Backhand of Justice

What do I think? It’s Starcraft. That’s all fans probably need to know. The uninitiated should be aware that the game is hugely different from the last decade of RTS offerings. How do Starcraft’s now-antiquated mechanics hold up? Have there been improvements? Read on to find out.

What went right?

Parity among factions

Starcraft was so popular because it was the first and only RTS game to achieve parity among factions without merely mirroring them. Balance is key to an RTS, and the only way most developers have achieved this is by giving every player the same units.

This is not the case in Starcraft, with the three factions (Zerg, Protoss and Terran) being significantly different from each other. Not only are none of the units the same, but each faction fits into their own unique but fair niche.

This doesn’t just break down into standard ‘these units are stronger but more expensive’ delineations used in other RTS games. Zerg, for example, don’t even build units from construction buildings such as barracks. They evolve their units from larva, and the implementation of this is completely distinct from anything players will be familiar with from other RTS games.

The mighty Protoss mothership is the final unit on the Protoss tech tree. See it and be afraid!

While Starcraft II had a significant leg up in terms of balancing as many of the mechanics and units are the same from the previous game, which had a decade of iteration, it is still an impressive accomplishment. Many of the units are new, or have been tweaked slightly, and yet still it all works well together.

These factions are not rock paper scissors to each other. It’s not like Zerg always beats Terran but Protoss beats Zerg; each faction can succeed or fail against any other depending on the choices they make.

Battle.net

Online games are threatening to new players because it’s easy to log on while you’re still learning and just get crushed repeatedly which isn’t much fun. Fortunately, the new Battle.net system seems to solve many of these issues. You start with 5 practice matches on maps that prevent rushing from your opponent to give you time to learn the ropes.

After practice, you play 10 placement matches to determine in what league you’re going to be placed. While the players in the platinum league are probably micromanagement masters who will outmaneuver you at every turn, the copper or bronze leagues are full of new players learning the ropes, just like you.

They might make a few mistakes, or fail to expand their economy at the right time, or even choose the wrong units to counter whatever army you’re building. You are constantly shifted up or down the quality scale until you’re winning about 50% of your matches. The game remains challenging without being frustrating.

The mighty Protoss colossi storm in from the left. As zerg, these are the units of which I'm most afraid

Gameplay

This is the most important part of any game, but I have it listed lower on the list of positives for Starcraft II because you know what the gameplay is going to be like. If you have played Starcraft, then be comforted that Starcraft II plays just like it. If you haven’t played Starcraft, then just look at the monstrous sales figures.  Over 10 million players can’t be wrong.

The gameplay is smooth and refined. The graphics are fantastic. The presentation is elegant and intuitive. When films cost hundreds of millions of dollars, producers want to make sure all that money is ‘up on the screen.’ In Starcraft II, you can really tell that the years of development are there in the game. There is a huge amount of polish for a Beta.

What were they thinking?

Viewing perspective

The most recent RTS I played was Supreme Commander, a game that took pride in its massive scale and its ’strategic zoom,’ where the camera could be pulled out to see the entire map. Starcraft, on the other hand, is a very small-scale game.

The first thing I thought upon loading it up was ‘holy crap this camera is zoomed in really far.’ The lack of strategic zoom felt like a holdover from the past. The maps in Starcraft II aren’t nearly the size as those in Supreme Commander, and therefore the need for seeing the whole map isn’t as significant. Still, why not just throw it in? Is it really that difficult to implement in the engine?

If Blizzard wants to suggest that it somehow adds to the game, I would say that’s ridiculous. The minimap is an outmoded way of moving around the map, and strategic options are limited as a result.

Zerg usually depend on greater numbers to overwhelm their enemy. Zerg has become a verb among those in the know (losers)

Limited options

Customization options in Starcraft II are very limited. You can’t change hotkeys (although Blizzard has suggested in the past this is something they might implement in the final release). In addition, there are few ways to select all units when some competing RTS games have a built in ’select all air units,’ ’select all ground units,’ and ’select all army units’ hotkey.

I’m pretty confident this is an easy programming solution, and so the reasoning for not including these functions seems to be that they weren’t in Starcraft. In fact, this seems to be the rationale behind most of the outmoded decisions in Starcraft II. It’s understandable that Blizzard would hold constant much of the game; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and all. Why not just include the extra options? Allow people to decide how they want to control the game, don’t do it for them.

Needless work

Starcraft players are famous for taking pride in their multitasking abilities. The whole purpose of an RTS game, however, is to test your ability to outmaneuver your opponent. Putting needless difficulty barriers between the game and the player is a terrible game design choice.

Think about Street Fighter: you should win or lose a match based on the moves you pull and what you implement to counter your opponent’s strategy. You should lose because you throw a high kick and your opponent chose to block high, expecting it. If you lose because you wanted to throw a high kick but couldn’t figure it out and therefore just flopped over onto the ground to be curb stomped, then the controls have failed.

Every unit is vital in Starcraft 2; unlike most RTS games, carelessly throwing away even a handful of units can be the beginning of the end

Starcraft players have complained that workers will auto-collect minerals for you. They complain that being able to click drones quickly and tell them to collect minerals for you is part of being a good player. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Being a good player is choosing the right units to counter your opponent’s army. Being good is managing your forces in battle correctly by sending tougher units in first and not needlessly sacrificing units against their direct counter. If you have a perfect battle plan but the controls prevent you from implementing it, then the controls have failed.

Blizzard should work to automate everything they possibly can, ‘purists’ be damned.

Starcraft II is still a work in progress, and it will remain a work in progress long after the retail version is released. The original game is still going strong after more than a decade, and while Starcraft II will probably replace it in the E-Sports scene, this is not just a game for professionals.

The matchmaking allows anybody to compete and have fun, and while there are a few missteps here and there due to influences from the original, Starcraft is the king of strategy franchises for a reason. The sequel does not disappoint.