Starcraft 2

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.

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.

Blizzard will be at E3 2007 through July 10-13. Expect to see more gameplay videos from E3.

According to Karune:

Blizzard will be at E3 this year. Members of the Dev Team for Starcraft II and I will be there showing off bits of the game to the press. Look forward to seeing you there if you’re going.

See you there!

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.”

PCGamer has done an extensive preview of Starcraft 2 – 9 pages in total. There’s quite a bit of new information that has surfaced.

For starters, the article confirmed that there will be NO HEROES in Starcraft 2. So if you think the marine in the trailer is some kind of a hero unit, you’re wrong. Though you could be right when it comes to the Starcraft 2 single-player.

Another interesting bit comes in the form of a screenshot (blurry, I know). Remember when I discussed the Protoss Colossus? I said it likely substitutes the reaver. As you can see in the screenshot, reavers are alive and kicking butt. So no substitutions.

In addition to the new Protoss units announced, I see that my favorite caster is here to stay: the High Templar with its Psionic Storm. In addition, he’ll bring a new spell that will create a force field to trap enemy units and create barriers.

There’s one unit that I haven’t seen before – the Protoss Tempest. This “dark” carrier will have use fighters to attack targets and its special is a force shield that will only activate when hit from the ground.