So it's been about ten years and Blizzard finally released the game we,
and many Koreans, have been waiting for...Starcraft 2. Though it would
have been a more convincing show of faith if Blizzard had actually spent
more money on the game instead of on its advertising. I realize that
they have plenty of WoW money to throw around and probably feel
comfortable spending it on silly advertising gimmicks, but to see how
far they are willing to go in order to sell this is nothing short of
pitiful.
Starcraft 1 was the second game to have dominated my life. Diablo took
the top spot, but this was one of the greatest things that had ever
happened to me and officially made me a fan of the RTS genre in general.
It managed to get everything right and set a new standard for the genre
to follow. The right click menu, the control groups, and a strong multi
player that, even though it was hacked constantly, was one of the
strongest online infrastructures ever used in a game. Not only that, but
it also featured LAN support, Something you don't see much of anymore
thanks to developer's unfounded fear of piracy.
Though we should have seen this coming. Ever since Bobby Kotick rose to
the position of President & CEO of Activision-Blizzard, many things
have gone downhill.
Not even Blizzard's sacred "genre-changing" Starcraft series was spared
from the poor decision making and seemingly endless greed of this man.
Starcraft II is the perfect example of how far the hobby (and
Acti-blizzard) has rotted away due to greed.
I honestly can't figure out for the life of me how to properly start with this.
However, I think I know a good place to begin:
Let's go off topic for a little bit. Let's look at another game just for
a moment. Let's take a look at none other than "Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare 2", Activision's best selling shooter. It's a cookie-cutter FPS
that only has about three hours of single player and is more or less
just a very boring way to spend your time on a weekend.
But, small truths aside, let's see what features it has other then its Single-player.
The Multi-player lacks any form of dedicated servers hosted by players
on the PC version. It is impossible to remove people from lobbies, and
it generally lacks any anti-cheat protection and customer service.
The game is matchmaking only, lacking any real type of hosting, and is a
solely online game. It has no value whatsoever, and the only fun to
have with it is to grief it's online community.
Now, let's fast forward a bit to get back on topic.
Let's take a look at Starcraft II. Let's take a look at its millions of
videos and advertising campaigns, and then finally examine the result.
The thing you waited for, the thing you wanted for ages. Was this worth
it?
I think waiting for Duke Nukem Forever was much less painful and considerably less of an embarrassment.
One funny thing I should mention is that Starcraft II is perhaps the
first PC game in the past six years that I've seen without
Anti-Aliasing. You have to wonder what they spent all of their money on
when it came to graphics. If I can produce one compelling argument in
the matter it is this: Starcraft II's lack of anti-aliasing is no doubt
due to their desire to port the game to the consoles for a quick buck.
Some might argue otherwise, but Activision's PR department would
probably be all too eager to prove you wrong.
I don't think you can look at Starcraft 2's engine and consider it to be
anything other than an upgraded Warcraft 3 engine. Someone like me who
had played Warcraft 3 religiously for its amazing custom maps can easily
tell that there is little difference between the two.
Now let's get a little more technical. Most FPS titles clock in around
7-8GB in size, which is understandable...but a strategy game like
Starcraft 2 should be a bit more grand in size and scope than a mere
console-ported FPS. Starcraft will only take about 8GB of your HDD
space. Fun fact, that's actually quite near the exact space of Resident
Evil 5 on the X360.
Graphics are one thing, but plain laziness and lack of content is
another thing entirely. Granted, graphics are rarely considered
important in games like RTS since they're the type of genre where you're
more focused on managing and staring at the ever-changing menus, but
where's the effort?
Now let's delve deep into the game itself.
The first time you start Starcraft II, you'll notice something very odd
about it's main menu. Take it in a for a moment. You've finally obtained
a game you were waiting ages for, and the minute you start it, you are
given only one thing.
A log-in screen.
Yes. Starcraft 2's main menu is nothing more than a multi-player sign in
bar. The game is without any form of true single player. Don't be
mislead by the "Play as Guest" option, as you still need to have a
character made for battle.net, which means you need to sign in
regardless.
And to make matters worse, you're losing features if you choose to play
as a guest, which, in this day and age, is totally unacceptable, yet
people take it naturally for some reason.
The real menu of Starcraft II feels more like an internet browser than a multi-player platform, and that says a lot.
You have two main tabs and a plethora of smaller tabs, as well as your
profile. Also, as long as you are signed in, you can be chatted with by
friends if they are online too, even if you are playing in single player
mode. They can even bug you and invite you to parties while you're in
the middle of concentrating on beating a tough mission.
Single-Player and Multi-Player.
I'll start with the Single-player first.
Say goodbye to any lone-playing of custom maps, and definitely say goodbye to fun skirmish fights.
Before I explain some of the campaign, I need to explain something. The
AI in Starcraft 1's skirmish was a lot smarter, but now, you are treated
with near-impossible fights due to imbalanced forces.
After playing a few matches on my own with SC2's skirmish AI, I have
come to the conclusion that there is no balance in this game. I played
three games with all three races, and was highly disappointed that every
match, my enemy always rushed me from the start and totally ditched any
fun with base building or, you know, different strategies.
What makes it worse is that there is no real fun in destroying well-laid
bases anymore. Not to mention, some upgrades and units from the
campaign are not allowed in Skirmish. Perhaps they did it to "balance"
the game, but it feels very empty without the newer stuff.
It's really sad to see that's how people think RTS need to be played.
There's no real fun in it if there is no managing, it all boils down to
who gets the first units out, and then the match is practically over.
I've never played online RTS, because I've always considered the genre
sacred for it's uncanny use of nice stories with unique game play
mechanics.
Thankfully the Single-player campaign was set up fairly and had decent pacing to it.
It's a shame the story didn't hold up to the standards it set before, though.
Jim Raynor returns to battle against Stalin in the futur- I mean, Jim
Raynor is now a desperado type character, a redneckish warrior battling
against the tyranny of the Terran Dominion, featured in the first game.
Arcturus Mengsk still rules, and the two are still at odds.
Joined by his friend Tychus Findlay, the two set off to make some cash,
save a few civilians, and try and bring down Mengsk. At least, that is
what they planned to do until Kerrigan returned, and Zeratul brings
tidings of doom.
I would like to mention that Zeratul is not as cool or foreboding as he was in the first game.
One thing to do is not to come into this game expecting what the first
game was like. This game is guilty of totally disregarding everything
before it. All the units are different and all voice actors have been
changed, though this does nothing to improve the gameplay or the
experience.
Famous quotes and notable remarks from the old units have been replaced
by lazy voice actors spewing them out in monotone voices, as if they
were tired when they recorded everything, or just didn't care.
In a succinct statement, everything you liked and were expecting to see
in the game, reference or not, was taken out back and shot in the head.
The SCV is no longer an intelligent, nerdy dark skinned guy, but now
someone who faintly resembles a citizen of Alabama. Every time I
selected the SCV, I took off my headphones, not wanting to hear the
contrived comments it was programmed to say. To build an object was
perhaps the most demeaning thing to do.
"Well butter my biscuit."
It is nothing short of insulting when you think of it. The SCV is no
longer a goofy, but intelligent unit anymore, and is instead just a
southerner put in for the sake of this game's theme.
They brought back some of the original voice actors from the original
game, like the driver for the Siege Tank, but all of the lines are
deepened and feel like they are pointlessly trying to live up to the
sharp, crisp lines that made them remarkable. Instead of innovating,
they just got lazy and did it to try and be "cool".
I would also like to point out that the new medic voice acting lacks any
seriousness and is trying way too hard to come off as a lecherous,
always-sprung woman now.
The single player takes place over 26 missions. It features some
non-linearity in which you choose between some choices that mean little
in the end. Like, you could get a Spectre or Ghost unit.
Speaking of Ghost, they recycled a character from a game they canceled a long time ago. Remember Nova? Starcraft: Ghost?
Yes, well, she's in this game for one mission where you control her.
There is a series of missions you take for a stereotypical voodoo man
named Gabriel Tosh, who is actually a Spectre, an elite ghost type unit.
But, in the end, you realize you're just helping him release criminals
and whatnot, and Nova tells you to stop and to let her kill him.
The choices do not impact the story much, and are only there to let you
choose between units. Specters(The game calls them Spectres) have a
little more attack power but lack the range of a Ghost. They are more
offensive minded, and are perhaps better than Ghosts.
Over the course of the game, you will find Zerg and Protoss technology
so that you can research advanced upgrades for your stuff, like a new
unit or regenerating vehicles. You also use the money you get to buy
upgrades for buildings and units, and hire mercenaries.
Mercenaries are just the "Hero" class of a unit. If you're familiar with
SC lingo, Hero is just a term to refer to an upgraded normal unit or an
actual hero like Zeratul and Artanis. For example, Banshees are a
stealth bomber, Dusk Wings are the Hero of them and do more damage and
have different aesthetic features, but are essentially the same.
The theme of the game is very desperado-ish. Jim Raynor is an alcoholic
and is haunted by his past with Sarah Kerrigan and the fact that Mengsk
left her to die on Tarsonis. He can't get over that, and it is
constantly affecting him while he tries to lead his ragtag group known
as Raynor's Raiders to victory.
Fortunately, he doesn't brood and does not publicly whine over it.
Most of the missions are, sadly, forgettable. They are borderline
tedious on occasion and I've noticed that most lack any real requisite
skill or mental acumen to beat.
One such mission is where you have to defend a laser drill for about 45
minutes until it can pierce through an incredibly powerful door to a
Protoss Temple so you can get a piece to a relic. Base defense is fun,
but not when it takes half an hour and you're running out of the scarce
resources you have. The mission also demands you use that laser yourself
and redirect it's fire to destroy powerful enemy units coming to your
base so that you are not completely decimated, which wastes your time
further.
The ending was also quite an unnecessary twist. I won't spoil it for
those who really want to see it, but considering all that happened in
the first game, I thought it very pointless, very derivative, and
downright silly.
The characters are all washed out now. Mengsk doesn't look like the
secretive cruel and tyrannical mastermind he was in the first game.
Raynor became yet another typical protagonist in video gaming with his
brown hair, muscles, and face stubbles.
Zeratul was revealed far too much, it would have been better if his face
was almost completely shrouded in darkness and he was kept a mysterious
figure. Kerrigan is, well, Kerrigan. She is the most tolerable
character of the game's story.
Tychus is your standard 'dumb muscle', and speaks with a raspy tone
befitting his character. That isn't to say it's a good thing, though.
One thing to give the game credit for in the Single-player department is
the masterfully done cutscenes and CGI. All of the cinema in the game
is nothing short of fantastic, and are all mixed together with some
decent ambient music, adding to the mood of it. One of my favorite
cutscenes was "For a Better Tomorrow", which is the scene you get when
you side with Tosh and free prisoners from a max-security Dominion
Prison. It had a good mood.
There is also a cutscene that happens if you choose to burn a planet for
the Protoss and kill off civilians who are infected. The doctor aboard
the Hyperion, Raynor's Command ship, becomes infected with the Zerg
virus and mutates. Raynor then reluctantly kills her after finding out
the truth. Though highly dramatic, it was very well done.
The veracity of SC2's story is very questionable. Kerrigan, in the first
game, was manipulative. She used Raynor twice when she became infested.
She lied to the protoss and invaded their matters. She killed Raynor's
friends, she used 'everyone' for her purposes alone.
She ruined his entire life, and pissed off everyone in the sector. She
brutally murdered an entire regiment of space forces that came all the
way from Earth. She was a great antagonist, now ruined.
The story is like a 15-year old's mary sue fanfiction.
But now, I have spoken long enough on that and it is time to discuss why this game has ultimately failed.
The multi-player.
There is a plethora of problems wrong with the multi player, and I will elaborate on every single one.
The first, and perhaps the worst of all of the problems with Battle.net 2.0 is the Popularity System.
The popularity system effectively removes any individual hosts and
prevents named games. There is a lot of ways to start off how to explain
this.
Basically, it does this. The popularity system is defined by the name.
When a map is popular, it is put to the top of the list. This really
just means that if you want to play a map that isn't very popular to
most, you're kind of screwed unless you have some friends.
The only reason such a system is put in place is for the casual gamers.
They wanted it set up so that someone could just buy this game for the
MP and start immediately on the most popular maps.
Another thing to remember about this popularity system is that, what you're hosting isn't seen, only the map is seen.
The way hosting works in this game is simple. When you host a map, you
are hosting just that map. Now, everyone who joins that map will join
your game. It's matchmaking done in a very strange way.
But, if someone else hosts the same map after you do, they will NOT get
any players joining their game until your game is started. They are in a
disadvantageous position, a "take it or leave it" if you will.
Battle.net 2.0 lacks features that work, and instead, substitutes what
was cut with stupid, meaningless junk like Facebook integration.
I will list all of what is missing, what worked:
* Private channel support
* Private game features missing
* Named custom games
* Regional server options
* Password Protected games
* Chat rooms
* Game titles
What you get, however, is the privilege of putting your real name on the
internet, signing into facebook from what was originally a hardcore
title, and having to go through tortuous amounts of trouble to get and
even start games.
The multi player is generic and lifeless. It is lacking in all regards, and to make matters worse...
You can't ban or remove people from your game lobby.....
Oh yes, I will now explain the problems with hosting, too. See, you can
argue that you can have a private game similar to a password system, but
you need to have people on your friends list to do it, you can't just
pass a code around to get some people to come in anymore.
Adding a friend in this game is convoluted and what should be a simple
task is made to take too long. You need to pass your friend code off to
someone so that they can add you. Observant readers will note that a
"Friend Code" is something the Nintendo Wii employs for it's online
capability when it comes to playing games with people.
To host a private game, first, you need a friend. Then, you need to make
a party with that friend, and then, you need to host the game. They
will automatically receive an invite to your game if they are not
already in a game of their own.
That's what you need to do.
But, if you want to play with randoms, you need to open it to the
public. One big problem with hosting in SC2 is that, when you have a
game with people joining, "you cannot remove someone from the lobby". A
person can openly announce with no fear that they are going to crash
your game or ruin it in some way, and you can do nothing to stop it once
they're in. Once a game is opened to the public, the change is
irreversible.
If a host leaves the lobby, someone else is automatically assigned to be
host. There is no kick function, because for some reason it is always
grayed out, and the room remains forever until it is started as long as
people are there. So consider this.
Imagine if there was a lot of arguing and constant leaving and whatnot
for one game room. Imagine if people are trying to host it, and yet,
they're getting no players due to a holdup. Though a situation like it
is unlikely because games automatically start when the player limit is
reached, you can see how irritating this can get.
It all comes together to make this game not even feel like an RTS
anymore. I feel like I'm playing Modern Warfare 2: The Strategy
Adventure game. There are a shocking number of missteps in design and
presentation that you are left wondering just how much time they
invested in this game over the last ten years.
One minor note to mention is the constant, overwhelming amount of
"easter egging" in this game. Blizzard has rehashed many of their World
of Warcraft characters and put them as cameo in this game. You can see a
hologram of a night elf doing the dance animation from WoW. You can see
a Tauren Space Marine. You can find a Murloc Marine.
Why? It's like they're saying they just don't care for these games because WoW is the only thing printing their money.
And, as if to appeal to the hipster "chans" of the internet, the cheat
codes in this game are all based off some sort of internet meme.
"whysoserious" is in fact a cheat code for the single player & skirmish.
It's juvenile, at best.
But, what is perhaps the biggest kick to the groin for all true fans of
Starcraft is that the game will be episodic, akin to the tremendous rip
off of a game called Alan Wake.
It doesn't take ten years to create a sequel. It doesn't take ten years
to write a story about blue skinned natives being invaded because of a
valuable resource on their planet. It doesn't take ten years to get
something right.
It certainly doesn't take ten years to create an outstanding sequel that
could once again dominate the market and bring people back to the PC
platform.
But to know that it took all this time just to get one 25-hour campaign
and a poorly designed multi-player all charged at $60 is simply
depressing. The fact that this game is $60 alone is outrageous. The
price of a console game is now the price of a PC game.
Starcraft II is an unfinished product, deliberately made this way just
to make some extra cash. The map making community is practically
non-existent, further devaluing the online potential of this game.
I will never figure out the answer to the question. The question is, why
was everything that worked abolished for all of this meaningless eye
candy? The Starcraft 2 menu is like looking at an Apple product, it's
sleek, it looks cool, but it lacks all of the features you'd expect it
to have.
The trailers for this game are cliche and as shallow as a Michael Bay
film. Everything has lost it's credibility and turned in it's card. The
humor is all very old childish nonsense that, as I said before, is put
there for the sake of the theme.
The music rips off the TV show Firefly, and there are only a scarce few
amount of tracks in the game. The only one tolerable to the ears is the
Terran soundtrack. There are no victory or defeat themes, and this is
game is repetitious to the end.
Activision is the wave of the future in gaming. Let Starcraft II be the
greatest example of how far the genre has fallen, and how destroyed the
hobby is.
In the words of the Jet Trooper, the Reaper,
We're Screwed.
