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Review: Heart of the Swarm a big step in StarCraft II's evolution |
March 19, 2013
Just as the Zerg are always evolving, so too is Blizzard’s iconic real-time strategy series. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm doesn’t just upgrade and expand the exceptional StarCraft formula—it also hacks, cuts, and refines the core gameplay. The good news: With series antihero Sarah Kerrigan as its star, this expansion pack to 2010’s Wings of Liberty makes the original game better, improves the multiplayer, and progresses the story in new and interesting ways.
Still, there are sure to be a few people disappointed by Heart of the Swarm. Building on 15 years of success creates a unique challenge for Blizzard: How do you improve a well-balanced game with three iconic races and a dedicated, fervent community that scrutinizes every update? Blizzard struggles to answer the question in Heart of the Swarm, which is uneven and at times maddening, but still manages to raise the standard for real-time strategy games. As the middle story in an expected three part arc, Heart of Swarm has an intimate, troubled, and hammy narrative, but still manages to possess its own strange beauty.
Single player
Wings of Liberty was a Western-influenced space opera with the cast-based feel of The Dirty Dozen or Firefly. Heart of the Swarm is a revenge story focused on Kerrigan’s journey and the extremes she’ll reach to achieve her goals. The narrative picks up shortly after the events of Wings of Liberty, with Jim Raynor and his allies having smuggled the mostly-cured Kerrigan (once the queen of the Zerg) to a remote research facility. As the story progresses, Kerrigan unites and evolves the Zerg swarm, once again taking up her mantle as Queen of Blades in her quest to kill Emperor Mengsk.
As Kerrigan unites the Zerg swarm factions, her abilities and army are upgraded. Every major unit type has an upgrade that can be changed in the Evolution Pit, the Zerg version of an armory. Standard units like Zerglings become deadly cliff-hopping grasshoppers of death, or Hydralisks transform into long-range attackers. Meanwhile, Kerrigan accesses new healing and attack powers, as well as passive abilities like automated Vespene Gas gathering. This makes for a single player campaign filled with units and abilities that surprise and amuse even the most seasoned StarCraft player.
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Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2031025/review-heart-of-the-swarm-a-big-step-in-starcraft-iis-evolution.html#tk.rss_reviews
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