A huge explosion rocks the base and I let out an evil and gleeful laugh as the entire workforce of the base moves to repair the damage while continuing their mining process. No such luck as once the dust clears I order my 20 marauders, 15 marines, and 10 tanks into the front of the base to start the invasion. The enemy moves their alien forces up to defend against my small force I spring the trap and drop 20 marines into the back of their base and start destroying their workers to starve them of resources. The attack is much more effective then I anticipated and I make quick work of the base as the soldier who kicked off the assault slips out and heads home. That entire paragraph is the description of about two minutes in Starcraft 2.
So the next installment of Starcraft 2 is on its way. Episode 2 to the game, this one being known as Heart of the Swarm. While the game launched with access to all races(Terran, Zerg, and Protoss), it only launched with the Terran campaign known as Wings of Liberty. Being a Terran player I was all to happy to dive in but I felt bad as the Zerg and Protoss players were left without a campaign. But in the end that is not a problem at all! Starcraft has always shined in multiplayer, the first one did, the expansion pack did and so does the second game. In didn't take long for Starcraft 2 to get a spot and bring prizes in the World Gaming Chapionships in South Korea. The game has been patched and is now ready for the second episode, the Zerg campaign known as Heart of the Swarm.
Heart of the Swarm will follow the Zerg and the Queen of the Blades. For those who played Starcraft 1 and Brood War, you know who the Queen of the Blades is. For those of you who didn't(or were closed off to the world), I will explain. In Starcraft 1 there was a specialized soldier named Sarah Kerrigan. Kerrigan is fighting the Zerg on a world that is being evacuated and about halfway through her battle the general she is working for decides to leave her behind. Some of his soldiers disobey his orders and try to rescue her but they fail, she is presu,ed dead. The reality is she was captured by an alien race known as the Zerg and through DNA modifications and other things they turn her into one of them along with all her specialized abilities she had as a genetically super human soldier.
Heart of the Swarm follows Kerrigan, she has now killed all competitors and has become leader of the Zerg. Heart of the Swarm is the story as she starts her invasion and war against the Terran. Zerg and Terran have had a long running rivalry. Wings of Liberty was enjoyable because it heated it up. The whole campaign was killing Zerg. Forget other enemies, while you did find yourself fighting a small civil war, the largest battles were reserved for the Zerg.
While burning up Zerg was fun and blowing them to smithereens made me smile, the entire battle felt one sided. The Zerg will now have their shot to fight back and I am glad even though I have always found them to be ugly. Considering everything they build is a living organism and their deaths are quite disgusting. Ew! But I am looking forward to where they go with the story. I will not spoil the ending of the Terran campaign but if you have not finished it, now is the time to! The storyline is great and will get you prepared.
The first campaign follows Jim Raynor. He was met in the first Starcraft as well. He was a Terran soldier to the core, he was the warrior's warrior. He joined the rebel cause in the first one and helped overthrow the old Terran Confederacy. But he has found that the new management is worse then the old management. And you join him in battling against the old management and Zerg. Most of the time you are rescuing civilians from the Zerg who are left to die by the evil new management. And you follow his story as he does jobs to get money, rearm, upgrade, and send his forces out to fight the Zerg and weaken the Terran Dominion.
The end was a big twist and what they do with that now is going to be a joy to watch. Hopefully they don't change the game very much. It works well now, it allows you to play against A.I. and it keeps the game balanced. The biggest fear all players have is that the Zerg will get overpowered and break the game. But knowing Blizzard, chances are they will keep it good and based on the first game, the Zerg need some help, because currently they are easy to beat. Whether controlled by a human player or a computer.
Not to mention all the choices you made in the Wings of Liberty will carry over into Heart of the Swarm. Adding to that, Heart of the Swarm will allow you to destroy planets and places however you want. Blizzard is keeping a good lid on the release date but it is very soon and the Starcraft community is ready for it. As the Terran marine says, "Jacked up and good to go!"
Review
Grade-Harvest It!
Highs-Missions are good, the storyline is compelling, voice acting is good, and the multiplayer is still just as good.
Lows-Sometimes you just can't see the reason for urgency and some missions are unnecessary.
ESRB Rating-T for Teen, Ages 13 and up
Kid Friendly?The storyline is for older gamers.I would respect the rating on the game
Where Can I Get It?Amazon has it and local stores still carry it
Overview-Very good and worth the money
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