Coming on the heels of Blizzcon 08 (where a StarCraft II trilogy of sorts was announced), Blizzard has come under attack from forum trolls and games journalists alike! Has the Activision merger finally come to haunt the seemingly snow white reputation of Blizzard? Blizzard’s Starcraft rep says NO!

In an interview with Edge magazine, Bob Colayco was quoted as saying “Blizzard is the one calling the shots.” Alright Bob — with you so far — what else do you have to say?

“Effectively, what are we really talking about here? We’ve always done our RTS games with one expansion pack. So now we’re releasing two. Is it really that weird?”

So let me get this straight, you are going to charge consumers full price in the future for “expansion packs”? Even if Activision isn’t calling the shots, something has inherently changed at the top levels of Blizzard.

The company recently added a new recruit-a-friend feature to the World of Warcraft game, which allows new recruits, and those who recruit them, to both benefit from triple the amount of XP. Excuse me, but how is this not a slap in the face to long time WoW gamers?

Are these changes really being done in the best interest of the majority of consumers? Are full priced expansion packs what we’re used to seeing from Blizzard?

Source: edge-online.com

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?