BlizzCon Report
Ah, BlizzCon. Merlocs, Hydralisks, and Necros united last week at Blizzard’s annual convention, and I was there in the thick of things. The event had everything a fan of Blizzard’s work would ever want: computers set up everywhere to play World of Warcraft, presentations by the developers, and even a mildly disturbing dance contest where the males were not unknown to remove their shirts and the females danced to Britney Spears’ Grammy award-winning Toxic. Splendid.
But what stood out above everything else was everything StarCraft 2-related. As soon as the doors opened on the first day, people literally sprinted to the hundred or so computers that were set up with the long-awaited sequel to the best selling strategy game ever. I was too afraid to be amongst that crowd, so I waited a little bit before I got my hands on the game and I have to say it was everything I imagined it to be.
The most striking thing about the game is its visuals. It has received some criticism for not having the “holy balls” visual spectacles that strategy games like World in Conflict have, I have to say it looks amazing live. They had to be running it at 60 frames per second, it was a smooth as a fine bourbon. And StarCraft 2 doesn’t even make you throw up if you have too much of it. In addition to the upfront visual quality, when you really look at the world of StarCraft you know that Blizzard paid an intense amount of attention to detail. Billboards are scattered across Terran-themed maps with text like “Real men drill deep” or very clear parodies of modern ads such as those of the iPod.
Based on the look that I got, StarCraft 2 doesn’t fail in gameplay either. The innovation to strategy that Blizzard was able to implement while maintaining the same number of units is rather astonishing. As you know, many of the units in the game have their own special abilities. These special abilities appear to be thematic within races, turning the collection of unit abilities into a cohesive strength for the entire race. For example, the overarching strength for the Terrans seems to be adaptability. A large number of Terran units are able to transform: the Valkyrie starts out as a relatively sturdy mech unit but can be transformed into an air unit if the situation makes it necessary. Also, the **, the Terrans’ starting air unit can transform into an air unit that is able to take out incoming missiles. The Protoss appear to have the overarching unit ability of mobility. The Stalker can blink to move quickly from one place to the next, Zealots can quickly teleport to their victims, and the phase prisim acts as a mobile pylon. Methinks the Zerg will have something to do with mass-production. Just a guess.
While plenty of attention has been paid to deepening multiplayer gameplay, the singleplayer campaign appears to have received plenty of attention as well. Blizzard is taking a different approach to their singleplayer than what has been seen in most strategy games, where players are able to actually become immersed in the universe and story. The introductory sequence has moved beyond the confining nature of the original and allows players choose what they learn about and interact with. The demonstration that they showed had Jim Raynor on the Terran Battlecruiser Hyperion, getting ready to get an artifact being guarded by the Protoss. Players can have RPG-style conversations with a number of people in Raynor’s crew and canview information panels, maps, and the like to find out more about the upcoming mission and the universe they are in. They can even take a look outside the window of the ship to take a look at the planet, a pretty awesome sight.
I’ve always been a fan of StarCraft and I have to say I have high hopes for its sequel…and not simply because its made by one of the most successful developers in the world. Both singleplayer and multiplayer gameplay are looking to gain considerable depth without getting out of control with piles of new units. It will probably be a while before anyone outside of the company gets a chance at trying out the game, but when that time comes I’ll be there with a baseball bat to fight off anyone trying to get it ahead of me and a pen to make sure you guys know every bit of information I glean from it.
Socvazius is the CEO of HeavenGames, currently soaking in the Mediterranean sun in Greece before university resumes in a few weeks.
