So I attained the Starcraft 2 Beta through less savory means. Or as I like to call it, HERP DE DERP 2.
Well come on, let's face it, I wasn't going to be chosen. Despite buying almost every one of Blizzard's games twice, it doesn't really factor in, they just blind pick random people.
I guess I'll just go over this briefly since I don't like Starcraft much anyways and don't want to waste my time on every little detail. If you want a closing summary of everything, just go to the last paragraph.
The summary of my feelings after playing Protoss and Terran (Zerg are not in the beta) for several games each is that the game is like this:
Starcraft 1 + Better graphics = Starcraft 2.
That's pretty much it. If you were looking for something new, original, or even mildly different, you're looking in the wrong place. This is Starcraft in 3D and not much more. Even the gameplay hasn't been modernized at all.
The new units and some of the new unit/building functionalities make more sense, and it seems rushing isn't quite as viable a tactic anymore. But so much is the same that it feels a bit like a Starcraft 1 expansion pack with a graphical overhaul.
Dropships are gone, and are now Medivacs. Medivacs are better than Dropships because they actually serve a purpose. While they have energy, a Medivac can target 1 biological unit at a time and provide a constant healing stream of 3 health per 1 energy.
This makes assaulting an area with weak land troops viable, because if you load up 3 or so Medivacs with Marines, and drop them all on an area, they have a better chance to survive the assault. Sort of just combines Dropships and Medics into one unit.
The Firebat is gone, his "replacement" is some fat black guy in a mechanical suit that shoots really lame-looking rockets. I can't figure out what purpose he serves yet.
Supply Depots can sink underground to allow you to walk over them. Good to block the entrance of your base with Supply Depots and lower them to let your units through. Acts as a good stopgap while you mow down your attackers with whatever is in your Bunkers.
Well, I'll move on to the Protoss since I'm getting bored talking about the Terrans.
Same hat here for the most part, even less has changed about the Protoss than has about the Terrans. You build Pylons, you get a Warp Gate, crank out Zealots, etc.
The Zealots have a Charge ability, but it needs to be researched. Aside from that, no change. Most of the buildings are unchanged. At the Nexus, you can spend something like 50 energy to double the production speed of any building for about 10 seconds. This should add a bit more strategy as far as fast building with Protoss.
Not really sure what else to mention, the new Protoss units are about as forgettable as the new Terran ones. And all the old units are pretty much the exact same thing as they were before. One of the Protoss units gets this little shield they can cast that completely blocks a small part of the ground, making land units unable to walk on that part. Good for cutting off very tiny choke points or stopping someone from coming in a perfectly straight line.
If you're a Starcraft whore who is willing to fork over $50 for pretty much the same game in 3D, you'll be frothing at the mouth over Starcraft 2. If you didn't care about Starcraft, Starcraft 2 isn't going to make you care. Too many RTS games have come and gone in the past 10 years and Starcraft 2 feels out of date by sticking so closely to the original game. All the changes are minor and have to do with the units rather than the gameplay or functionality of the game.
So, meh!
Oh, but at least there's difficulty options when you fight the AI so you don't get fucking steamrolled by cheating AI like in the first game. That's the only reason I was able to stomach 4 games.
Warhammer 40k Dawn of War (even the first one) is such a better space-oriented RTS than Starcraft 2 that it's not even funny. Had tons of great features, like a fresh take on how resources are acquired, a great squad system, really cool environmental tactics, etc.
I think Blizzard has gotten so complacent with the success of World of Warcraft that they're not even trying anymore. This makes me scared for Diablo 3. I seem to recall a Blizzard in the past that used to take risks rather than just upgrade an old game into 3D and call it a day. Like the difference between Warcraft 2 and Warcraft 3 was colossal, they added so many new features to it that it was crazy. Heroes, NPC creeps, inventories, 2 new races, in-game cutscenes, stuff like that.
