Starcraft 2

Another batch of videos demonstrating Zerg gampleay…

Part I: Zerg vs Protoss

Part II: Zerg vs Protoss

In the latest BlizzCast (#6), Bashiok goes through a bag of questions from Starcraft fans. One of the more interesting one concerns the role of the anti-armor units in Starcraft 2.

Bashiok: Cool. The next question comes from gamer-source.com. With the all the anti-armored units like the marauder and the hydralisk – is this meant to counter the end game units? And also what role do you think end game units will play on the battlefield?

Dustin Browder: I’m not really sure what an end game unit is, I guess it would be like a battlecruiser or a carrier or a thor or ultralisk, I guess it’s what we’re talking about here. But the hydralisk has always been anti-armor, even in the original Starcraft had a strong anti-armor role.

The marauder of course gives the Terrans some additional anti-armor capability from the barracks which we felt was very important since we moved the ghost back so far allowing the ghost to fulfill more of a core role on the battlefield for the Terrans. We didn’t think that the ghost made a lot of sense as fundamentally anti-armor with his sniper rifle. If he’s going to be anti biological and sort of taking head shots and taking out individual targets then we really needed the Terrans to have some way to deal with stalkers and immortals and to a lesser extent siege tanks and roaches. So that’s really what the marauder is pointed at, the marauder is pointed more at stalkers and roaches and you’ll see marauders used in that role. They also can tear apart a colossus or thor which is an added advantage for the Terrans from the barracks again.

This is the panel discussion regarding Stracraft 2 gameplay at the WWI in Paris (where Diablo 3 was announced). The video is a bit long but worth it!

There’s still nothing on Starcraft’s release date though – I hope it’s early 2009!

Here’s a Zerg gameplay video… There should be zerglings as well as the new Banelings!

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.

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.

Gamespot just released another bit of Starcraft 2 news. They do admit Blizzard are being too secretive because they do not to release info ahead of Blizzcon (remember a Starcraft 2 beta will be playable at Blizzcon).

It’s mostly about new Protoss units…

While Pardo affirmed that previously discussed units such as the zealot infantry and immortal battle tank are still on the table, we were also introduced to several new units that hadn’t been shown at Blizzard’s previous event in May.

These include the soul hunter, a hovering ground unit that can attack both air and ground opponents. Another new unit is the phase cannon, a stationary turret that can be changed into a hovering energy ball that can move like a normal unit, reminiscent of Warcraft III’s wisp units, as long as it remains within range of the Protoss power grid. They can then be redeployed as stationary turrets to act as roadblocks or as forward firing lines.

Other units include the tempest, a flying troop transport with an underside energy shield that protects against ground-to-air fire, but leaves the unit vulnerable to air-to-air attacks, and the return of the dark templar (which still has stealth abilities) and the high templar (which still possesses the devastating psi-storm ability) units. As before, templars can be merged to form archons, known as twilight archons in Starcraft II, which act as exceptionally powerful infantry units.

Note that while all these units sound promising and offer intriguing new strategies, none of them are final. A completely different set of units may end up in the final game.

In his interview, Rob Pardo mentioned that gameplay will be almost exclusively focused on the multiplayer (including a total revamp of Battle.net). He added there will be a several surprises for the Starcraft 2 single-player campaign, so everyone will play it through at least once.

I won a couple of Starcraft games last night – against two (admittedly weaker) opponents. Which got me thinking – I would’ve had a MUCH tougher time in Warcraft III (though I have beaten two players repeatedly). Why? Because armies in Warcraft III are much smaller, the bases have much better protection, expands are generally harder to build.

So comparing apples to oranges, I meant Starcraft to Warcraft to Starcraft 2, I think a good player in Starcraft 2 will be able to take on (and beat) 2,3, even 4 opponents. Just like in Counter Strike, one top gun will nail 5 lesser players just with his Desert Eagle.

Skill, in other words, will play a much bigger role in Starcraft 2. Rob’s interview seems to confirm this. Now all we need to do is wait for the beta at Blizzcon.

Now, I don’t think I will be able to beat three opponents but if two or three of you join me, we might stand a chance against a gosu player from Korea. Or maybe not.

Despite what Rob Pardo said about the game not being launched this year, there’s plenty of evidence that a Starcraft 2 beta will make an appearance at Blizzcon.

Here’s the gist from WoWInsider:

In case you needed any more reasons to want to go to BlizzCon, they’ve just announced that convention-goers will be treated to a playable demo of StarCraft II. Of course, who knows how much “playable demo” there is to the game yet, but but Blizzard tells us that “attendees can sample the new units and gameplay elements for themselves in multiplayer battles.”