Comments on: Games For 2008: Starcraft 2

By: Rock, Paper, Shotgun: Punk Rock, Like Talking Heads » Blog Archive » Soulstorm Demo

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:52:19 +0000

[...] there really aren’t a lot of RTSes on it. In fact, there’re only two, and we’ve written about one already. [...]

By: Andy Johnson

Andy Johnson — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:21:27 +0000

Yep, SC2 definitely looks like it’s shaping up well.

But Diablo III news would really get me excited.

By: drunkymonkey

drunkymonkey — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:58:07 +0000

I mixed the Starcraft buzz first time it came round, and tried getting into it too late. Therefore, as a fan of Blizzard’s work on the Warcraft series, I can’t wait to at least have a go at this. I don’t think that Blizzard have an equal in terms of releasing extremely accessible, polished and clean games.

By: Ian Kiigan

Ian Kiigan — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:59:37 +0000

PS for anyone interested, check out KlazartSC’s excellent English language StarCraft commentary:

http://youtube.com/user/KlazartSC

By: Ian Kiigan

Ian Kiigan — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:57:07 +0000

A new StarCraft is a terrifying prospect really. I’ve been playing the original since it first came out, and BroodWars since that first came out, and some friends and I still play that almost daily online. I love the fact that it runs on any old PC – it runs under VMware within Linux just fine, it runs on ancient MacOS9 machines just fine.

We’re sad enough that we use voice comms to co-ordinate games, we test ideas and strategies out, and review recordings of matches to learn from them. It’s a big deal and I’m still learning new things about it all the time. I even like it enough to watch the Korean pro tournaments with commentary on Youtube. I can sort of relate to sports fans as a result of my obsession with this game… StarCraft is unquestionably my favourite videogame of all time – all the keyboard shortcuts are forever hard-wired into my fingers. I know many people who never play any other videogames, but they play StarCraft.

Now despite saying all the above, I’m sure nutters like myself are just the tip of the iceberg – StarCraft has such a rabidly loyal following that the pressure on the StarCraft 2 team to deliver must be truly nerve-wracking. I’ll remain quietly optimistic, but StarCraft casts a big shadow and I daresay that many of the purists will take a lot of convincing to switch over to the new one. As for me, it’s really the only game launch I’ve ever considered taking time off work for.

By: Nobby

Nobby — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:51:41 +0000

I cant say I’m very interested in Star Craft 2, the original just didnt grip me at all.

But I’m excited because other people are excited. How strange.

By: Butler`

Butler` — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 23:48:03 +0000

@StolenName
Quick answer: Maths
Long answer: Read the link :p

@Turin

Its strategic depth stems from the unique races i suppose. At the end of the day if it wasn’t deep, it wouldn’t be the number one competitive RTS of all time and still played as an eSport to this day.

I’ve seen some compare it to chess, atleast as near as video game has come.

By: StolenName

StolenName — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 22:38:50 +0000

What prerequisites does a Game Balancer need? I imagine someone whose spent much of their waking hours competing in a variety of multiplayer online games that understands a variety of game styles. Or is it a much more technical position?

I’m more of a console gamer and journo rather than PC gamer or developer so I’m kind of interested in this role…

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:49:39 +0000

I’ll play singleplayer, I’m sure. I was hoping they were going to do a little more with it than they seem to be doing. The way Starcraft was a significant evolution over Warcraft II, and Warcraft III likewise over Starcraft (yes, I know some of you hate the RPG heroes. I don’t.).

By: BrokenSymmetry

BrokenSymmetry — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 20:30:11 +0000

Why is RPS so enthusistic about a game that is not going to do anything new at all?

By: DigitalSignalX

DigitalSignalX — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:37:43 +0000

There’s no doubt SC will sell decently on it’s nostalgia chops alone, and I’m sure I’ll own a copy too just for the single player. The real test though will be if it recaptures enough of a following, and critical acclaim to go with it, to successfully launch the StarCraft MMO we’ve all been hearing about. That strikes me as what the real fear is at Bliz, whether or not to greenlight a massive new MMO and all the inherent risks.

By: Turin Turambar

Turin Turambar — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:35:04 +0000

@Butler:

If the game is anything like the first Starcraft, i won’t consider it as “coming back to the strategy realm”.

@TychoCelchuu:

If Blizzard made CoH of course the balance would be better, but it would be in a whole different subgenre of RTS. From Warcraft I & II to Starcraft to Warcraft III, they don’t seem interested in RT[b]S[/b] with bold S, unlike Homeworld or CoH, games from Relic.