StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is a video game that consists of 1 release
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Overview
Under development by Blizzard Entertainment, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the sequel to StarCraft, arguably the single most popular real-time strategy game in history. StarCraft II returns to a galaxy in turmoil, giving you control of one of the original three races -- Terran, Protoss, or Zerg. The story of StarCraft II takes place roughly four years after the events of the StarCraft: Brood War expansion pack, and finds the Koprulu Sector, an area of of the galaxy colonized by Terran and Protoss alike, conquered almost completely by the ravenous Zerg hordes . The first chapter to be released, Wings of Liberty, will only include a single-player campaign for the Terran faction, consisting of roughly 30 missions, although all three races will be available in multiplayer.
Gameplay
StarCraft II takes a significant detour from the way in which stories are told in real-time strategy games. Blizzard have greatly enhanced the briefing room areas in StarCraft II by making them interactive, giving the player control of their principal character between missions. In the previous StarCraft game, the briefing rooms were static and showed only animated character portraits displayed on screens trading dialog. The method and level of interactivity has so far only been shown for the Terrans. Each race's briefing rooms will look and play differently. For the Terran campaign, the player controls returning character Jim Raynor, able to access different areas of his starship. Players can also click on various items in the rooms. Some are vital to the story, others are there for flavour or for fun.
The player will be able to look at the star map to take on various missions on a non-linear path, a first for the series, and be able to purchase types of units for use during the real-time strategy gameplay. Players will be able to purchase new technologies which will give players the ability to customize their units they want or prefer to play with. StarCraft II's development is still underway; the gameplay, balancing issues, and even units themselves are constantly being changed. But Blizzard must maintain the core gameplay mechanics of the original game to retain their hold on the South Korean competitive gaming scene. So while new additions will be made, the number of sweeping changes will likely be minimal.
In the single player campaign, the game will allow the player to take branching paths that may effect the story. One example given is that if a player chooses to save a unit it might add another branching story arc. While the Terrans have the ability to buy and upgrade their units in between missions, it is still unclear how this concept will work with the Zerg and Protoss races. One hint about the Zerg was that they might have the ability to selectively evolve instead of buying upgrades. There will also be units in the campaign that might not be available in the multi-player. One example was given how a very powerful prototype weapon might be playable in the campaign but would be too unbalanced if added to multiplayer. This makes the campaign mode a different experience rather than just a tutorial for online play. Blizzard also confirmed that an achievement system will be built into StarCraft II.
Technology
StarCraft II utilizes an advanced proprietary engine which can make use of both DirectX 9 and 10 special effects, and possibly DirectX 10.1 given Blizzard's recent partnership with ATI Technologies to use 10.1 in Diablo III, as well as Havok physics. The engine is said to be extremely scalable in terms of level of detail, able to render both standard gameplay and detailed real-time cinematics.
Trilogy
At BlizzCon 2008, Blizzard announced that, unlike the original StarCraft or the Brood War expansion pack, which each contained three separate campaigns, StarCraft II will ship as three games which focus on one of the three factions. The three titles are:
Wings of Liberty is essentially Starcraft II, the core game, with a single player campaign based around the Terran faction. While Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void function as expansion packs, adding the Zerg and Protoss campaigns, respectively. This will allow players to experience more story, characters, cinematics, and customization for each faction, giving an epic experience. The games will be released across an estimated three year span, or basically a new chapter every year or so. The multiplayer aspect of the game will be fully equipped in the first installment with all three factions playable and new units/updates likely added with each new game. There will be no cliffhangers at the end of the campaigns. Each campaign will have its own beginning, middle, and end. Many main characters will make appearances in each game. Each game will have about 30 missions, and have been compared in length to the entirety of the original StarCraft. At this moment, it is unclear whether it will be possible to play Heart of the Swarm or Legacy of the Void without purchasing Wings of Liberty first.
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StarCraft II Battle Report 4: Terrans Vs. 'Toss
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BlizzCon 09 Interview: StarCraft II
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StarCraft II: An Old Rivalry
The long-awaited sequel to the bestselling strategy game StarCraft and part one of a trilogy, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is a sci-fi themed real-time strategy game for PC and Mac where players take control of the Terran faction in an interstellar war against the ravenous Zerg and psionic Protoss.
Overview
Under development by Blizzard Entertainment, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the sequel to StarCraft, arguably the single most popular real-time strategy game in history. StarCraft II returns to a galaxy in turmoil, giving you control of one of the original three races -- Terran, Protoss, or Zerg. The story of StarCraft II takes place roughly four years after the events of the StarCraft: Brood War expansion pack, and finds the Koprulu Sector, an area of of the galaxy colonized by Terran and Protoss alike, conquered almost completely by the ravenous Zerg hordes . The first chapter to be released, Wings of Liberty, will only include a single-player campaign for the Terran faction, consisting of roughly 30 missions, although all three races will be available in multiplayer. Gameplay
You can still expect to see tons of units on screen at once.
The player will be able to look at the star map to take on various missions on a non-linear path, a first for the series, and be able to purchase types of units for use during the real-time strategy gameplay. Players will be able to purchase new technologies which will give players the ability to customize their units they want or prefer to play with. StarCraft II's development is still underway; the gameplay, balancing issues, and even units themselves are constantly being changed. But Blizzard must maintain the core gameplay mechanics of the original game to retain their hold on the South Korean competitive gaming scene. So while new additions will be made, the number of sweeping changes will likely be minimal.
In the single player campaign, the game will allow the player to take branching paths that may effect the story. One example given is that if a player chooses to save a unit it might add another branching story arc. While the Terrans have the ability to buy and upgrade their units in between missions, it is still unclear how this concept will work with the Zerg and Protoss races. One hint about the Zerg was that they might have the ability to selectively evolve instead of buying upgrades. There will also be units in the campaign that might not be available in the multi-player. One example was given how a very powerful prototype weapon might be playable in the campaign but would be too unbalanced if added to multiplayer. This makes the campaign mode a different experience rather than just a tutorial for online play. Blizzard also confirmed that an achievement system will be built into StarCraft II.
Technology
StarCraft II utilizes an advanced proprietary engine which can make use of both DirectX 9 and 10 special effects, and possibly DirectX 10.1 given Blizzard's recent partnership with ATI Technologies to use 10.1 in Diablo III, as well as Havok physics. The engine is said to be extremely scalable in terms of level of detail, able to render both standard gameplay and detailed real-time cinematics.Trilogy
At BlizzCon 2008, Blizzard announced that, unlike the original StarCraft or the Brood War expansion pack, which each contained three separate campaigns, StarCraft II will ship as three games which focus on one of the three factions. The three titles are: - Starcraft II Terrans: Wings of Liberty
Wings of Liberty
Heart of the Swarm
Legacy of the Void
Wings of Liberty is essentially Starcraft II, the core game, with a single player campaign based around the Terran faction. While Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void function as expansion packs, adding the Zerg and Protoss campaigns, respectively. This will allow players to experience more story, characters, cinematics, and customization for each faction, giving an epic experience. The games will be released across an estimated three year span, or basically a new chapter every year or so. The multiplayer aspect of the game will be fully equipped in the first installment with all three factions playable and new units/updates likely added with each new game. There will be no cliffhangers at the end of the campaigns. Each campaign will have its own beginning, middle, and end. Many main characters will make appearances in each game. Each game will have about 30 missions, and have been compared in length to the entirety of the original StarCraft. At this moment, it is unclear whether it will be possible to play Heart of the Swarm or Legacy of the Void without purchasing Wings of Liberty first.
| Game Name | StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty |
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StarCraft 2 SC2 |
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