It has been almost two years since Star Craft II: Wings of
Liberty was released and I already find myself as bored with the game as I am
with the original Star Craft which released in 1998. I am writing this now because the first
expansion pack, Heart of the Swarm, will likely be released within the next
year. In fact, I bet that Blizzard
Entertainment will offer another Annual Pass deal to all World of Warcraft
subscribers with the free game being Heart of the Swarm as Diablo III was for
the last Annual Pass. While Diablo III
was a title that I definitely knew I’d purchase and therefore it made sense for
me to buy the Annual Pass, I can’t say the same for Heart of the Swarm. The Annual Pass might be the only way I would
get the expansion, but only as a side benefit.
Why am I so disinterested in this new game? Because, dear reader, Wings of Liberty was so
underwhelming. Allow me to explain.
First, the gameplay didn’t interest me. When I buy a Real Time Strategy (RTS) game, I
want the story mode to be compelling but most importantly I want the
multiplayer experience to keep me engaged.
The single player story line in Wings of Liberty wasn’t the worst I’ve
played, but it wasn’t the greatest and I honestly expected more out of Blizzard
of which I know more is possible. It
felt like they cheaped out on story hoping that the graphics would distract
from a lack of content. The twists like
researching enhancements for troops and the ability to buy upgrades and mercenaries
didn’t provide a deep, expansive storyline.
Maybe one of the problems here is that the only playable story was that
of the Terrains unlike the original game that gave access to all three race’s
stories.
No matter what the true reason for the lack of interesting
single player campaign, the multiplayer didn’t do any better. Unfortunately, many of the units available
and seen in the campaign are not accessible in the multiplayer which was a
shame because I remember liking many of the Terrain campaign units. The biggest nail in the coffin was the lack
of originality or spark of something new that was so endearing in the first
game. It feels like SC II’s multiplayer
was merely a remix that did little to enhance the original work. Sure, the graphics are nice and there are
upgrades to the core works of the program that allow for play at higher
resolutions and bigger screens, there are changed gameplay mechanics that cause
the tactics from the first game to no longer be applicable, but this does not make
for a revolutionary step. And honestly,
given all the time Blizzard worked on the game, I expected revolution, not
evolution like I got. We’re not even talking
evolutionary like going from gills to lungs, but from four fingers to five.
I get that if they changed the game too much, some of the
core fan base (read: Korean gamers that play professionally) would have been
upset, but with what they produced now, I’m upset. I’m upset that I should have gotten something
amazing and I didn’t. Maybe Blizzard
looked at the situation with SC II and that prompted them to work on Diablo III’s
story more (I understand Blizzard held off publishing the game twice for
various reasons). Maybe Blizzard will
look at how SC II was like a flat, hot soda when it should have been a bubbly,
cold refreshing brew and make this first expansion better. Here’s hoping. But honestly, I doubt I ever know unless I
get the game for free because after SC II, Blizzard, I just don’t see myself
ever buying any of the expansions.
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