#STARCRAFT 2 HOTS PRO#

It does away with many of the false choices presented in Wings of Liberty (Nova or Tosh? Just kidding, they're both evil!) and introduces a good number of elements unique to the Swarm. It was a moment destined to take place the second that Mengsk betrayed everyone and became the Terran Emperor.ДЄs they say though, it's not the ending but the journey, and in my opinion Blizzard really outdid themselves with Heart of the Swarm's campaign. If anything, I'm surprised it didn't happen in Brood War. It's not much of a spoiler to say that she succeeds in her quest, though she ultimately needs Raynor's help to actually finish him off. Kerrigan goes back to being the Queen of Blades in relatively short order and sets off to take revenge on Arcturus Mengsk, who left her to the mercy of the Zerg way back in StarCraft's first campaign. Part of me wonders if Blizzard didn't regret the direction they took with Wings of Liberty-particularly Kerrigan's return to humanity-since they end up backtracking a bit with Heart of the Swarm. Learning that the Overmind was not in fact a malevolent and supremely powerful intelligence, but a creature enslaved to the will of another, was more than a little disappointing. Much as I enjoyed the campaign, which represents some of the best single-player mission design in an RTS ever, I really didn't like where Blizzard took the story.* In the end, they decided to take the WarCraft III route, in effect turning the Zerg into noble savages as they did the Orcs. When Wings of Liberty finally arrived in 2010 though, I found myself. In that context, I was incredibly excited for StarCraft II.

My own experience with StarCraft stretches back to the launch of the original game in 1998, back when it was being somewhat derisively referred to as 'Orcs in Space.' I was never very good at the multiplayer, so I mainly focused on the single-player, which I found appealing because it was really the story of a woman who is abused and left for dead by a handful of power hungry men and ultimately returns to become the 'Queen Bitch of the Universe.'Дepending on your point of view, Brood War's ending is a bit of a downer (Zerg win, Earth fleet destroyed, Raynor on the run), leaving the door open for a sequel. And having now wrapped up the campaign and spent some time with the multiplayer, I have to say that I'm feeling better than I expected. Instead, I'm more interested in discussing how I feel about it as a complete package. In revisiting Heart of the Swarm though, it's not entirely my intention to harp on StarCraft's place in eSports, which has already been discussed ad nauseum in other places.

#STARCRAFT 2 HOTS PRO#

StarCraft's pro scene lives on, but the community consists of a much smaller group of diehard holdouts. The best players have moved on or retired, and the fresh blood that should have taken their place has instead flowed into MOBAs. But like Kerrigan herself following Heart of the Swarm's rousing opening cinematic, StarCraft II is largely a spent force in the eSports scene. Protoss, which really only boiled down to one build order, became far more interesting in Heart of the Swarm. Previously moribund fights like Protoss vs. More than a year later, StarCraft II's competitive game is indeed arguably more interesting than before, especially when broken down into individual matchups.

Starcraft 2 hots