tarcraft is Blizzard Entertainment's long-awaited sequel to its best-selling real-time strategy game Warcraft. Where Warcraft was a fantasy title filled with orcs and other fantastic monsters, Starcraft is a purely science fictional game that challenges players to command one of three distinct races: Terrans, Zerg or Protoss. Starcraft can be played in either a single-player mode or against up to seven other opponents over a local area network or via Blizzard's free Internet service, Battle.net.
The single-player mode includes three campaigns--one for each of the three races--comprised of 10 individual missions. Each campaign follows a linear plot that unfolds as players complete the various missions, and the three campaigns also share a common plot thread. The campaigns can be played in any order, although they present increasingly difficult challenges if they're tackled in the recommended sequence of Terran, Zerg, Protoss. The missions within each campaign also become progressively more difficult as they are completed. Players can also design their own campaigns by using the game's built-in editor.
The gameplay of Starcraft is similar to most real-time strategy games and nearly identical to that of Warcraft. Using a point-and-click interface, players must manage a limited number of resources and materials in order to expand their military forces and finish the tasks that make up each mission, which range from straight-out battles to more complex scenarios. Unlike most real-time strategy games, the three races of Starcraft operate on totally different paradigms (and they have their own agendas). For instance, the Terrans operate mobile buildings that allow them to flit about the game map as needed. The Zerg, on the other hand, can only expand on an organic foundation known as Creep. The Protoss rely on a network of pylons to channel their mental energy.
Was it worth the wait?
For months Blizzard has been promising gamers a science fictional sequel to Warcraft, and although Starcraft isn't the next generation of real-time strategy games, it has enough bells, whistles and tweaks to deliver the goods. Anyone who has played Warcraft will be able to jump right into Starcraft, which is a close cousin to its fantasy forebear. The difference between the two games lies in the little touches, such as Starcraft's ultra-cool interface, its use of advanced features like terrain advantages (always take the high ground!) and the ability to set paths for individual units or groups, not to mention its sheer diversity.
Starcraft also one-ups its predecessor with stunning sounds and graphics, including mission briefings and cut-scenes worthy of feature films. And not only does Starcraft boast three completely different "sides" to play, each race also has an amazing variety of military units at its disposal. Starcraft also manages to pay homage to classic SF stories such as Star Wars, Star Trek and Aliens. This gives the game a wonderful flavor that players won't truly appreciate until they give their Terran flyers an order and hear the response, "We're in the pipe, five by five."
As good as Starcraft is, the game is not without problems. The interface, while certainly slick and hip, takes up a lot of the screen and thus leaves less room for the all-important terrain map. Most players will also find the single-player version of the game rather easy. And for those new to the real-time strategy genre, Starcraft's instruction manual may prove more confusing than enlightening.
Despite these flaws, Starcraft is an awesome game that deserves the ultimate praise gamers can bestow: It rocks!
