I actually knew that I’d become bored with Starcraft 2 in fairly short order, but I bought it anyway.
You see, I’m an eternal optimist. I’d read most of the previews who said it was a much more polished version of the original, with only a few new features. But it would still be a game about managing peons, attacking your opponent’s economy (rather than engaging in battles) and clicking your mouse button a vast number of times during a game, despite the hotkeys.
Of course, I have fond memories of the original Starcraft, mostly because – and I want to emphasize this – I loved the story in the single player game.
The story in the new game hasn’t grabbed me in the same way. While elements seem to be “grabbed from the headlines” (particularly the news network stuff), it lacks the pathos and tragedy of the original. I also find myself lacking the patience to play the longer levels. Some seem to have been made longer by virtue of adding more of the same. Escort mission too short? Make it three escort missions. This philosophy seems to permeate many of the single player missions, which lack the punch and brevity of the missions in Relic’s Dawn of War 2.
Multiplayer is no better. As with the original, the major strategies seem to all revolve around griefing your opponents economy, rather than a dramatic clash of armies. On top of that, mulitplayer is so tightly tied to competitive online play that co-op seems to be almost a joke.
The one area I have enjoyed, somewhat, are user created maps. There are already a number of Defense of the Ancients and Tower Defense style maps. While many of them seem to be quick churns, we did play one that was great fun, if a little hard to understand at first. So if I continue to play Starcraft 2 at all, it will be to hunt out user created maps. Check out the map “Storm of the Imperial Sanctum” for a playable, if a little flawed, example.
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Chris B says:
August 19, 2010 at 10:52 am (UTC -7 )
Totally agree Loyd. I was really excited about the game and the single player was enjoyable, but once that’s over all you are left with is multiplayer. I tried multiplayer online a few times and within a few minutes I had enemies either mauling my base or building turrets inside my base. It’s all about the ‘zerg rush’ now and that’s the main strategy.
Even the AI rushes now. I guess it gets you ready for multiplayer, but where’s the strategy in being the first person to run 5 units into your opponents base?
Tony says:
August 19, 2010 at 2:19 pm (UTC -7 )
I’ve bought the special edition but it’s still sitting wrapped, sitting there like some shrodinger’s cat of potential enjoyment/dissapointment. Thinking back to Warcraft 3 I had pretty much the same response to it as Loyd had with Starcraft and it has me thinking of ebaying what I have. That said, I REALLY loved the tower defense games. That and the Starship trooers mod for the original Starcraft. Dunno, what would you do in my position? Rip it open and get to it, or sell it off for some Dawn of war 2 action?
Loyd Case says:
August 19, 2010 at 2:46 pm (UTC -7 )
Well, I’d vote for DoW 2.
Another way to look at this is that there are two more SC2 games coming out. During that whole extended period, user created maps will get better and more polished. Then the inevitable “Starcraft 2 Battlechest” will come out with everything in it for the same price as the single game, and you can dive in and still enjoy it all.
Sean says:
August 19, 2010 at 6:17 pm (UTC -7 )
I lasted 20 hours before I became bored with StarCraft II. It’s a well made flashy game but I guess RTS’s just don’t grab me like other genres. I really want Diablo III. I have 100′s of hours invested in Diablo I and II and even now still play Diablo II on occasion.
Chris Nahr says:
August 20, 2010 at 7:45 am (UTC -7 )
Yeah, I was unimpressed by Starcraft 2 as well. Looks great but it’s the same old peon herding gameplay that I didn’t like even back in 1998.
Dawn of War 2 is great, but you should also buy Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends while you can still get them! Two great classics that I’ve rediscovered recently, and the only RTS games that I enjoy playing outside of a campaign.
Tony says:
August 20, 2010 at 1:52 pm (UTC -7 )
Thanks for the response Nice insight on the Battlechest thing. I think my Special Edition is going up on Ebay shortly. Another bonus, Dawn of War 2 seems value priced at $30. Rise of Nations is included in the available games on my GameTap account so I’ll give it a look too. Any other RTS’s you’re looking forward? Past Starcraft, and I guess now the expansion to Dawn of War 2, I haven’t really seen any that have piqued my interest.
Scott Gardner says:
August 26, 2010 at 12:52 pm (UTC -7 )
Loyd, as you well know, I’m an RTS fan. I don’t totally agree with you here, since I played all the way through the campaign and have been doing a few skirmish games against the AI. To me, it’s just the old Starcraft with better graphics. That’s not a bad thing, and I really enjoy the excellent play balance between the races.
WSmart says:
August 26, 2010 at 10:31 pm (UTC -7 )
I got dead tired of this engine after warcraft I. Now, if I were a hamster, I’d probably still be running on that wheel.
Actually I’ve been thinking about hamster wheels of late, a really big one as a drive system for a bicycle. I have a hard time engaging on a cardio level with a traditional bicycle. I need a new bicycle machine input device.
Thanks all! Be real, be sober.
YS says:
August 27, 2010 at 10:49 pm (UTC -7 )
What amazes me is the number of 5 star and 95%++ reviews. This is a tired, dated style of gameplay that needs to be put to the pasture. After playing games like Company of Heroes this mining with peons and building large armies with the best units thing feels so ’90s.
NoOther says:
September 18, 2010 at 9:17 pm (UTC -7 )
Loyd, I couldn’t disagree more about SC2. I think for people who didn’t like the original, it is no shock they wouldn’t like the remake. Blizzard made it pretty blatantly clear this would be very similar to the original. I have played almost all the RTS games out there, and SC and now SC2 are by far some of the best ones out there. I also couldn’t disagree more about DoW2. It is even more of a resource grab and hold game lacking major conflict than SC2 is. DoW was far better than DoW2, especially for massive clashing armies. Also I found the single player in SC2 far far superior to that in the first SC. They added so much more in every facet of the single player. They had more stories, more things to do, more variety in missions and what was going on. Everything was more polished and presented better.
As for the multi-player, I always find it funny how people who don’t really understand RTS’s are quick to label whatever new one they are playing a “rush” game. Any RTS has some element of the “rush” in it. And almost all rush strats in SC can be easily avoided or stopped with some simple scouting and base layout. Just like everything, when you play against other people, you have to get accustomed to all the strategies out there. You can’t just go online and expect to have the same kind of game as you did against the easy or medium AI.
Loyd Case says:
September 19, 2010 at 11:47 am (UTC -7 )
Actually, I very much liked the original. I was hoping for a little more innovation, as we’ve seen with Relic RTS’s. I’ve sort of moved beyond peon management / economic warfare personally. But I’m not going to sneer at people who like the game. I have some pretty odd gaming habits myself
Moggraider says:
December 1, 2010 at 5:10 pm (UTC -7 )
Have you gone back to the game at all? I don’t know how you could get bored with it if you played ranked games a lot; it’s a great way to constantly improve. It’s true the single player is nowhere near as momentous as the first game’s was, but I can’t say I thought any single player mission was ever too long. I’m sad to see the game hasn’t caught on in Korea as much as Blizzard hoped, but they still have time.
Chris says:
December 7, 2010 at 8:06 am (UTC -7 )
I’m going to echo Moggraider here, but I speak as someone who got bored with it very quickly and recently started playing again and am enjoying it MUCH more.
First of all, the custom maps have already come a long way. You should definitely check out some news ones like Star Battle (basically DOTA with capital ships).
Second, I’m learning to enjoy the ladder. A lot of the “cheesier” rush strats have been patched out or can be defended by pulling a few workers off of mining. It’s important to work fast, but I’m finding with the hotkeys it isn’t a physical challenge. More than clicking fast the challenge is to divide your mental attention between multiple things at once.
And I vehemently disagree with the idea that this sort of game needs to be “put out to pasture.” It’s exciting and fast paced, from the very beginning all the way up to the highest skill levels. Which is one reason why there is a monthly tournament with a $80,000 grand prize.
KKK says:
July 31, 2011 at 9:46 pm (UTC -7 )
the thing i hate about starcraft 2 is the time of the learning curve. It takes forever to get to the very good player levels.
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