Gamers-Sanctuary

Last week, I got my hands on the Starcraft 2 beta and have been playing that for the time being. Im gonna write up my review of the game and new features that they have put in and improved in the game.

Starcraft 2 right now is based ALL on strategy, one unit counters another, there is no such thing as a perfect unit for all situations which I think is a great idea. This allows a player to mix and match the units and use specific strategy to win a game. Lets break down the races:

Protoss – The Protoss are still the same awesome race they were in the original Starcraft, this time they’ve improved alot of things like put in new units that counter other units. The all impressive Dragoon has been removed and 2 similar units have been put in such as the Stalker and the Immortal. Lets get into details of the units:

Protoss units:

• Stalker: The Stalker is a similar unit to that of the dragoon, it attacks air and ground and now has a blink ability which it use to teleport a short distance. Although the stalker is good in most situations, I noticed that when I tried to blink onto a ledge, it gave me no success.

• Immortal: The Immortal is an awesome killing machine, it has a hard to penetrate defense sheild that reduces heavy damage to up to 10% which is extremely good for most case scenarios but it is extremely weak when killing single units such as Zerglings.

• Colossus: This long legged skyscraper unit is the perfect killing machine for small units such as zerglings, its powerful beams take out small groups

• Void Ray: The Void Ray is a powerful 1 beam shot air unit which can attack both air and ground that is useful for taking out units with large health and buildings because it builds up damage the longer it attacks.

• Phoenix: The Phoenix is a powerful air unit which is used to attack other air units, perfect for powerful units like the Battlecruiser.

Everything else was pretty much the same. I was dissapointed to know that there is no longer a Dark Archon. A new ability is also called Warp in which allows gateways to turn into Warp Gates and can build any unit in a pylon area.

Zerg – powerful and versatile, the Zerg have come back with an impressive fleet of their own, heres the breakdown:

• Overseer + Changling – The overseer is an evolved form of the Overlord and is now the detector unit. A changling comes from the overseer and is used to spy on enemy bases because it transforms into an enemy unit.

• Roach + Infestor – Similar units that can move while burrowed and can sneak into an enemy base for massive damage. Although they both aren’t very strong. The Infestor has 3 abilities which it can use to take full control of another base.

• Corrupter + Brood Lord: The Corrupter is an air unit/anti air unit used to take down strong foes. It cant attack air but its evolved form the Brood Lord can which it does by shooting out parasites 2 at a time and probably the most effective unit.

• Queen: Probably the most useful Zerg unit, it can be built from a hatchery and can make 4 more larvae come out from a hatchery which can increase the speed of how you build.

I wasn’t too impressed with Zerg, although they are powerful, they have had severe damage reduction and are easily overpowered, I hope to see some more improvements on Zerg.

Terran – By far my favorite race, Terran have come back with a vengeance! The Terran completely obliterate anything in their path with new units and new skills it opens up a whole new world to the strategy involved:

• Reaper: The Reaper is my favorite unit used best at the beginning of the game, it can jump cliffs and has a good damage. If used correctly, it can win you the game in 10 minutes. Easy to maneuver and take out enemy miners.

• Marauder: The best counter attack to the Stalker, heavy damage and slows movement and perfect when used in a diverse group of units.

• Ghost + Nuke: The Ghost had a small improvement in the game with a more damaging skill it can use. But the Nuke is absolutely terrible unless used on enemy miners. Using it on building has hardly any effect, I recall it taking down only 60% of the protoss Nexus SHEILD!

• Thor + Tank: Strong ground units, Thor is slow but has a big impact on medium sized units. The tank is absolutely massive in this game and can kill anything in its path, with the damage it should do, nothing stands in your way.

• Viking, Medivac, + Banshee: The Viking is an air and ground unit, able to transform and use in any situation. The Medivac has replaced the medic and the dropship, its built in a Starport. Banshee is a powerful air unit, capable of attacking only ground units, this unit is replacing the Wraith with its cloaking ability.

Terran are strong, diverse, and quick, with attachments like the tech lab and reactor which allows for betetr units to be built and multiple units to be built. It has alot of strategy and I see alot of potential from the game.

A couple of  things that bothered me was the mouse clicker which was not very accurate when clicking on the units I wanted. The other thing was ability to not build multiple units with Zerg as you have to keep clicking on  the unit u want until all of the larvae are used.

The official game is to be released July 27th. With that beings said, I give Starcraft 2 beta 8.5 out of 10 I see alot of potential and will be waiting eagerly to play the official game. The beta is set to expire on June 7th