http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ETGRY_3583c#!

Here's the Bliz blog post about the trailer.

http://eu.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/7104823/Heart_of_the_Swarm_Opening_Cinematic_Revealed-22_01_2013

Looks pretty cool. I guess the Kerrigan story is going to come to some sort of end conclusion. I hope it explains how it goes from the end of SC2 the HOTS properly. Because I have no idea what kind of change she was meant to of went through at the end, if there was any at all.

I hate getting excited for games lol, and now that it's less than two months away from release, it's starting to creep in.

Best cinematic that they have done since Wrath of the Lich King. Phenomenal.

Wilhelm scream.

Edit: That Ultralisk was scary as hell.

Hot damn.

Blizzard continues to blow my mind with their cinematic department. It looks like Kerrigan is haunted by her past power and influence, she'll probably go on a quest to regain control of the Zerg, since they'll most likely run amok now (and we saw how well that went in Brood War).

I got teary. I love the Starcraft universe!

I was going to say "oh my god, Raynor, what have you done?"... though I'm sure things won't be rosey even if that was a nightmare and not a vision.

StarCraft 2's single player was great, worst part about it was playing as Protoss. Zerg seem way more interesting. (obviously not much of a SC buff)

As for the cinematic the Willhelm scream kind of ruined it in my opinion, I'm usually a fan but for some reason it really bothered me in this trailer.

(maby because it was cut off I dont know ;p)

Blizzard's cinematics are still some of the best in the business and this was a fine example of that.

Teamliquid posted a gigantic preview of Heart of the Swarm for anyone who's interested.

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=394643

The game seems like it's come together nicely over the past year or so, but I still think the multiplayer needs work. It's kind of crazy to think that it's coming out in a few short months while still feeling so off from where it needs to be. Hopefully the expansion is the sort of thing that gets Brad back into the game, his enjoyment of WoL was one of the things that got me into Giantbomb.

@L44 said:

Wilhelm scream.

Top notch. I can't wait to see what happens with Kerrigan.

Aw man. I wasn't really excited about HotS but after seeing that, I'm back on the Starcraft train.

Also:

@Chavtheworld said:

@L44 said:

Wilhelm scream.

Seems like just yesterday I was watching the "war is here" cinematic for WoL and getting all excited. Love the zerg, so I'm really looking forward to the single player campaign this time around.

It's about time. I loved SC2's campaign, and I'll definitely double down. What a kickass trailer. Can't wait to experience the next chapter of Star Craft 2.

I really, really, really wish Blizzard's cinematic department would make a feature length film.

That was great!

Hell, it's about damn time.

Can't wait for the campaign. I don't know that the multiplayer will be able to pull me back in like SC2 did for a while, but I really want to play the story.

The crashing Battlecruiser looks soooo sick.

Fuck. I need money.

Also, that viking transformation was badass.

I have never played StarCraft. This made me really want to check it out. Well, most of what I've seen of SC2 does.

That Viking transforming right in front of the Ultralisk, must've been a misclick. Pretty awesome trailer though.

I AM EXCITE

Incredible work as usual. This and Bioshock are the games I'm looking forward to these coming months.

@Signus said:

Blizzard's cinematics are still some of the best in the business and this was a fine example of that.

Teamliquid posted a gigantic preview of Heart of the Swarm for anyone who's interested.

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=394643

The game seems like it's come together nicely over the past year or so, but I still think the multiplayer needs work. It's kind of crazy to think that it's coming out in a few short months while still feeling so off from where it needs to be. Hopefully the expansion is the sort of thing that gets Brad back into the game, his enjoyment of WoL was one of the things that got me into Giantbomb.

If they held the game back till the MP felt totally balanced it would never come out. It's gonna get tweaked constantly just like WoL did, I think it needs to come out. The fact that it's taken this long for an expansion is kinda nutso if you think about it. Can't wait!

i'll admit this sounds curmudgeonly- but that really didn't do much for me. hats off to the cinematic team- they always do industry-defining work, and it was neat to see cinema-quality renders of in-game units. but it felt like a michael bay trailer with a really cliche voiceover. and i suppose that's to be expected, but i'm just a little more critical ever since diablo 3 looked really fantastic (presentation-wise) but then fell totally flat in its narrative- at least to me. still a day-one purchase for me though- the single player looks great.

WHO THE HELL LANDS A VIKING TO FIGHT AN ULTRA?!

@mellotronrules said:

i'll admit this sounds curmudgeonly- but that really didn't do much for me. hats off to the cinematic team- they always do industry-defining work, and it was neat to see cinema-quality renders of in-game units. but it felt like a michael bay trailer with a really cliche voiceover. and i suppose that's to be expected, but i'm just a little more critical ever since diablo 3 looked really fantastic (presentation-wise) but then fell totally flat in its narrative- at least to me. still a day-one purchase for me though- the single player looks great.

Not to be harsh but, you sound like liteterally every 'blizz' fan... "its not as good as there old games from X years ago"... Playing BW and SC for the first time not that long ago (3yrs or so ago) and then playing SC2 when it launched, the writing isn't that vastly improved and the 'redneck' is so phoned in alot of the time its pretty jarring to hear people complain that WoL was corny etc etc

CGI textures are starting to get where they need to be.

Ha, dude lands a Viking with no backup thinking he can take out an Ultralisk. And the ending of that cinematic is just a painful reminder of what they did to Kerrigan as a character. LAME.

Zerg are the best race, so I'm looking forward to this.

Reality: Nerds slumped over keyboards shouting racial epithets to online opponents and decrying everything that beats them as overpowered.

Whining and racism: so good even the top players do it!

@baldgye said:

@mellotronrules said:

i'll admit this sounds curmudgeonly- but that really didn't do much for me. hats off to the cinematic team- they always do industry-defining work, and it was neat to see cinema-quality renders of in-game units. but it felt like a michael bay trailer with a really cliche voiceover. and i suppose that's to be expected, but i'm just a little more critical ever since diablo 3 looked really fantastic (presentation-wise) but then fell totally flat in its narrative- at least to me. still a day-one purchase for me though- the single player looks great.

Not to be harsh but, you sound like liteterally every 'blizz' fan... "its not as good as there old games from X years ago"... Playing BW and SC for the first time not that long ago (3yrs or so ago) and then playing SC2 when it launched, the writing isn't that vastly improved and the 'redneck' is so phoned in alot of the time its pretty jarring to hear people complain that WoL was corny etc etc

that's totally fair, which is why i recognized the risk of sounding like a wet blanket. but for me it isn't coming from a place of nostalgia and "oh MAN it was SO MUCH BETTER back in the day! acti-blizz has ruined EVERYTHING!" i think i'm just less impressed by high-end cgi purely designed for spectacle. it's probably just a side-effect of having seen that pitch countless times before (and getting older), unfortunately. i mean, the entirety of the movie 'avatar' was sold on that premise- and while visually impressive, the film was somewhat forgettable. it's also the disconnect between what we see in a trailer, and what the game actually plays/looks like. but i digress. still looking forward to the game immensely.

Reality: Nerds slumped over keyboards shouting racial epithets to online opponents and decrying everything that beats them as overpowered.

Whining and racism: so good even the top players do it!

Pretty neat, I'm sure Brad ejaculated upon seeing it. I like the Ultra vs Siege Tank Line and that the Siege Tanks still don't have projectiles, cause fuck projectiles. It would've been neat if they just retconned the end of Wings of Liberty and said "guys we screwed up" but probably not going to happen. Poor Mengsk is going to die though, despite being the best voice actor this side of Tychus.

@mellotronrules said:

@baldgye said:

@mellotronrules said:

i'll admit this sounds curmudgeonly- but that really didn't do much for me. hats off to the cinematic team- they always do industry-defining work, and it was neat to see cinema-quality renders of in-game units. but it felt like a michael bay trailer with a really cliche voiceover. and i suppose that's to be expected, but i'm just a little more critical ever since diablo 3 looked really fantastic (presentation-wise) but then fell totally flat in its narrative- at least to me. still a day-one purchase for me though- the single player looks great.

Not to be harsh but, you sound like liteterally every 'blizz' fan... "its not as good as there old games from X years ago"... Playing BW and SC for the first time not that long ago (3yrs or so ago) and then playing SC2 when it launched, the writing isn't that vastly improved and the 'redneck' is so phoned in alot of the time its pretty jarring to hear people complain that WoL was corny etc etc

that's totally fair, which is why i recognized the risk of sounding like a wet blanket. but for me it isn't coming from a place of nostalgia and "oh MAN it was SO MUCH BETTER back in the day! acti-blizz has ruined EVERYTHING!" i think i'm just less impressed by high-end cgi purely designed for spectacle. it's probably just a side-effect of having seen that pitch countless times before (and getting older), unfortunately. i mean, the entirety of the movie 'avatar' was sold on that premise- and while visually impressive, the film was somewhat forgettable. it's also the disconnect between what we see in a trailer, and what the game actually plays/looks like. but i digress. still looking forward to the game immensely.

Yeah I can see that, but tbh with Starcraft more than anything, its the playing that I'm there for, the story (as with pretty much every RTS ever made) is just a nonsensical pre-text as to why your an alien, or why everything you build is made from gold etc etc... trailers like this give you something you cant get in the game, and thats a sense of scale of the things your commanding... being able to see properly rendered battle scenes at that quality with units you know and love is pretty fucking cool if you ask me, which is basically all the SP needs to do for me personally...

@Itwastuesday said:

Reality: Nerds slumped over keyboards shouting racial epithets to online opponents and decrying everything that beats them as overpowered.

Whining and racism: so good even the top players do it!

This isn't CoD or LoL... so not really....

@baldgye said:

@Itwastuesday said:

Reality: Nerds slumped over keyboards shouting racial epithets to online opponents and decrying everything that beats them as overpowered.

Whining and racism: so good even the top players do it!

This isn't CoD or LoL... so not really....

You're right! StarCraft players are the golden saints of online video games, here to save us from the unwashed masses of those darned LoL and CoD fans! I will now shed my own experiences of playing the SC2 ladder which told me that SC2's community was exactly like every community for every popular online game, ever made, ever.

@MariachiMacabre said:

I have never played StarCraft. This made me really want to check it out. Well, most of what I've seen of SC2 does.

Maybe wait til HoTS is released in the off chance that Wings of Liberty will be discounted.

@Itwastuesday: Hey, original Starcraft's community was awesome; this is mostly a post Halo phenomenon (though WC3's devolved into shit as well).

@Itwastuesday said:

@baldgye said:

@Itwastuesday said:

Reality: Nerds slumped over keyboards shouting racial epithets to online opponents and decrying everything that beats them as overpowered.

Whining and racism: so good even the top players do it!

This isn't CoD or LoL... so not really....

You're right! StarCraft players are the golden saints of online video games, here to save us from the unwashed masses of those darned LoL and CoD fans! I will now shed my own experiences of playing the SC2 ladder which told me that SC2's community was exactly like every community for every popular online game, ever made, ever.

...clearly...

Poor Terran... Looks accurate to normal gameplay from what I remember Ha!... (Again, poor Terran)

that was HOT(S)!

@captain_max707: Terran was the most OP/easiest race for a long time. Bio ball much? I don't think the game ever achieved balance along the lines of Brood War though you could argue that that sort of balance is miraculous and was accidental.

@Fredchuckdave: The bio ball strategy was pretty silly, but by the time I stopped playing (all my friends moved on to League of Legends) I was having a really hard time as Terran. I was never that competitive (I bounced between Silver and Gold a lot) though, so my opinion really doesn't hold much weight. I did notice that a lot of Terran players were struggling though, and didn't seem to get much love in HotS. Protoss definitely got the short end of the stick though.

All that being said, I haven't checked in on it in a long time.

@baldgye said:

WHO THE HELL LANDS A VIKING TO FIGHT AN ULTRA?!

He's freeing up supply to fight the tech switch.

@Scrumdidlyumptious said:

@baldgye said:

WHO THE HELL LANDS A VIKING TO FIGHT AN ULTRA?!

He's freeing up supply to fight the tech switch.

I might belive that, but who the hell fights ultra's without marauders.... WHO I TELL YOU WHO?!

there is a really good breakdown of why the Terran lost that fight in the GSL show the night the aired that trailer

While the trailer was cool and all the context ruined it for me. All I was thinking while watching it was "this makes no sense" and then at the end "well played Blizzard". It's a good trailer for Starcraft 2, but it did not in any way get me excited to play "the next chapter of this awesome story".