Conclusion
The wonderful thing about this game is the depth to the units, and the strategies that therefore evolve, certain older RTS seemed to welcome the same strategy of pushing out a large number of high powered units and there was nothing the enemy could do. StarCraft II has introduced enough features to ensure its more than just a numbers game, they finally jumped on the 3D bandwagon giving units on the high ground further engagement and visual range. The old importance of good quality maps has certainly not been forgotten, with the inclusion of the map editor it was no surprise to see people already producing third party good quality levels. But a certain depth of game play which used to exist just doesn’t seem to be there, the Defiler has been replaced with the Infestor, a much simpler creature. I don’t appreciate a game changing down to the lowest common denominator, but this is a minor irritation. On the technical side the netcode appears well polished providing a good experience on both my ADSL and my 3G dongle.In conclusion StarCraft II is definitely a very enjoyable game, but in a way I am saddened. The original really did re-define what people expected from an RTS, we left it demanding a good quality story, mixed race units and multiplayer. The bar was for ever raised. StarCraft II raised nothing but prior expectations. It felt very formulaic, there was nothing innovative, nothing which made me think I had to go and play it. A lot of the elements of multiplayer are incredibly similar to the original. I know a lot of people will be saying the clue is in the title, it’s a second version, not a new game. But to me, this felt like an expansion pack.
The failure of the graphics to wow me, the online gameplay was very much similar to the original, and having played that game for probably a few thousand hours after graduating from uni, I feel it’s been done to death. And therein lies the problem, this is an enjoyable game, but besides a light facelift it hasn’t offered me anything that makes me want to reach for it over the original, meanwhile other RTS games have all caught up. As much as it pains me to say this, and I put off writing this conclusion for a couple of weeks to try and squeeze out some extra points, this game warrants a rating of only 7 out of 10.
If you never played the original, then yes maybe rush out and buy this game, otherwise, wait until you’ve got some time you need to kill or it’s in the bargain bin.
