I have been playing the long awaited Starcraft 2 beta for several weeks now and there are a lot of thoughts that I had about it. It seems like the amount of available units has been kept in line with the predecessor; it feels as though they have taken out just as much as they have put in. As a Zerg player, the omission of the Lurker units was thoroughly felt. Several of the returning units bring new aspects to the table or are used in a different fashion. Hydralisks, for instance, are no longer able to be massed in great numbers as an early force staple because they cost considerably more and are available later down the build order. The fact that Overlords are not able to detect cloaked units initially is also jarring. Many of the new units and mechanics bring interesting, fresh facets to the table, like Roaches that can move while burrowed and Infestors that are able to mind-control enemy units. The most welcomed change in my opinion is the overhaul to the basic functionality of the gameplay. Taking many ques from the RTS games that have come out between the original and now, rally points and unit selection are done in a much more user-friendly and intuitive manner.
All in all Blizzard seems to have done a fine job in keeping the game true to its roots. It still feels very much like “Starcraft,” but maybe that’s not worth as much as it seems. It feels comfortable and familiar but there’s nothing that truly pushes the boundaries and makes it into something innovative, clinging instead to the beaten path. It certainly wont stop the millions of fans, myself included, from jumping onto Battle.net come July 27th. Live for the Swarm!
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