April 7, 1998
With the fury of a storm Blizzard Entertainment has unleashed the next level of real-time strategy games upon the universe. StarCraft, the newest title in Blizzard's highly successful line, is now available - and it is hot!
How Hot Is It?
Pushing the genre continually further, StarCraft takes all that has made their other
mega-hits, WarCraft II and Diablo, popular and enhances the game play to such an extent
that even experienced gamers will find excitement in this product.
The story behind StarCraft is one of war and devastation. In a classic struggle for existence, players find themselves surrounded by hostility while they race to build enough protection and technology to survive.
Picking one of three races, you work to quickly utilize the strengths and to exploit your opponents' weaknesses. It's a game that takes a quick, responsive mind and good planning skills.
The Cast
One of the most compelling aspects of StarCraft are the races you choose. Unlike other
games, where choosing sides amounts to little more than selecting color or appearance,
what you choose in StarCraft determines what your strengths and weaknesses will be, what
kind of game you play, and how you execute. Each of the three races (Terran, Protoss and
Zerg) are so different, and have such varied abilities, that it'll provide gamers with
extended game play as they work through the scenarios playing different sides.
The Terran race, us humans, are a nomadic bunch. Their colonies were originally settled by people exiled from Earth for their crimes. The Terrans, on their search for resources have crossed the boundaries and have disturbed the Protoss holdings. The Terran army is extremely versatile and is made up of not only the most elite soldiers but also reformed, or as they call it "resocialized" criminals. The Terrans put up a good fight and their weaponry consists of mobile buildings, flame-throwing Marines, vehicles and the extremely popular (and butt-kicking) Goliath. Being a Human myself, I played this race first. Kind of felt like home, if you know what I mean.
The Zerg are a race in pursuit of excellence. In
looking at them, they're ugly, slithery and scary! They have amazing abilities and are
capable of infecting other races. Once infected, the changed beings are hell-bent on
destroying the enemies of the Zerg. The real power behind Zerg is their ability to burrow
into the soil and lay in wait for advancing troops. When the enemy nears, they will raise
from the dirt or will thrust spikes into the warriors, causing quick death. The masters of
integration, the Zerg utilize the strengths of their vanquished foes and absorb their
traits into their hive. One distinguishing feature of the Zerg is the "Creep"
which is a living substance upon which all their buildings rest, and upon which others
cannot build.
The best for last. Protoss are an amazing
bunch. Able to bend time and space itself, the Protoss manipulate the air around them and
are able to cloak and to transport from one spot to the next instantaneously. Much more
humanoid than the Zerg, the Protoss rival their developmental status and them some. Though
they are limited in the number of different army units, they are extremely powerful and
quick. When playing Protoss, keep two things in mind: Carriers and Archon.
The Game Play
Unique to StarCraft is the striking difference between the three races from which the
player chooses. When playing in single player fashion, you are able to go through
scenarios as Terran, Zerg or Protoss, with missions designed to help you develop the
specific skills of each.
Playing a serious round of StarCraft is an exhausting
task. There is so much to do; so much to conquer, build and explore, that your mind is
continually racing to keep ahead of your foes.
To help you, though, StarCraft utilizes a queued build which allows you to get a number of units set up for production. This allows you to establish and maintain your base without having to continually manage the production to a boringly specific degree. You can set points on the map where you can designate as the gathering spot for newly created units. The Protoss grunt workers (called Probes) have the unique ability to begin construction of a building and then move away from it - leaving it to finish itself. This allows the savvy player to build a significant number of structures with just one Probe. Terran grunts (called SCVs) are able to repair many items in their inventory. Zerg, as mentioned, are able to burrow to protect themselves and to ambush. More importantly, they have the capacity to regenerate damage, which means they must be utterly obliterated in battle or they will be back.
The UI is incredibly useful in helping you manage all
of this. Upgrades to units or structures are watched over by your helping unit and you are
told by voice when units are ready, when upgrades are complete and when you're being
attacked. The place of event is even designated on the map so you immediately know where
to go for the action.
As with most games, however, StarCraft shines in multi-player mode. When one race unites with another, they form an almost unstoppable force - sometimes for evil. Multi-player games are available via the standard modem-to-modem, direct connect, IPX network or TCP/IP connections, with up to eight players. Following in the fashion of WarCraft II, StarCraft provides a very nice multi-player chat interface where the game can be set up and discussed. Game play on Blizzard's Battle.net is quick and responsive and wins and loses are tracked on the server so you can see your rank compared to others.
Conquering Space
Enough beating around the bush. Let me bottom-line this: StarCraft is easily the best
strategy game ever - no question about it. With StarCraft, Blizzard have shown that they
have the magic to make great software. One could assume that WarCraft II was a one-hit
wonder; or that Diablo was a lucky shot in the dark. None of that is true, of course. What
StarCraft shows is that Blizzard continues to make the best-of-breed software and that
anything they put out can be purchased sight unseen - you're guaranteed a winner.
For all the delays StarCraft went through; beyond all the metamorphosis the program experienced, Blizzard seems determined to produce nothing but the best software possible.
StarCraft can be had for around $40, and many stores are offering $20 rebates to celebrate its introduction. Whatever the cost, StarCraft is the best strategy game bang for the buck available today and I give it five out of five Go Inside Review Lights!
Copyright © 1998 by Hugh Faulkner
The views expressed represent the opinion of only the author...and Xerxes.
"Go Inside" is a David Boles Trademark