Archive for the ‘StarCraft 2’ Category

The Novel Post: StarCraft: Ghost – Spectres Review

19 January 2012 | 1 Comment » | iTZKooPA

This review of the StarCraft: Ghost – Spectres novel by Nate Kenyon is of the spoiler-free variety.

The universe of StarCraft is largely overlooked by its massive and continually growing audience. That isn’t a knock entirely on the community, Blizzard is partly to blame. It’s difficult to remain interested in a universe when original, core material can take a decade to move forward. The only sustenance being a sprinkle of little-marketed novels and other materials to keep one interested. Being the successful team that it is, the issue is being corrected. Blizzard realized the plight and has been working hard to highlight the depth of its sci-fi universe since the successful release of StarCraft II.

The latest in the Extended Universe blitz for StarCraft is StarCraft: Ghost – Spectres. Players of StarCraft II’s stellar campaign should be intimately aware of what a Spectre is, but the name of the author, Nate Kenyon, may escape them. Nominated for multiple awards for his work in the horror genre, Nate has been trying his hand at the science fiction genre as of late. His skillset is an interesting risk in the sci-fi universe, one that works incredibly well for a novel centered around the shadowy Ghost program and its rebellious offshoot, the Spectres.

Nestled in between the activities of StarCraft: Ghost Academy and the game’s campaign, Spectres focuses on Gabriel Tosh and Nova Terra, former class and squad mates at the Ghost Academy. Thanks to the Ghost program’s protocol of brain panning after missions, Nova remembers little, if anything, of her past. That is until she comes across a mysterious gas called terrazine that raises the Psi Index of anyone that consumes it. Another effect of the gas is the unlocking of previously hidden memories, defying the all-important brain pan protocol. The downsides are hallucinations, hardcore addiction and aggression. A dangerous mix of benefits and drawbacks that could make the most disciplined warrior off balance.

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The Upcoming MMOGs of 2012

30 December 2011 | 5 Comments » | LHStaff

It’s not quite over yet, but 2011 was not a banner year for the MMOG genre. There was no massive success, no breakaway hit. Players did receive their handful of expansions and new content patches, but with the exception of the just-released Star Wars: The Old Republic – a title which may become that massive success – most events were a blip on the radar.

Perhaps 2011 will be remembered not for its lack of breathtaking releases in the genre. No, no, the Year of the Rabbit may go down in history for a paradigm shift in the genre itself. Yeah, you guessed it, a continued aggressive shift to the free-to-play model.

What started with a last-ditch effort by Turbine Entertainment to save Dungeons & Dragons Online has continued to spread through the industry like wildfire. From dieing titles to titles that would have surely been paid-to-play years ago to upcoming AAA games, escapisms from every subgenre, every part of the world and catering to every type of game were released, entered beta or teased during the year. It’s getting to the point that drawing the line between what is an MMOG and what isn’t is becoming increasingly difficult.

Below you’ll find the titles that have us here at LoreHound.com the most excited. There’s a little bit of everything, AAA to F2P, MMORTS to MMORPG, casual to hardcore. An exhaustive list of expansions, content patches and releases? No, but the post is choke full of excitement, previews and information.

We’ll kick it off with the prediction for Star Wars: The Old Republic’s seemingly bright future. More after the cut.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: BioWare has definitely set themselves on the right track with this game, going full blown into production. They have stated that they have a years worth of content already in back log before launch, giving them a year’s head start worth of content as they still work on more to come. Add to the fire the fact they’ve watched every MMO that was released in 2011, and took notes, along with everything the head megabeast, World of Warcraft, has done for the last 5 years. The game is only just over a week old (officially), and besides the hiccups with a launch of any new game, the game is going pretty solid with 1 million subscriptions already created on December 22nd (before people who got it for Christmas could subscribe).

Is the game perfect right now? No. Give it a few months, and all the kinks will be found and ironed out, with some new content. Yes, yes, that statement could be recycled for almost every MMOG release in modern history. That doesn’t make it any less true. The fully voiced story gives a very cinematic feel. Check out the Lore Cast Episode 5 in the coming days to hear how Mordil, Beararms, and perhaps a few others are feeling about the game.

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Blizzard’s Extensive Extended Universe (List)

20 December 2011 | 9 Comments » | iTZKooPA

List last updated: January 2012

Many people spent Martin Luther King Jr’s holiday schlepping around their house, possibly at work or, and this is the really good-natured people out there, donating their time to a charity. Me, well I spent my time re-organizing my gaming shelves (due to in-home construction).

During the shuffling of games, the mingling of HDDVD (fail) and BluRay and coupling of previous and current generation peripherals I stumbled across a “lost” form of entertainment, the tactile sensations of books, board games and graphic novella. During the organization of this unconnected form of entertainment I realized one important fact: There’s a lot of Expanded Universe material to Blizzard’s universes.

Hit the Continue Reading stub to have your mind blown by the vast amounts of novels, board games, manga, comics and trading card game paraphernalia that have been created to extend one of Blizzard’s three universes. Continue Reading

BlizzCon 2011: Mike Morhaime Opens The Show

1 November 2011 | No Comments » | iTZKooPA

Look kids, it’s Mike Morhaime.

/me pauses for applause/astonishment/pictures.

If you don’t know who that is, take a seat and get educated. Mike Morhaime is one of the founders of Blizzard Entertainment, the company you so obviously have come to know and love. He’s the most forward facing of any of the co-founders, despite his awkwardness at these fan-based conventions. He may not be as silky smooth as Chris Metzen, but really, few can rock sunglasses whenever they damn well please.

Mike’s role, barring the ever-powerful title of CEO, in the company is anything but a holdover. Check out the above video for his opening presentation where he proves it by announcing the crazy WoW Annual Pass, its inclusion of Diablo III and drops his best jokes ever, with only a little bit of awkwardness.

Those public speaking classes are starting to pay off.

BlizzCon 2011: Chris Metzen Open Ceremony

28 October 2011 | 1 Comment » | iTZKooPA

Holy crap, Metzen isn’t wearing sunglasses. Write this day down in history! Chris Metzen, Lionel Richie’s biggest fan, was caught without his token shades during his opening ceremony presentation. For those of you not into TMZ-style reporting, we’ll move to our regularly scheduled writing style.

Metzen, the vice president of Creative Development broke onto the stage for a short soliloquy compared to last year’s “Geek Is…” monolog. The voice of Thrall and so many others teased WoWers with a new expansion before shifting gears to the upcoming Diablo III, the newly revamped Blizzard DotA and StarCraft proper. Then, after calling the WoWers back, he unleashed pandas on the audience.

Check out the presentation, filled with cheap pops Mick Foley style, above.

BlizzCon 2011: Enjoy The Ambiance, Scenery & Empty Chairs Virtually

28 October 2011 | No Comments » | iTZKooPA

Lines, we stood in them. Cosplayers, we snapped photos of them. Statues, we contorted our bodies for the best angles of them. We did the grunt work, and in the end, we have one of the most comprehensive collections of pictures from BlizzCon 2011.

This collection features a little bit of everything. Panel stills, shots of banners, cosplay, Mega Bloks layouts, Horde symbols (poorly) shaved into skulls, empty panel areas, hidden Mists of Pandaria reveals, scores of computers, the Lore Stage, tournaments and more. It’s not exhaustive, just thorough.

Take a gander at the 140 images after the break and don’t forget to take a look at the other albums linked above.

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BlizzCon 2011: Costume Contest & Cosplay

25 October 2011 | No Comments » | iTZKooPA

Doesn’t the title say it all? Do we truly need an explanation to one of BlizzCon’s consistently anticipated events? No, not the inevitable reveal of a new World of Warcraft expansion or something new in the StarCraft or Diablo universes. Not Jay Mohr’s recycled punchlines and Grand Theft Auto anecdotes, but the customary Costume Contest. Which, by the way, is the only contest to remain largely unmolested, changing some key rules – size maximums – but continuing its tradition of showing any and all dedication to cosplay, from enormous turtles and a mistress of pain to hand-studded leather gauntlets and a Minecraft player that fell off the stage!

And so let it begin. You can see an ever-so-small morsel of the extravagance directly below, but the meat of the situation is after the jump. Our compilation spans the up-close-and-personal pictures to the far-and-away snapshots taken during the procession.

Enjoy!

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BlizzCon 2011: The Goodie Bag & A Constructed Tyrael

24 October 2011 | No Comments » | iTZKooPA

Virtual ticket or in meat space, a large reason for “heading” to BlizzCon for many is the superb goodie bag that is included in the ticket price. And it just keeps getting better and better. More free swag, better swag and a roving array of activities kick started by simple included leaflets.

This year, we were meet with an amazing Mini Tyrael statue to celebrate the impeding release of Diablo III, which you can see to your right and in a few shots below. In addition, the LEGO-clone company known as Mega Bloks has entered into a licensing partnership with Blizzard, supplying all attendees with a blocky Thrall and enticing goers with an incredible battle scene inside its booth (below as well). Rounding out the package is your token SteelSeries key, an authenticator, a Diablo III bookmark and some blatant advertisements.

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