StarCraft 2 Review

Multiplayer

StarCraft 2’s multiplayer has been in extensive beta for months, and it’s needed it. The original is, thanks to StarCraft’s phenomenal popularity in Korea and on the pro-gamer circuit, one of the most popular online games ever, and this is in no small thanks to its superb balance and continued support by Blizzard.

All three StarCraft races, Terrans, Zerg and Protos can be played in multiplayer, and while each has some similarities, such as the requirement for minerals and gas to produce units, the way they do so is dramatically different. The biological Zerg morph and meld into different forms, resulting in some wonderfully disgusting build animations as pustules bulge and crack open to birth new units. The advanced Protos wield advanced robotics and physic powers, as well the ability to teleport units to destinations on the map. The Terrans, despite being the more traditional RTS race, also have some tricks up their sleeves, with buildings that can take to the skies and reposition themselves, and healing medic units.


The player’s introduction to these two whole new races, as well as a slightly different Terran tech tree to the one used in the single player campaign can be tough, but the revised Battle.net service, rebuilt for StarCraft 2 is extremely good. Because the matchmaking operates on a stats tracking system that’s tied to your account, you’re first advised to try some AI skirmishes, before being dropped into a player vs player practise league. Here, none of your first 50 wins or loses will count, allowing you to build up your skills without royally screwing your stats up. This was a key problem we highlighted with online only Heroes of Newerth’s multiplayer and Blizzard’s solution is great, bringing you up to speed without overly punishing you for being new.


You’ll need the practice too, as StarCraft 2’s multiplayer can be very unforgiving. An early game rush can cripple your unit production and end the game inside a matter of minutes, while being slow on your early build strategy will put you at a disadvantage for the rest of the game. It’s as much about balancing your economy and resource collection as it is unit production and tactics and thanks to the overlapping unit classes there are lots of different viable strategies. As with the single player campaign, the sheer choice of units available can be overwhelming, especially when you factor in the two new races you’ll be facing. Knowing the best counters will only come from experience, so plenty of practise is recommended vs. the AI unless you want to get resoundingly whooped.

One of our favourite features of the new battle.net though is its Facebook integration. When you sign up, you can ask it to log into your Facebook account, and add the friends who have also signed up via Blizzard’s RealID setup. While some see the use of their real name in the online world as controversial, it certainly allowed us to add all our StarCraft 2 enabled friends in just a few clicks, making the whole process of setting up yet another in-game friends list that much easier. Are you listening Games for Windows Live? Probably not.