Starcraft Two

Starcraft was one of the best games of the year in 1996, It featured massive multiplayer game play ahead of it’s time. It placed 3 races against each other in an ultimate War for the galaxy an revolutionized on-line game play. Players had two game play options.

Campaign Mode – Players battle offline against the computer. The campaigns include playing as all 3 races. Each race campaign consisted of 20 different maps each with is own objectives an cinematic game play. As You progressed through each Campaign You would encounter each or all of the Alien Races in a unique situation which would become harder the further You progressed through out the game.

On-line Mode – Players created the world an it’s maps using the in game editor. Each map was designed by a player giving a new reality of game play. The sky was the limit, designing game play maps was the best feature in the game. It made the game better in every possible way by giving the player the same tools used to create the campaigns in Campaign mode. In on-line mode up to 16 players could play against each other in almost every situation that could be imagined by the map maker. The in game editor gave the ability to program the most advance feature of the game, an with a little practice one could create mini games inside the game.

The Orignal Starcraft Gameplay Video

Game-play at the time was unique, no other game had what Starcrafthad. In most games, particularly maps made by blizzard itself. You would start off with a main base, an depending on Your race Human, Protoss or Zerg, You would have either scv, probe or drones. Which would collect gas an minerals to build Your base an Armies. You would have to build, buildings that produced other units like Tanks, Zerglings, Zealots ect. Each building would open up a new option to build a new unit which would be stronger then the last. The objectof the game was to destroy Your opponents base. With the ability to produce up to 250 units, Starcraft put massive, in Multiplayer game play. Large battles is what Starcraftwas about, with the option of having up to 16 players face off against each other, battles could have upwards to four thousand units fighting each other at any one time.

Blizzard the developers of Starcraft have been working on the new Starcraft for a staggering 13 years. Throughout the thirteen years Blizzard scraped what was going to be called Starcraft Ghost a first person shooter type game. And moved back to Basing the new starcraft 2 more on the original. Finally after many years Starcraft2 is almost ready, with Blizzards resent announcement of there limited beta test coming in a few months. The beta test is limited, to a selected few Who are randomly selected. You can sign up for the Starcraft 2 beta test at Blizzard.com. To be eligible for the beta You must own at least one blizzard product, sign up at blizzard website an register a the cd key to get access to Blizzards beta tests.

Starcraft 2 Gameplay Video

The New Starcraftfeatures many new an upgraded units along withan upgrade of the game-play Maps an the addition of new dynamics, such as flying units crashing an the wreckage sliding down a hill or the ability for some units to walk over barriers such as over a wall or the ability to jump from island to island, this update in the game-play drastically improves the way units interact with each other in battle an makes Starcraft an even better Game.

All units throughout the 3 races in Starcraft2 have had significant 3D graphic updates, some of the new units replace old inferior units withbetter equipped weapons. Some of the units have also remained the same but have gained new abilities. Blizzard has release only a portion of the new units an there attack methods. All three races have had new units added an some with abilities to wipeout an entire army with one attack.

Starcraft 2 – Terran Unit Renderings

AH/G-24 Banshee- The Terran Banshee is a light weight air to ground unit developed out of the wraith an retro fitted with it’s cloak. The Banshee is one tough unit to take down. It is equipped with only, powerful air-to-ground cluster rockets. The Banshee is used as a hit an run attacker with the ability to cloak an disappear from battle without ever being seen.

Battle Cruiser - The Terran Battle Cruiser is a heavy armor unit an upgraded from it’s predecessor. This is the Terran’s flying fortress one of the best units the Terran’s can produce in the game. It is equipped with several weapons that include the original, but of course more powerful Yamato cannon, an Laser blasters, and it also comes equipped with new plasma torpedo’s. The Battle Cruisers new plasma torpedo’s are devastating to the enemy target shooting dozens of torpedo’s at a time until the enemy is no more.

Ghost- The Terran Ghost is a stealthunit withthe ability to cloak it self, it is much faster then a normal ground unit, it is able to attack from a distance, without being seen. Some new features of the Ghost is the ability to break through walls, run at fast speeds an leap over obstacles. Lets not forget the Ghost also carries a nuke that can destroy or damage an entire area in one shoot. The Ghost has always been a formidable unit an continues to be in the new Starcraft 2.

Hellon- The Terran Hellon is one of the new Terran ground units, there is no current information on this unit. What We do know is the Hellon is a light ground unit similar to the vulture, it has some speed an wields a battle cannon. It can only be imagined what this units abilities will be. It is very likely to have some sort of mine like the vulture since it replace that unit in Starcraft 2 or maybe the battle cannon will be ground to air. We will just have to wait until the game is release or get lucky in the random beta test.

Reaper - The Terran Reaper is the ultimate solider, He has been chemically alter to make Him more aggressive an fearless in combat. The Reaper attacks with dual pistols an has a jet pack that allows him to jump obstacles such as walls rivers or space. The Reaper also carries mines that can be thrown an detonate after a short period of time. The sole role of the Reaper is to raid the enemies base an cut off there supply chain.

Marauder - The Terran Marauder is also a new unit an not that much information in known about it. What is known about the Marauder is that it carries Punish-er Grenades, that have the ability to stun an slow the enemies attacks, it has a fire rate of twelve and is produced in the tech lab. No other information has been released by Blizzard about this unit.

Marine- The Terran Marine, is the first line in the defense of Your base an one of the first units You will be able to produce, it has had an upgrade in the weapon it uses. The Marine has also been updated with a new bio-suit that can better withstand chemical, nuclear or Bio-warfare. Marines carry a standard rifle that shoots in bursts instead of like in the old Starcraft were the Marines would shoot in a never ending stream, this added a little more realism to the game-play.

Medivac- The Terran Medivac drop ship is a new unit to hit Starcraft 2, no information from Blizzard has been released formally for this unit. But by simple deduction an it’s name one can determine that it will have some ability to heal and like in the original StarcraftTransport troops and it seams to replace both the old Science Vessels an Drops Ships. The Medivac will play a supportive role in combat.

TF-620 Nomad- The Terran Nomad plays a supportive role in battles and is a flying unit, with many functions that are similar to an SCVbut with more advanced features. It is used for detection in outposts, an can be made into a ground to air turret. What make this unit unique is that it can move from location to location, detecting hidden enemies, that maybe burrowed or cloaked. Detecting the enemy could keep You from being destroyed an is one of the most important parts of Starcraft game-play.

Viking- The Terran Viking is not a new unit in Starcraft 2, it’s counterpart in the original starcraftwas limited to only air to air combat. The Viking is one of the most unique units in the Terran arsenal, to put is simply it can transform into a ground unit an back to a flying unit at will. We all remember the devastating air to air attacks the viking could yield, taking out enemy ship after ship, but without being able to attack ground units left the Viking vulnerable. Now with the ability to transform into a ground unit that vulnerability is gone make the Viking a formidable foe. The Terran Viking is now considered both air to air an a ground to ground unit.

SCV- The Terran SCV is the staple of building Your base. It also plays the vital role of transporting supplies to Your command centers. The SCVis the most important Terran unit, it is the life blood of raising an army an building an upgrading Your base. Not much isl known about any added features with this unit other then the graphics update.

Siege Tank- The Terran Siege Tank is a heavy armored unit, with botha mobile an stationary attack. It sports a devastating attack when in siege mode that can wipe out an entire platoon of Marines, in one shoot. The Siege Tank can be botha long range an short range attacker and also provides a good defense for Your base. A new feature of the Terran Siege Tank is it’s dual cannons in assault mode which provide better defense in open space or when faced with an overwhelming enemy such as the Zerg.

Thor- The newest Terran Unit released by Blizzard so far is Thor, a giant heavy armored unit that features a particle accelerator “Thors hammer” an four bombardment cannons. The Thor is Built from the ground up by SCV’s. It is the biggest of all the Terran units. It can be built in a short amount of time an it is hard to take down in battle. It packs destructive power on a grand scale and is comparable to a Siege Tank on steroidswith devastating attack a few Thors can take down even a well defended base.

There is still several Terran units that have not formally been released by Blizzard.

Starcraft 2 – Zerg Unit Renderings

Baneling- The Zerg Baneling is a spin off of the Zergling from the original Starcraft. It stead of running like the former Zerglings, the Baneling turns into a ball an rolls as a form of movement. Mass amounts of Zergling could potentially win a game before it even started but were easily put down by a well defended base. The new Zerg Baneling has a special surprise for those spesky dug in troops or even the most harden base defense. The new  Banelingsability to cause a chemical reaction within there bodies transforming them into an acid bomb that explodes on death. The effects of the acid is devestating to anything in the immediate area an with the mass amount of Banelings a base can be taken down more effectively.

Drone- The Zerg Drone is the Staple of the swarm the worker bee, without it the swarm would become dormant an die off. Each Drone can transform it self into a building, it is also the key transport of supplies for the Zerg colonies. The Zerg Drone is an very important unit, Who’s function is to expand the colonies on the growing surface to build more buildings, an establish new colonies near rich mineral an gas deposits. The Zerg Drone is the same as the Terran SCV it is used to build an expand Your base in unique ways.

Hydralisk- The Zerg Hydralisk is the Zerg’s main unit, it is very versitial. The weapon it uses hasn’t change much since the original Starcraft, it still shoots spine like needles. The difference is in size an health compared to the Terrans, the Zerg Hydraliskhas three times the life points as an average Marine. It’s needle attack is able to shoot down both ground an air targets. It also possesses the ability to burrow an hide from attackers, an easily setup an ambush for Your enemies. When the Zerg Swarm, massive numbers of Hydraliskscan take down even the best defense both air an ground.

Mutalisk- The Zerg Mutalisk has changed little from the original Starcraft. It’s still the the main air to ground unit used by the Zerg for hit an runs, it can devastated ground troops before an ample air defense can reach there attack point. The Zerg Mutiliskattacks with what is called a glave wurm, that does damageon contact an also bounces an does damage to other surrounding targets.  Zerg Mutilisk can destroy bases very quickly an disappear. they key to counter them is to have a good air defense.

Overlord- The Zerg Overlord is what controls the numbers in Your swarm, the more Overlords You have the greater number Your army will be. This unit has not really changed all that much, it does feature a few new abilities, such as making temporary creep for Your drones to build on in any location. The Overlord can mutate into an Overseer, at the cost of the abilities of an Overlord an, Overseer has an extended sight radius for detecting cloaked enemies.

Ultralisk- The Zerg Ultralisk is the Tank of the Zerg, It able to attack multiple targets in front of it makes it a siege attacker. The Ultraliskhas a rather large amount of hit points allowing it to take massive amounts of damage without dieing wreaking havoc on the enemy base or troops. The Zerg Ultralisk is a unit from the original Starcraft.

Zergling- The Zergling is the most basic unit for the Zerg. The Zergling is typically used in large massive groups to overwhelm the enemy an destroy there base in the beginning of battle. The Zerglings morph an transform in to Banelings. Which can turn into a acid bomb that explodes on death.

There is still many new Zerg units to look forward to, that have yet to be release in detail by Blizzard entertainment.

Starcraft 2 - Protoss Unit Renderings

Archon - The Protoss Archon is a spiritual being Who uses Psionic Abilities. It’s Main attack is a devastating PsionicShock wave, that can bring down both air an ground units. From the previous starcraft the Archon can only be made by combining two Dark Templar. In Starcraft 2 it can be made by combining either two Dark Templar, two High Templar or the combination of a High Templar an a Dark Templar. The Protoss Archon is much bigger inStarcraft2, an will plat a vital role in both defense an attacks.

Carrier - The Protoss Carrier is just what the name implies. It carries dozens of small flying interceptors, that swarm the enemy target like a hornets. The interceptors attack an quickly retreat back to the Carrier. Interceptors are now automatically produced in the Carriers for faster attacks. The Carriers have no defensive weapons like in the oringnal starcraft, but there interceptors are all they need to combat even the greatest air fleet, an can be the final factor that’s wins the battle.

Colossus- The Protoss Colossus is a new addition to Starcraft 2. This powerful new Protossunit features twin thermal lances, that literally cut through enemy ground forces it has a rather large field of range when firing. It also has the ability to walk over objects such as walls and up cliffs. which makes it a unit that can easily retreat when faced with a losing battle. The ProtossColossus is the perfecttool to take out large ground force armies from a distance an from above. Placing the Colossus on a part of the map that can not be reach by ground forces, always means the destruction those forces. The weakness the Colossus has is no ability for ground to air combat an when faced with an enemy like a mass of Zergling becomes a sitting duck.

Dark Templar- The Protoss Dark Templar is the assasin unit of the Protoss. It has a psionicability to become invisible. It can be combine with either a High Templar or another Dark Templar to transform into a powerful Archon. The Protoss Dark Templar is a formidable foe that wields warp blades, it is a unit that uses stealth an hand to hand combat to take down it’s enemies. A handful of Dark Templar could take out an entire army without even being seen.

High Templar- The Protoss High Templar is the mage of the Protoss an has no psychical attacks. It relies solely on it’s psionic abilities, like in the original Starcraft the High Templars psionic storm can literally rain down lighning on the attacking foe that shreadsthemto pieces an set up with the ability to cause hallucinations of them selfs leaves the enemy attacking nothing an dieing in the process. Being unable to physicallyattackthe enemy the High Templar makes up for it with it’s powerful psionicabilities. A new feature of the High Templar is the ability to make units temporialy disapear. The High Templar can also be combine with either another High Templar or a Dark Templar to transform into a powerful Archon.

Immortal- The Protoss Immortal is a light armored unit. It replaces the well known Dragoon from the original starcraft. It is basically an updated Dragoon, instead of one disruptor cannon it features twin disruptor cannons. Just like the Dragoon it’s has been transplanted into the exoskeletons. This unit replaces the Dragoon because the shrine dedicated to producing Dragoons was infested by the Zerg in the original starcraft story line. The new ProtossImmortal features a more poweful shield that can stop blasts from large enemy targets like an army of Terran Siege Tanks. The shield stops the Immortal from being destroyed by the blasts an allows it to wreak damageto powerful targets. But withsuch a powerful shield there is a weakness, small arms fire from Terran Marines is ample enough to penetrate the shield an damage the Immortal beyond repair.

Phoenix - The Protoss Phoenix is the fighter plane of the Protoss similar to scouts and corsairs, it replace them in the new Starcraft2. It features twin ion cannons that deal terrible air to air damage to the enemy ship. The Phoenix plays a vital role in protecting Protoss Carriers. The Protoss Phoenix also features a powerful attack, that overloads the ion cannons the effect of which is a discharge of ion cannon blasts that devastate any flying units in the area. One problem the Phoenix faces is once it uses it special weapon it becomes powerless an shuts down for a few seconds leaving it open to attack. To combat the overload it is best to not use all Your Phoenix’s in an all out attack, but save half for any counter attack, that is lead by the notion of Your Phoenix being incapacitated.

Probe- The Protoss Probe is the Same as the Terran SCV an the Zerg Drone, it is one of the most important units in the game. It is used to build Your Base an collect minerals an gas. Creating a supply chain using Your Probes is essential because of the high cost of building Protoss units and buildings. Just like the Terran an Zerg, the Protoss use a unique system to build, in the case of the Probe it builds the warp beacons that release a power field were other building can be built.

Stalker – The Protoss Stalker is a new unit to hit Starcraft 2. The Stalker is the shadow essence of a dark templar implanted into the Stalker. It uses a chronalweb as it’s weapon that does fatal damage to ground troops. The Protoss Stalker is considered a ambush unit. The Stalker has a special ability to teleport to an enemy target, even a fleeing target is no match for the Stalker. The Protoss Stalker can also use it’s teleportability to flee a more powerful enemy without being hit with an attack or it can jump an unsuspecting foe and be gone in a blink of an eye.

These are just some of the Protoss units Blizzard Entertainment has release, there is still many more that have not been talked about.

All the buildings in Starcraft 2 have had an artistic update moving out of the two dimensional realm to pure 3D graphics at there best, giving the game a more realistic look an feel when playing. Most of the building remain in the same chain of buiding command for each of the 3 races. Making former Starcaft players able to get right back into the game without having to learn a new complicated system of game play.

Sneak Peak of Starcraft 2 Building Renderings

Terran Buildings

Barracks – The Terran Barracks is the primary building block of Your army it produces Marines, Reapers, Ghosts and, Marauder. As this building is upgraded, better units can be produced. The Barracks is one of the first building You can build in the game, that has to do with making army units.

Command Center- The Terran Command Center is the brains of production, it creates SCV’swhich bring it minerals an gas to be processed, an turned in ware machines. You always start the game with a Command Center an a few SCV’s. The Terran Command Center has a few new upgrades it now has the ability to transport up to five SCV’s when lifting off an flying to a new location. It also has a defensive weapon, so when Your supply chain is attacked it can at least counter it until Your troops arrive.

Starport- The Terran Starport is a ship building platform, it produces Battlecrusiers, Vikings, Ravens and, Banshees. It is the work horse of Your air force. Just like the Barracks as You upgrade this building You will be able to produce better ships. Without an air force, Your ground forces will not stand a chance in the new Starcraft 2

Zerg Buildings

Baneling Nest- The Baneling Nest is a building that allows Zerglings to transform into Banelings. It also is a research vessel used to upgrade the Banelings acid explosion ultimatelycausing more damage during there suicidal attacks. It also through research makes the banelings attack faster, an instead of walking allows the Banelings to roll, making them an even faster unit.

Hydralisk Den - The Hydralisk Den is a building that is needed before You can start producing Hydralisks. It is also used to upgrade the Hydralisk attack an speed. Different building through out Starcraft are used to upgrade existing troops instantly. During battle a simple upgrade to level 2 could turn the battle against a level 1 unit, it also allows You to continue to use the same unit over an over without it becoming obsolete.

Infestor Pit - The Infestor Pit is used to upgrade Infestors, this building allows them to be spawned at a Zerg Hatchery. It also allows the Infestorsto be upgraded along with there special abilities. The infestors are a special unit that can infest other units and take control of them. One could infest Terran SCV’s or Protoss Probes an build there buildings an create army under the control of the Zerg.

Protoss Buildings

Warp Gate- The Warp Gate is an advanced teleporter, that can teleport units on any part of the battle field that has a psionicmatrix. Or when used in combination with a Mobile Phase Prism, units can be teleported to any location. The Warp Gate adds a new dimension to game play, an updates previous unit that could only teleporta small portion of units, with the Warp Gate an entire army is able to be transported in one move.

Pylon - The Pylon is the basic building block of the Protoss Base. The Pylons release energy which powers other buildings in Your base. It is also food storage, the more Pylons the more food You have thus You can make more units. All other Protossbuildings need to be with in range of the energy released by the Pylon or the building will be us-less. It is a good Idea to have several Pylons powering each building as they can be destroyed by Your enemies, which could leave You powerless.

Stargate- The Stargate is used to build Protoss ware ships, it can produce Carriers, Void Rays, Mother ships and, Phoenix’s. It is the Protoss air transporter, it is use to teleport Protoss ware ships from deep space to it’s location for You to use in combat. Like the Terran Starport almost all Flying units for the Protoss are produced in the stargate. Ground forces are only as good as Your air forces, without one part an Your are doom to fail.

In addition to all the new units an buildings, Starcraft 2 offers, the game play maps an textures have drastically been updated. The landscapes in Starcraft the original were 2D with a few moving objects. Starcraft2 is completely different, with detailed texture an 3D graphic effects. Each of which can be customized in the in-game design software, even new units can be made using the in game editor, imagine combining a Hydralisk with an Ultralisk to create an even better Zerg character. Or designing Your own campaign other players can play. The new in game designer allows You to even make You own first person shooter game were you can battle through a world created by You. Blizzard has only release little information on what can be done designing Your own maps an mini games. But what they released so far is amazing, the ability alone to create Your own unique units allows players to imagine an create there very own games, without the need to know how to program. Like the original starcraft game editor, map makers were restricted to the units an map texture provided by Blizzard, now You can make Your own.

Sneak Peak of what can be done in the Starcraft 2 Map editor

Screen Shots of Actual Game Play

Blizzard Entertainment has yet to release a date Starcraft2 will go on sale, it has however announced a beta test that should happen with in the next year for the lucky few Who get selected. Former Starcraft players are excited to see the return of one of the best games of the 19th century an almost can’t wait any longer for it’s release. And Who could blame them, 13 years is a long time to wait. As Blizzard steps closer an closer to releasing Starcraft 2 We all will wonder if it will live up to the original.

Actual Game Play

Support Starcraft 2 make a Fan site just like this one an spread the word about the Best Game of the 20th century Starcraft 2 soon to be released. Don’t forget to sign up for the Beta test an get an early peak before it hits retail.

Join the Beta Test HERE

Download the Starcraft 2 Fan Pack HERE