Starcraft 2

Blizzard has started a podcast (audio only for now). You can get the audio and/or you can read the transcript.

In this podcast (a.k.a. Blizzcast), they have two interviews. The first is with Samwise Didier, Blizzard’s Art Director and concept artist who has worked on both Starcraft and Warcraft.

The second interview is with WOW’s lead designer for World of Warcraft, Jeff Kaplan. He’s talking about the changes in WoW patch 2.4.

Starcraft2.com has come out with a Terran gameplay video. The whole thing is about 600MB but it’s worth it because it’s HD (1280×720). You can download it here.

Here’s a low-res version to keep you occupied while you wait:

When I did a review of the Protoss Mothership in May, I did it based on the first gameplay video as well as the narration.

Now, Starcraft2.com has a dedicated page for the Protoss Mothership. You’ll be able to see video clips of all three mothership abilities in action: Cloak Field, Time Bomb, and Planet Cracker.

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.

Here’s the same game play video (as below) - this time narrated by Chris Sigaty. Note that the current label for Starcraft 2 is “internal alpha”. He does mention it will be playable at Blizzcon though and also says there will be a beta (though it might not be a public one).

An amazing game play video with more info on the upcoming Protoss units. This is a bit better quality than the ones at Youtube but I hope Blizzard will upload an HD version to Starcraft2.com

Words fall short but here’s the gist of it:

1) Soul Hunter - his attacks get stronger the more units he destroys.

2) Phase Canon - you can now move them around the base.

3) Mass Tempests (previously known as Carriers) - now feature a shield that protects them from ground attacks. They’ll also cost less.

4) Twilight Archon - powerful infantry unit, doesn’t seem much different from its previous incarnation

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.