XI Wiki
Serra
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm Review
by
on 2013-03-29 at 13:01 (21510 Views)
It took almost 10 years, but in 2007, Blizzard announced the sequel to their intergalactic epic, Starcraft. At the time, they revealed that the game would be split up into three separate games, each devoted to one of the franchise’s different races, to tell the story that gamers had been waiting for almost a decade. 2010 saw the release of the first piece of this trilogy, Wings of Liberty. In that entry, players took control of Jim Raynor, as his band of rebels worked to undermine the Terran Dominion and he worked to deal with his past with Sarah Kerrigan, the evil Queen of Blades. At the end of the game, Raynor managed to purge Kerrigan of (most) of her Zerg infestation and return her to her human roots.
Note: seeing as this game is an expansion, I will assume you’ve played Wings of Liberty.
The original Starcraft introduced players to a universe occupied by three races: the Terran settlers from Earth, the Zerg Swarm, and the Protoss. These three races engaged in a war that crossed numerous planets and was filled with alliances, betrayal, and destruction on a galactic scale. Heart of the Swarm, the second of the Starcraft II trilogy, picks up where Wings of Liberty left off. Players are put in control of Kerrigan, the psionically (psychically) gifted, de-infested, former Queen of Blades as she deals with her transformation and past with the Zerg swarm. Given that this game is the “Zerg entry” in the franchise, it should come as no surprise that Kerrigan is quickly drawn back to the Swarm and resumes her role as Queen. However, make no mistake; this isn’t the same kill-everyone-and-laugh-as-their-friends-flee Kerrigan that so many grew to hate in Brood War. Kerrigan has developed a conscious, and rather than undirected and unbiased killing, her swarm is driven by a singular goal -- revenge. Sure, Kerrigan and the Swarm travel to other planets and engage in combat with different forces, but it’s all to make the Swarm strong enough that she can enact her revenge.
When it comes to real-time strategy games like Starcraft II, everyone has their favorite race and the race they hate. For me, I hate the Zerg. When it was announced that Starcraft II would be split into three separate games rather than devoting a campaign to each like its predecessors, I was definitely apprehensive about playing an entire 20+ mission campaign as the Zerg swarm. Unlike Wings of Liberty, this installment makes major departures from the traditional RTS gameplay. Yes, all the key elements are still there (managing your resources, building more supply, balancing your troops, etc), but the game often does not feel like an RTS -- in a strangely refreshing way. From the beginning, Blizzard stated that they wanted to combine RPG elements into the game so they could build the game around Kerrigan. I know personally, whenever I played an RTS level that had a hero character, I would always keep them in the back of my base, clear out every possible enemy, and then move them towards the required objective whenever there was absolutely no chance they could be harmed. Blizzard clearly did not want that experience. Almost every mission places Kerrigan on the battlefield, leading her army by example. Not only is she incredibly strong with an array of impressive abilities (like the ability to spawn a pack of Banelings that literally jump toward enemies to explode and bathe them in acidic death), but she respawns back at the main base whenever she’s killed in battle. Kerrigan is a requisite, and often times unbalanced, element of most aspects of the game. Throughout the game, clearing main and bonus objectives allows Kerrigan to become more powerful and access more and more abilities.
It isn’t just Kerrigan’s RPG elements that make the game feel different than traditional RTSs. Numerous missions take the Starcraft II elements and fit them into unique presentations. One mission that has received a lot of praise elsewhere puts players in control of a single Zerg parasite aboard a hostile Protoss ship. Players must sneak through ventilation pipes, hide behind exhaust ports, and consume various creatures aboard the ship to survive and grow. The level epitomizes the creativity that went into developing this game. That game even features a number of boss battles where you must utilize a small army to defeat a large force of enemies. True, most of these battles are overly simplified thanks to bright flashing attack indicators, but it’s still a nice twist to the gameplay. Blizzard has also done an exceptional job of reducing the amount of micromanagement required to successfully play as the Zerg (at least during the campaign). The game is designed so players can quickly amass a large swarm of units, and then charge into the enemy forces. Any troops that have been created to replenish your army during heated battles can easily be selected by a single button press and directed to join your forces.
A number of features from Wings of Liberty also return, albeit with some Zerg tweaking. Kerrigan deploys for her missions from aboard her massive space-faring Leviathan. Aboard the ship, she can interact with a number of characters, similar to Raynor’s interactions aboard the Hyperion. It is through these conversations that Kerrigan’s changes really standout. It becomes very clear very early that this is no longer the Kerrigan who experimented on Terrans and would do whatever it takes to win. Aboard the Leviathan, players can customize Kerrigan’s abilities before each mission as well as the abilities of her Zerg. While some changes are permanent, most abilities can be altered based on the needs of a particular level. One major and welcome improvement over its predecessor comes in terms of replayability. In Wings of Liberty, upgrades were permanent choices during each campaign. If you wanted to experience the game with an alternative upgrade, you’d have to replay the entire campaign to that point to unlock it. After beating the game, Heart of the Swarm features a replay mode that allows players to select which upgrades they want before starting each level. This has made earning achievements and clearing levels on different difficulties infinitely easier.
Of course, as much as I was looking forward to finishing the campaign, the real allure of Starcraft II will always be the multiplayer. For the most part, if you’ve played the Starcraft II multiplayer, things will feel very similar; but there are some significant changes. Admittedly, it had been about three months since I had last played a round of matches so some of these changes might have already been in place, but I’m fairly confident I can treat them as new additions. Wings of Liberty’s matchmaking has been greatly overhauled, offering players a number of different game types. New players can take part in training matches which hold your hand and help to develop good practices and timing for harder opponents. Instead of just custom games, players can now battle AI opponents of increasing difficulty. Finally, in addition to the familiar competitive ranked system, players can take part in unranked multiplayer matches against players of varying skill levels. Each of these game types offer experience which rapidly raise your level, unlocking levels and customizations.
The multiplayer matches themselves have also undergone a number of minor changes. As expected, there are a number of new levels and units to utilize. Terrans gain access to a transformation for the Helion which makes the unit slower but more powerful and the annoying widow mine. Reapers have been nerfed to seeming pointlessness, but Siege Tanks no longer require an upgrade to enter Siege mode. The Zerg have a new flying caster in the Viper and a ground defender in the Swarm Host. The Protoss have three new aerial units: the Oracle, the Tempest, and the Mothership Core. The Oracle is great for early game harassment and crippling unprotected expansions. The Tempest attacks slowly, but has, I think, the longest range in the game, making it ideal for luring enemies into traps. Finally, the Mothership Core gives the Protoss a number of useful abilities which help phenomenally in the early game. My only complaint is that players are restricted to one Mothership Core, similar to the Mothership. I would have liked if there could be multiple Cores, but only one could be upgraded to a Mothership at a time. Void Rays have lost their signature power and Phoenixes can now have their range upgraded, making them ideal for kiting Mutalisks (as you can tell, I’ve had the most experience with the Protoss units..).
As I mentioned earlier (and you probably already know) Starcraft II is a trilogy, concluding sometime in the future with the Protoss installment, Legacy of the Void. Starcraft II is more than the story of the war between the Terrans, Zerg, and Protoss. While the first two games haven’t truly delved into it, underneath both campaigns has been the rising threat of the fallen Xel’naga and his army of hybrids. Unfortunately, the need to lay the groundwork for the final installment comes at the cost of the story of Kerrigan and the Zerg. When Wings of Liberty was released, a number of people complained that the Zerg were treated as a poor misused and misunderstood race, not the fearsome and feral pack of the original game. In many ways, this criticism still holds as the threat of the Zerg is second to the approaching threat. Still, as someone who hates playing as the Zerg, I can honestly say I enjoyed the majority of the campaign. For those who have always felt overwhelmed by the multiplayer, Heart of the Swarm takes steps in the right direction to prepare players and offer alternatives to the highly competitive ranked system. I’ve always felt that Starcraft is one of those games that everyone who calls themselves a gamer has been exposed to at one time or another. I imagine Starcraft II will also be one of those games, so I strongly recommend it. After all, we might be playing it for another ten years, so it’s better to get started early.
http://images.bluegartr.com/bucket/g...423b573d30.png
Live for the Swarm~
All images owned by Blizzard.
Mark as Read
