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jakob187

I'm still alive. Life is great. I love you all.

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Uninteresting $#!% #8

By jakob187 9 Comments

IN THIS BLOG: 

 
Fresh out of the store, sittin' in the 'Stang...thinking about how much of my life I will be wasting away on this one little game
Fresh out of the store, sittin' in the 'Stang...thinking about how much of my life I will be wasting away on this one little game
Howdy folks.  Starcraft II - it's a game.  Coincidentally, the only two kinds of PC gamers that aren't excited about its release are those who never played it or those who never really enjoyed it.  I fell deftly into that latter category.  Starcraft just wasn't my thing, and maybe it's because I had my head so far up Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2's ass that I couldn't be bothered with it.  Needless to say, years passed and the RTS genre began to change from being based heavily on "base-building" and more on "unit-building".  In the last five years alone, I think I've spent more time with Company of Heroes and Dawn of War II than I have with most other RTS games at any point.  Suffice it to say...after securing my copy yesterday...I've caught the Starcraft II bug. 
 
I call this a bug because there's always the chance that I'll lose interest after a while.  The two main problems with any RTS is that you'll either find your matches becoming the same predictable paradigms or matches will become incredibly lengthy and you'll just get sick of building for two hours to meet defeat over one "paper-rock-scissors" moment.  For the short time that I perused the original Starcraft back during its launch, I remember thinking that the game just didn't suit to how I like to play RTS games.  Sure, playing stuff like RA2 or even Age of Empires could rely on build order as well, but there was a lot more going on in those for me that I really enjoyed.  The world, the units, the play styles - there just wasn't much that I liked about Starcraft.  Despite my reservations about the game, there's no denying it's a good game.  It's remained popular for over ten years for a reason, right? 
 
When I first sat down with Starcraft II, the voice in my head kept yelling "dood, it's just Starcraft all over again".  Here's the funny thing:  that voice is totally fucking right.  The difference is that this is ten years later, after the RTS genre has gone through a few different eras in gameplay mechanics.  I've played games that are based on build orders, rushes, turtles, and all the standard strats.  There have been many rounds played in games that focus little on building structures and more on units fortifying map positions, using unit counters against each other, etc.  We've seen ten years of crazy shit in the RTS genre - and it's all in Starcraft II.  As a matter of fact, without the last ten years of RTS games, I don't think I would have nearly the appreciation that I do for Starcraft II at the moment.  It's incredibly versatile from a gameplay standpoint, as each of the factions in the game represents one of those kinds of eras. 

  • Terran - your classic buildings and structures, C&C-style RTS faction with elements of AoE
  • Protoss - a hybrid that I would liken to something like Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends
  • Zerg - very unit-based ala Company of Heroes and Dawn of War II
 
I know, I know - without Starcraft, those paradigms wouldn't really exist the way they do.  We owe it to Starcraft for leading the way to see these themes and gameplay styles explored in other RTS games over the last ten years or so.  At the same time, the question does have to be begged:  has Starcraft II been influenced much by the students? 
 
 If this is what you see, then you know it's me.
 If this is what you see, then you know it's me.
Hell no.  It's still Starcraft, so what does it honestly need to learn?  Yes, Blizzard has worked hard on this Battle.net initiative, and so far, I feel like it's paying off for them.  The service is smooth and multi-featured.  People can bitch and complain about how there's no LAN play or offline mode, and I can say "tough titty".  Cry in a fucking corner all you like about it, but it's time people learned that we're in the 21st century.  These archaic ideas of play don't exist in the world of gaming anymore.  As less and less games become split-screen capable on consoles, the PC audience will see less and less games with LAN play.  People will also bitch about little things like Facebook connectivity with your friends, Real ID setups, DRM, etc.  Again, these are things that are part of the times, and you just have to suck it up and deal with it. 
 
I know that throughout this blog, I've said next to nothing about the actual game of Starcraft II.  There's not really anything for me to say about it aside from this:  I didn't care much for the original because I wasn't in the right place for it to appeal to me...but Starcraft II is a different story.  I've bought my copy, I'm online, and I'm loving it.  The addiction is taking hold, and I've already joked around with my friends and family that I'm going to disappear from the real world like I did with World of Warcraft.  I'm sure I'll come back out for sun once in a while, but suffice it to say, I'm interested in more than just playing matches.  I want to do tournaments, invitationals, and everything that entails the general life of a Starcraft player.  I'm that hooked to it. 
 
We'll see how I feel in a few weeks.  Until then, I'm going to be working on my 6-pool Zerg rushes, my Hydralisk streamrolls, my build orders, and everything possible to get better at the game. 
 
Piece. 
 
P.S. - Shoemaker, I'm gunning for you!!!
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