is little doubt in my mind that once complete, StarCraft II will eventually corner the Strategy RPG market.

Interesting yes, but I’m not so sure I’ll be rushing out to reserve this game (make that three games) anytime soon.

Afterthought: What say you? Are you impressed or taken back by what you have been hearing/seeing in terms of Diablo 3 thus far?

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Tags: Blizzard, BlizzCon 08, milking a cow, Starcraft 2, StarCraft II

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Comments »

Wade
on October 10, 2008 7:15 pm

so. Wait. What? I have to buy three copies of the game to play through the three campaigns? Or are they all going to be separate, instead of tied together as they were in the original?
Chad Lakkis
on October 10, 2008 7:19 pm

“According to Blizzard, the game was becoming so large that they felt it would be best to split it into three separate products — each with their own respective ending.”

I take that as they were originally making one game with three campaigns and decided to split each campaign into a new game. Each game will have its own ending, and therefore, depending on how you look at it, you can play one and walk away.

However, if you want to play all three, you will need to pay for all three.

This message has been brought to you by the new ActiBlizard.

C-
Andrew Podolsky
on October 10, 2008 7:40 pm

This is horrible! It sounds like you will have to pay over $150 to get the “full” Starcraft 2 experience. What a rip-off!

This seems to me like a scheme to get Blizzard fans to part with more money… how sad that greed has taken over a formerly respectable company. This is inexcusable.

Can anyone name ONE other game where you had to buy more than one copy to get the whole story?
Chad Lakkis
on October 10, 2008 7:52 pm

But but but Andrew — each segment will have its own fully satisfying (yet incomplete) ending. You don’t have to buy all three, but aren’t three endings more profi….errr better than one?
tekken
on October 11, 2008 1:15 pm

Like EA gamers, most will probably be tempted to played pirated versions, or maybe buy one “product” and pirate the other two.

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