The introduction of mercenaries - special units which you can hire and then deploy once per mission - adds a new twist to the usual build and research mechanics, as does the introduction of persistent upgrades. Its main effects are more related to long-term gameplay than narrative. It's well done, with the sort of dialogue, detail and animation we've come to expect from Blizzard, but not a massive part of the StarCraft II experience as a whole. Much has been made of the single-player campaign's framing structure, where your protagonist, ex-Marshall Jim Raynor, can flick from cantina to bridge to research lab to armoury in a Terran battlecruiser, consulting allies and choosing persistent upgrades to research before deciding upon the next mission (the campaign is no longer a totally linear experience). StarCraft was one of the first titles to put story at the heart of an RTS, and the sequel takes this approach to a level that only a few rivals - say Company of Heroes or Dawn of War - have done before. This is the mark of a classic RTS.īut there's more to StarCraft II than polished, old-school gameplay. You'll face defeat in both campaign and multiplayer games, then realise that there were mistakes you made or alternative strategies you could have tried. With so many units to create and so many upgrades to unlock for them, learning which unit trumps which enemy and why can be a challenge, but there's never a sense that an enemy is just unbeatable. There are still some frustrations with the AI, usually to do with a failure to respond to attacks on nearby units, but nothing beyond what you'd expect from any comparable game, and the design and balancing of the units between the game's three species - Terran, Zerg, and Protoss - is both sophisticated and exemplary. Blizzard spent years honing the gameplay of the original and the sequel has clearly been tweaked, balanced and polished until it's pretty much faultless. This lack of progress might be thought of as a weakness, but StarCraft II resists any such complaint. Fast-paced, entertaining and packed with tactical complexity, this might not be the most revolutionary RTS, but it's the best to hit the streets in years. In terms of visuals, presentation and cinematic appeal it's very much a 2010 game, but with core gameplay that worked like a dream back in 1998, and still works brilliantly 12 years later. It seems odd to heap praise upon a sequel because it looks and feels so much like the original, but that's exactly what makes StarCraft II so great. It's not a back-to-basics exercise in the vein of the last few chapters of Command and Conquer, nor is it an attempt to merge the RTS with other genres, in the way that Dawn of War II attempted last year. It's not an attempt to redefine a genre, or even redefine a franchise. It's almost easier to talk about the year's biggest PC title by talking about what it isn't. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Readers like you help support Pocket-lint. Pocket-Lint Recommendation: Nintendo Switch.Pocket-Lint Recommendations: Xbox Console.Pocket-Lint Recommendation: Google Nest.Pocket-Lint Recommendation: Amazon Echo Devices.Pocket-Lint Recommendations: Fire TV Stick.
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