A decade has passed since the fires of Aiur raged.

My life has literally changed in almost every aspect waiting for Starcraft II to come out. Back in 1997 I was one of a few hundred PC gaming nerds that had the absolute pleasure to be beta testing a game called ‘Starcraft’.  It went on to be one of the greatest games of all time, if not the best.

What Blizzard had created was a remake of the classic game of chess.  Different pieces moved in unique ways and had different strengths and weaknesses.  This of course is the nicest way to put it.  I also call it digital crack because that is what it is.  It is the perfect game for the intelligent gamer, demanding every synapse in your brain to be firing at breakneck speed.  Blizzard did their best to challenge players to push their abilities to the brink while offering 3 different races that play vastly different, yet are almost perfectly balanced.

How do you improve on such success?... 12 years later we have our answer.

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty hit retail store shelves (as well as Blizzard digital download servers) on July 27, 2010.  The game contains a single player campaign focused on our beloved Terran race with a focus on the familiar Jim Raynor Character.  As expected, the game comes ready to go for those that want to jump right into multiplayer challenges where they can compete in 1vs1, 2vs2, 3vs3, 4vs4 and Free For All style matches.

The single player campaign: From the moment you load Starcraft II you are greeted with none other than the highest quality cinematic to have hit a game.  A lead character in the game named Tychus gets suited up for battle and by the end of the video the hairs on the back of your head are standing.   Getting dressed for work never looked so damn good! 

What Blizzard did to improve the single player experience is refreshing.  You are often given choices.  You can do mission A or B (sometimes C) in which you are awarded different units that are unlocked as part of your army.  Doing missions in a strategic order will give you an edge in some other difficult missions.  You also earn credits in the game that let you buy enhancements for your units as well as your base operations. 

You have the choice of casual, normal, hard and brutal when playing missions too.  The descriptions are good and provide for a solid challenge.  In order to add replay value in game awards, achievements and points can be gained by completing missions and attaining certain things in victories.  It’s rather brilliant (and not so unique anymore) to keep you playing.

This game comes loaded with about 30 missions to play, all focused around the Terran race.  The intention for Blizzard is to release two additional games in the future that will focus on the Protoss and Zerg races.  Fans on these races will have to wait a little while for the spotlight to be on them.  As for me, I love Terran, so I am not complaining.
The game has a Role Playing Game flavor because it has so many cut scenes, dialog and story.  I think it pulls you in deeper and adds to the experience as a whole.  Having beat all the missions on hard, I have to say that it wasn’t easy and it definitely took some time, but what a fantastic ride it was.  I just wish I didn’t have to wait over a decade to have been able to play it, but I am thankful that it is finally here.

Multiplayer:  Let’s face it, it’s the multiplayer competitive aspect of the game that will keep this game buzzing for years to come.  Just like its predecessor, Starcraft II has ladder and a nice ranking system so people can show off their abilities.  Having qualified for platinum league play in 1vs1 I don’t mind sharing where I am at.

The game seems fairly well balanced considering it’s a new release.  Grated, there are some exceptions and certainly a lot of talk of imbalance on the Blizzard forums, but in my opinion, a great player that can macro his economy and micro his units in combat will be victorious no matter what race he/she plays.

Blizzard’s servers can rank you based on how well you play against other players.  After 5 placement matches, you will be placed in the league they feel you are most suited for.  The lowest league (going to highest) is Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond.  I have found that the ladder matches are for the most part accurate in finding similar player levels, but there have been times where my partner and I (playing 2v2) have been put in a match against high diamond level people.  Let’s just say that didn’t end very well for us.  All in all it’s great, and a far improvement on how Battle.net used to work for Starcraft 1.

As it was in the past it is now… the addiction to want to play ‘just one more match’ or try some new strategy is there, and it’s there in spades.  The digital rock-paper-scissors is at it’s best and only Blizzard knows how to best present this in a game environment.  I find reading the forums and watching tournament replays are wonderful for helping players conceptualize new strategies and how to become a better player.  I can honestly say that Starcraft II would be the only game I would love to see televised on a major network as a valid e-sport. It’s exciting, high in action, requires crazy motor skills and very competitive.

Was it worth it to wait 12 years for a sequel?  Well, to be honest, I think Blizzard could have released it sooner if they focused on it.  However I do believe Blizzard stayed true to the ‘secret formula’ and released yet another blockbuster. Blizzard is an enigma in the gaming world, but one that is welcome by all computer gamers.  I am very happy with what they have done and with the high production value the game contains.  At this time I simply have no interest to play anything other than Starcraft II… sign of an excellent game.

Todd's Score: 9.5/10
Pros: Typical Blizzard high production value, faithful sequel to an original masterpiece, competative multiplayer right out of the box, long & excellent single player campaign, achievements and awards system.
Cons: Match making system not quite perfect, people dropping in 4v4 issues, system requirements higher than anticipated.

Review update 12-28-2011

After a year and a half of playing Starcraft 2 on a regular basis, I am very pleased to present my standings in the league as a 'quad diamond' player. This means I have successfully placed in all the multiplayer modes as 'diamond', or, the top 20% of all players.

This was no easy feat and it literally took me the year and a half to get to this point.

Ingredients to this achievement are:

• A solid understanding of all the races.
• Watching Day9TV and Youtube for strategy
• Lot's of practice
• Not fearing the public ladder system and forging forward even after getting obliterated by better players.
• Ability to multi task (manage base and micro army movement)

Does Starcraft 2 have longevity? I would say so based on the fact it's still my number one go to game after this amount of time. The achievement system and league rankings give a tangible component that make you want to comeback for more.

While I continue tinkering with builds in Starcraft 2, I will start to really look forward to how things change in Heart of the Swarm, coming soon... I hope.

reviewed by Todd Alexander