Starcraft 2

We had a WOW TCG and now we have a Starcraft board game. Thinking about it, I’m much more interested in a strategic board game… Here’s the details:

Three powerful alien races battle for control of the galaxy. Whether you choose to lead the versatile Terran, mysterious Protoss, or voracious Zerg, in StarCraft: The Board Game you’ll command an army like no other in the universe!

Once again, Fantasy Flight Games brings one of the world’s best-loved computer games to your tabletop. Players take control of the Protoss, Terran, or Zerg and battle across multiple worlds. True to the StarCraft legacy, each of the three races features a unique and distinctive play style, and the inclusion of two distinct factions for each race allows up to six players to compete for galactic dominance at a time.

Including a total of over 180 plastic figures and dozens of unit types, StarCraft: The Board Game features an innovative modular board consisting of planets of varying sizes which guarantees a new experience each and every game. An exciting card-driven combat system allows players to modify and upgrade their faction with a wealth of powerful technologies. Players can unleash a Zergling rush, use powerful Protoss shields to halt an enemy invasion, or even send cloaked Ghosts out to guide nuclear missiles to their target.

This is the follow-up to the Protoss tech tree that was exhibited at Blizzcon. Text comes from Gamespot.

Of course, basic units like the marine and the medic are back, though you’ll immediately notice the firebat is missing. Other units haven’t been completely removed so much as replaced by new, improved versions. The old goliath mech has given way to the new viking, which acts just like a goliath–until you research and enable its transformation ability, which turns it into a jet that can get it across otherwise impassable barriers. Another unit which has no respect for variable elevation is the reaper, which you hire from a bar with a female night elf dancing on top of it. These mercenaries build almost instantly, since you’re just hiring them instead of training them, and in addition to being able to jump up and down to higher and lower terrain, it can now throw a timed bomb and escape the area before it explodes. We saw a large group of these reapers all throw out bombs at the same time to do massive damage to an enemy base before beating a hasty retreat.

The terrans have quite a bit of air support in Starcraft II, at least as it stands right now. The predator is a new flyer that can only attack other aerial units, but it can also take on an intercept mode where it will attempt to shoot down incoming enemy fire (presumably things like missiles). Everyone’s favorite the battlecruiser is here again, but this time it won’t simply default to the incredibly powerful, single-shot Yamato cannon like it did in the first game. Sure, the Yamato is still here, but this time you’ll get to choose how to specialize each individual cruiser, between the Yamato and the new plasma turrets. The latter will produce a flurried cluster of beams that can decimate ground units, from what we saw of them.

This one surfaced at Blizzcon (to be followed by the Terran tech tree). Text descriptions by Gamespot.

New structures included the null circuit, dark obelisk, phase prism, and twilight council buildings which all tied into the new units. We tried our hand with as many of them as we could build and were intrigued by what we played. Null circuit buildings are one part of the equation to let you summon the observers to be constructed.

The dark obelisk allows you to make dark templars, and phase prisms let you do create the mighty colossus, a killer land unit shown previously. The twilight council lets you create immortals. In addition the stargates let you summon the new phoenix and warp ray craft as well as the old standby, the carrier.

This bit is courtesy of Kotaku and focuses on the Starcraft 2 single player. The campaign will consist of stand-alone missions that interweave the various plot lines.

Hiking back up to the bridge, Raynor checks out the Star Map. This is where you’ll choose your missions. They’re much more open ended than in the previous StarCraft campaigns. You’ll be able to pick the planet or system you want to tackle next, progressing the story in your own way. Mission briefings provide the summary, objectives, bonus objectives, mission bounty, and recommended technology, so you’ll have to choose which best suits your current needs and matches your current level of tech.

If there was one criticism of Blizzard’s treatment of the single player portions of their RTS games, it was the linear plot. You go from one mission to the next with NO decisions being taken by you. This is about to change and the guys at Kotaku finish the article on a hopeful note:

The free form, open ended progressive storyline planned for StarCraft II looks like it could be a refreshing change of pace for fans of the Blizzard RTS formula.

Blizzcon first day is over but not before the Terran marines get their much awaited debut.

Personally, I’m not a Terran player. I’ve played Protoss for years and later switched to Zerg (to counter arguments that the Protoss were the “twinky”-est race of the three!). However, let me tell you - I’d love to sink my teeth into some prime Marine ribs. I meant if I were a zergling.

OK, besides the Marines, we have the whole Terran infantry marching: Marines, Reapers, and Ghosts. In the screenshot above there’s even the first infantry support vehicle - the Viking THOR. It’s an improvement of the Goliath (much needed one) and has a much more MECH feel to it.

Compared to the review of the Protoss units, the details are still a bit sketchy with things very much being subject to change. Nevertheless, I’ll try to review each of the new Terran units separately.