What You Can Expect from Starcraft 2 Compared to Previous Rts's

So I was finally able to get into the Starcraft 2 beta a week ago. At first I expected bells and whistles to blow off and be completely sucked into the game but no, the game is actually a LOT like the first one. The races are about 70% the same, with a few new units and tweaks added. For example, protoss now have a special ability that, as of the latest patch, can make targeted building “produce/research” 50% faster for 20 seconds. This is a pretty important ability and I suggest that you all hotkey your nexus’ to quickly use this ability throughout the game. Zerg’s also gained a very important early to late game addition. The queen which somewhat replaces the need for Zerg players to build a second hatchery because she can “inject” larva in the hatchery and about 30 seconds later 4 additional larva will spawn helping MASSIVELY with building up your army.

Ok so some of this information can be found around if you look into it. But what separates SC2 from other RTS’s? For one, IT’S FAST PACED. Like, the average game lasts 10 minutes! The only “slow” time is the first minute in the game where you’ll build about 2-3 additional workers, your first food/control source and possibly your first building that will eventually start your army. The game is a lot more focused on macro (controlling your building/economy) than micro (controlling units, focus firing on low enemy units while making your units with low hp run away). What this means is that you really can’t forget about your base for more than 10 seconds or you will probably fall behind. You also have to create multiple expansions usually. Vespene gas is a lot more rare in SC2 it feels like, despite having 2 with each base. So expansions are especially useful to get more vespene gas since most of the powerful units require a lot of it. Minerals is usually pretty easy to get and they even added some “rich mineral” fields where workers get double the normal amount. Of course, these rich fields are usually in the middle of the map in ways that make it hard to avoid seeing your expansion. If you din’t know, there are no “hero” units in SC2 like those found in warcraft 3 and many games that tried to copy the concept after its release. While units get a count of how many they killed they don’t get stronger in any way. Once again this shows how much managing your base is central to the game.

So is SC2 worth it? At this point I’m not sure. Yes, it’s a great game but will it make YOU want to play it over and over? That depends if you loved the first game. It’s extremely similar in gameplay (a bit faster paced) with updated graphics. For now it seems to be a great game to play 1-3 hours every few days, after the initial rush of 20 hours in 3 days:).

I’m currently interested in health, finance & video gaming/entertainment. If you ever need information on waterproof cast covers or proper mens vitamins feel free to contact me:).