Blizzard Showcases Starcraft 2 Video Eye Candy

July 6th, 2009

The last week may have seemed slow to those gamers waiting on release news for the Starcraft 2 beta, but Blizzard has been busy indeed. They released this 7 minute 7 second video of some absolutely stunning game play and exceptional graphics. I did however, take a few minutes to mourn the poor Terrans, it seems they really are getting the worst of this video game play.

In this video are some hot hints and tactics, though they always seem to fade to black when things are getting really juicy. As always the Zerg are impossibly pesky (my friend who loves to play Zerg is going to love this video) and the Protoss slower but highly dangerous. I wonder if there is a giant sized can of raid for the Terran in Starcraft 2.

That’s not all that Blizzard has released this past week. There was a very in-depth (as in-depth as the cagey public relation savvy mouth pieces of Blizzard get anyway) interview with Dustin Browder. He revealed a few tasty tidbits on the proposed trilogy and game play of Starcraft 2.

Most notable to me was that the ambitions and goals of each of the proposed trilogy and races would be different. For instance he was firm on the fact that the Terran would be all about gathering cash, and buying big guns. Truth be told, that sounds like life to me. He was less clear on the goals of the Zerg but “supposed” it would have to do with evolution and even less clear about the Protoss’ ambitions and game goals except to say they were very long lived…whatever that means.

For those of you folks who enjoy a rich storyline Browder says that will be fully explored, including Jim Raynor’s unfinished business with Kerrigan whom he is in love with. From a girl gamer’s and a writer’s point of view I hate unfinished stories so this was a pleasant surprise. Oh, and don’t forget Raynor and his business with Mengsk, who really deserves some big payback.

Naturally there was a bit about game play, and Zerg players will have to watch out for those ghosts now if they go Mutalisk that, I suppose, is our giant can of Raid. It seems the species have not changed as much as they have remained the same.

One point really caught my interest and imagination and that was the campaigns which he said are non-linear giving a freedom unheard of in the original Starcraft. You still will start at point A and you are still headed to point Z, but how you get there will be up to you. You choose the missions you want to play and the units you want to play with. Also there were some very interesting hints about campaigns.

For instance one he mentioned was about the infested Terran who only attacked at night. Oh yeah, fun fun, and during the day it was all about “EVERYONE GO OUT AND KILL ‘EM WHILE THEY SLEEP!” Now that sounds like a challenge, as well as the terrain that is periodically flooded by lava. It’s time to get to high ground even if the minerals are “down yonder”.

In all it was a great week for hints, and a bit of eye candy. So Blizzard, when is it going to be? We are all waiting on our Starcraft 2 beta keys.