Starcraft 2

Welcome everyone to our discussion of Starcraft 2. Starcraft 2 remains at the top of the competetive Real Time Strategy (or RTS)genre. Whenever someone mentions competetive gaming and RTS, normally one thinks of Starcraft 2. Starcraft comes from a long line of video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment.



Starcraft evolved from the previous series of games from the 90's known as Warcraft.
The original Warcraft games were in a fantasy setting where the story centered around the battle between the Orcs and the Humans, although other races existed.


After Warcraft 3, Blizzard decided on a bold move, they split their franchise. In the early 21st century, Blizzard released an MMORPG set with the same theme of Warcraft known as World of Warcraft. W.O.W. As it is more commonly referred to still remains today probably the most played MMORPG to date despite it's age. The other game created from Warcraft 3 was the original Starcraft, an RTS set in a new world, a futuristic society filled with Aliens.

Starcraft 2 is the sequel to the original Starcraft and it's expansion Brood War. Starcraft 2 is being released over 3 games, Wings of Libery, Heart of the Swarm, and Legacy of the Void. Currently only Wings of Liberty has been released, with Heart of the Swarm being released later in the year 2012.

Each of these 3 expansion focus on the three races playable in the Starcraft series, the Terran, Zerg, and Protoss.

Before going in depth, I will give the basics on how the game is played. Normal game modes can vary from 1v1 to 4v4, although the standard for competitions is 1v1. Blizzard also released the map editor used for the game, allowing players to develop their own maps and custom games for the enjoyment of the general Starcraft community. Players begin the game with one base at a random location on each map. Each base has two kinds of resources, Minerals and Vespene Gas and eventually the home base will run out, inciting a need to expand and capture another base to continue unit production. Players harves these materials to produce more workers to harvest, create buildings, and train battle units. The game ends when either a player forfeits and loses or one player destroys all enemy structures and wins. Most games end in surrender when the enemy realizes they do not have a chance to make a comeback and decide to be courteous and not waste anymore time on a lost cause.

When entering a game, a player can choose any of the three races they want to use to battle with. The three races are:



The Terran race are descendants of the Humans of Earth who have settled in another sector of space, the Koprulu Sector. The main theme of the Terrans are humans either in futuristic Space Infantry Gear or Battle Ready Vehicles. Pictured on the right is the standard infantry the Marine, and on the left is one of the flying vehicles, the Banshee. The style of gameplay of Terrans is very defensive and flexible; Terrans are known for having fortified bases and amazing midgame power with easy to access ground AND air armies quickly.

The Zerg:


The second race we will discuss is the Zerg. Zerg are known to be the hardest race to pick up for new players, but that does by no means make them weaker than the other races. The Zerg theme is all about undeveloped creatures whose only purpose is to evolve. All units spawn from the central Hatchery in the form of Larvae. The player will evolve the Larvae into any unit the player has access to, depending on the strategy the player is using. Pictured on the left is a Hydralisk, an advanced ranged infantry unit, and a Mutalisk, an aerial attacker. The gameplay style normally revolves around massive armies, Zerg are known for getting the biggest armies earlier on, giving them the title of early game champions. Zerg are also known for being the best rushers, gaining a passive speedboost and health regen when walking over the substance known as Creep. Creep is an organic material produced by Zerg structures that allow other structures to spawn.

The Protoss:



The final race is an advanced race of Telekinetic beings known as the Protoss. They speak through mental communication as they do not have mouths and have resided in the Koprulu Sector since ancient times. Instead of training units on the field of battle the Protoss warp in units from the societies beyond. Protoss are also the only race that do not have any kind of health regen, instead gaining a shield that can recover that must be destroyed before actual health is taken from the unit. On the bottom right and left are the basic infantry unit, the Zealot. On the top right and middle right, one can also see the Carrier and Phoenix respectively. Due to the elaborate tech and strength, the Protoss hold the title of strongest late game race, where most armies will have some of the strongest units and mass producing them; it just takes really long to get to that point.

Thank you for reading and I hope this gives you more insight into Starcraft 2!