I have been lucky enough to play the Starcraft 2 beta for a few weeks and let me say you will not be disappointed.
The game feels very much like the original which of course is a good thing. It's very fun right now because there are many new units and everyone is currently figuring out what strategies to use against X unit build ups and so on.
The new battle.net system is very cool, you play 10 qualifying games and it will put you into a league. There is currently 5, copper, bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Every with the limited number of users I have found it is VERY good in setting you up with people your skill level. My current win / loss is basically 100/100. I'm currently in the top end of the silver league up from the bronze league where I started.
Right now a big part of the game is not only the best unit makeup but scouting in order to properly time a rush. If you go for higher tier units the trade off ofcourse is the fact you need to dump more resources into your buildings and tech, allowing the other player to mass a few more lower tier in order to try and make a push while your resources are being spent on buildings.
They of course are evening things out which is the entire goal of beta but I must say, for a game in beta it is incredibly fun and I don't see people being disappointed, so good luck getting into beta!!
In terms of gameplay, it feels very similar to the original starcraft game. So yes, RTS thingy.
That is not a bad thing though. The biggest fear people usually have about Starcraft 2 is that simply fact that it wont live up to the original.
However, it seems they are really pushing this game to be a competitive player vs player game and a spectator sport. I've found myself spending hours watching Game replays of pros'. It's very neat, you can see every single click that each player does in the replays, you can zoom in, get all different types of stats like each players units, resources and so on.
Its good right now, I'll give you that, but I feel like they are not trying hard enough to push the game forward, and trying to hard to make it all sport like.
Its also quite... broken and bland in some aspect right now. People will tell me "but its Beta, it might change". And it might not. I've known flawed Beta that "might change" and the release was identical, minus bug fixes.
Anyway, my point is: SC2 is very similar to SC1 as you said, but what they essentially did in the end is... Add a bunch of cool stuff.... remove a bunch of cool stuff.... and also add some boring stuff.
In the end, I feel like SC2 just as less satisfying things. There are some sweet new gameplay mechanics, but I feel like it has even less to offer than SC1 right now. They cut too many things for the sake of "gameplay", they are even making the mothership a weak arbiter.
Also, Thors as a normal unit looks silly as hell.
I like SC2, been watching loads of matches and replays, also youtube commentaries are a lot of fun to watch (see HDStarcraft or HuskyStarcraft channels, or even SC2GGRise, very good talented commentators).
But I really, really hope they make it better. I really hope the expansions will actually expand the multiplayer as well. I want a game that can deliver more epicness than SC1, even if it takes the expansions to do that. But its possible the expansions won't even touch the multiplayer, which would be very, very sad.
Thats all without talking about some of the.. slightly too -rock paper scissor- balance. I'm hoping balance issues will be fixed, of course, thats why the Beta is here. Just wondering what we will lose in the process.
So anyway, its shaping up to be a good game, but if they want SC2 above SC1, they will need to push more than this. And they will need to bring back lurkers.
Its good right now, I'll give you that, but I feel like they are not trying hard enough to push the game forward, and trying to hard to make it all sport like.
Its also quite... broken and bland in some aspect right now. People will tell me "but its Beta, it might change". And it might not. I've known flawed Beta that "might change" and the release was identical, minus bug fixes.
I'm not sure I totally agree with this. The "sport" like aspect is what made Starcraft 1 shine.. it was the fact it was so well balanced that it gave it enough replay value that people played it for years and years and years.
Doesn't seem too broken to me, yes there are some balance issues that need to be addressed, and the units might group together a touch too much but I'm not sure what is "broken".
I'm not sure I totally agree with this. The "sport" like aspect is what made Starcraft 1 shine.. it was the fact it was so well balanced that it gave it enough replay value that people played it for years and years and years.
Yes, I agree, I just mean... they use it as some kind of excuse to dumb it down, to include less in the multiplayer, to just make it a more of a straightforward rock paper scissor game...
How can I say this... they are -forcing- the game to be that way and I feel like the standards are lowered for it for the sake of balance. SC1 was not created with "sports" in mind.
I certainly want the game to be balanced and competitive: but I don't want them to obtain that by just.. making it so and limiting the game for that sake.
I don't know if any of that make sense.
Quote from "Umaro" »
Doesn't seem too broken to me, yes there are some balance issues that need to be addressed, and the units might group together a touch too much but I'm not sure what is "broken".
Pretty much half of all the units currently available are rarely used a quarter is pretty much useless compared to other units or unit composition. Some seems overpowered but this is hard to tell... races vs any other races are quite balanced though, I guess, but there's a lot to fix. I'm no expert here really, though, I suck at the game and only judge from the matches I see.
I can sorta agree that some of the units are not so useful, but that is one of the main reasons we have a beta. A unit can go from useless to useful with a few minor tweaks.
You also have to understand it will take a very long time to develop different strategies and find useful ways to use units. New strategies that were never used in starcraft came about YEARS after the game was released, its just up to the players to figure them out.
Thats the enjoyable part, learning the new game. Most people like the direction that its going with the sports and I wouldn't say they are dumbing it down at all, they have added new things like chrono-boost for protoss, mules for terran, spawn larva for Zerg, terrain plays a bigger role too, a lot of command Q'ing and much sleeker interface.
The game feels very much like the original which of course is a good thing. It's very fun right now because there are many new units and everyone is currently figuring out what strategies to use against X unit build ups and so on.
The new battle.net system is very cool, you play 10 qualifying games and it will put you into a league. There is currently 5, copper, bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Every with the limited number of users I have found it is VERY good in setting you up with people your skill level. My current win / loss is basically 100/100. I'm currently in the top end of the silver league up from the bronze league where I started.
Right now a big part of the game is not only the best unit makeup but scouting in order to properly time a rush. If you go for higher tier units the trade off ofcourse is the fact you need to dump more resources into your buildings and tech, allowing the other player to mass a few more lower tier in order to try and make a push while your resources are being spent on buildings.
They of course are evening things out which is the entire goal of beta but I must say, for a game in beta it is incredibly fun and I don't see people being disappointed, so good luck getting into beta!!
Starcraft 2 - Blizzard News
That is not a bad thing though. The biggest fear people usually have about Starcraft 2 is that simply fact that it wont live up to the original.
However, it seems they are really pushing this game to be a competitive player vs player game and a spectator sport. I've found myself spending hours watching Game replays of pros'. It's very neat, you can see every single click that each player does in the replays, you can zoom in, get all different types of stats like each players units, resources and so on.
It's shaping up to be a very steller game!
Starcraft 2 - Blizzard News
Its also quite... broken and bland in some aspect right now. People will tell me "but its Beta, it might change". And it might not. I've known flawed Beta that "might change" and the release was identical, minus bug fixes.
Anyway, my point is: SC2 is very similar to SC1 as you said, but what they essentially did in the end is... Add a bunch of cool stuff.... remove a bunch of cool stuff.... and also add some boring stuff.
In the end, I feel like SC2 just as less satisfying things. There are some sweet new gameplay mechanics, but I feel like it has even less to offer than SC1 right now. They cut too many things for the sake of "gameplay", they are even making the mothership a weak arbiter.
Also, Thors as a normal unit looks silly as hell.
I like SC2, been watching loads of matches and replays, also youtube commentaries are a lot of fun to watch (see HDStarcraft or HuskyStarcraft channels, or even SC2GGRise, very good talented commentators).
But I really, really hope they make it better. I really hope the expansions will actually expand the multiplayer as well. I want a game that can deliver more epicness than SC1, even if it takes the expansions to do that. But its possible the expansions won't even touch the multiplayer, which would be very, very sad.
Thats all without talking about some of the.. slightly too -rock paper scissor- balance. I'm hoping balance issues will be fixed, of course, thats why the Beta is here. Just wondering what we will lose in the process.
So anyway, its shaping up to be a good game, but if they want SC2 above SC1, they will need to push more than this. And they will need to bring back lurkers.
I'm not sure I totally agree with this. The "sport" like aspect is what made Starcraft 1 shine.. it was the fact it was so well balanced that it gave it enough replay value that people played it for years and years and years.
Doesn't seem too broken to me, yes there are some balance issues that need to be addressed, and the units might group together a touch too much but I'm not sure what is "broken".
Starcraft 2 - Blizzard News
Yes, I agree, I just mean... they use it as some kind of excuse to dumb it down, to include less in the multiplayer, to just make it a more of a straightforward rock paper scissor game...
How can I say this... they are -forcing- the game to be that way and I feel like the standards are lowered for it for the sake of balance. SC1 was not created with "sports" in mind.
I certainly want the game to be balanced and competitive: but I don't want them to obtain that by just.. making it so and limiting the game for that sake.
I don't know if any of that make sense.
Pretty much half of all the units currently available are rarely used a quarter is pretty much useless compared to other units or unit composition. Some seems overpowered but this is hard to tell... races vs any other races are quite balanced though, I guess, but there's a lot to fix. I'm no expert here really, though, I suck at the game and only judge from the matches I see.
You also have to understand it will take a very long time to develop different strategies and find useful ways to use units. New strategies that were never used in starcraft came about YEARS after the game was released, its just up to the players to figure them out.
Thats the enjoyable part, learning the new game. Most people like the direction that its going with the sports and I wouldn't say they are dumbing it down at all, they have added new things like chrono-boost for protoss, mules for terran, spawn larva for Zerg, terrain plays a bigger role too, a lot of command Q'ing and much sleeker interface.
Starcraft 2 - Blizzard News
It is not, -for now-.