21 March 2011 | |
iTZKooPA
What does Nova do in the face of a hyrdralisk swarm? She clenches her butt.
The first entry in Ghost Academy was a character experiment. Readers spent the majority of their time getting a feel for the (largely boring) characters – Gabriel Tosh, Nova Terra, Kath Toom, Lio Travski and Delta Emblock – at the expense of a grandiose adventure. Volume 2 increased the tale’s scope, introducing additional storylines, showing us what’s going on outside school. Volume 3 combines the storylines for an epic finale to a series that has matured to Tullamore Dew Special Reserve quality.
The third installment begins with the final days of Ghost Academy. The training culminates with former adversaries becoming allies when Team Red and Blue are coalesced under Tosh’s command. With little time to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses, the new team - purple, for those that don’t know the color wheel – is deployed in the field for the first time. The routine training mission on a safe planet of The Baker’s Dozen system is diverted to Shi, of the same system, after Lio detects a faint radio signal. The discovery of zerg hatcheries on the surface seals the decision, forcing Team Purple to conduct their final training mission in a live operation.
Who will die? Do the ghosts pass their final mission? Will the zerg get their hands on that perfectly sculpted posterior? You’ll find the answer to none of those questions after the jump (SPOILER FREE review, remember?)! Continue Reading
23 September 2010 | |
iTZKooPA
This article contains spoilers and lore discussion to StarCraft 2’s campaign.
Numerous critics have heralded StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty’s campaign as the greatest thing since sliced bread. While I personally think that’s going to far – sliced meat? – the campaign was one of the most entertaining experiences of the summer. As is Blizzard’s wont, the company borrowed numerous ideas from previous titles, gave them the old Blizzard spit-shine polish and claimed the outcome as its own. I call this method “Butterfly Development.” Ideologically, it’s simple. Blizzard takes a caterpillar of an idea, puts it and its developers in a cocoon for a few months (years), and a beautiful butterfly pops out.
One of the ideas that Blizzard introduced its fanbase to is choice, specifically moral dilemmas. Any gamer can tell you that difficult decisions have been around for some time, epitomized by Lionhead Studios and BioWare products, but it’s never entered Blizzard’s project to any substantial degree. Richard Bartle pointed out Blizzard’s folly in Wrath of the Lich King with “The Art of Persuasion.” This was a crucial juncture in a player’s career. Blizzard could have forced us to ponder our actions as we made a difficult choice. Instead, nearly everyone went ahead and zapped the Beryl Sorcerer into submissions because that was the only way we’d receive experience. Blizzard learned its lesson for SC2, delivering two clearly defined dilemmas. Once again, the company failed to make them memorable because there’s no long-lasting impact. Just a means to an end.
Decision 1: Dr. Ariel Hanson vs. Selendis
Upon completing “Outbreak,” players are lead into their first choice. Continue Reading
17 August 2010 | |
Ronix
StarCraft 2 recently came out and sold one million units on day one. Analysts predict that this figure will increase somewhere between five to seven million units sold by December 2010, and those estimates are conservative. When faced with this information, people often shrug and say something to the effect of, “It’s Blizzard, what did you expect?”
Gamers are so accustomed to associating success and quality with the blue Blizzard logo that we are willing to spend money on their products without giving it too much thought, knowing that polished gameplay and high production values come with the package.
Only a minority realize that this widely accepted view is the result of a lot of money and effort spent on Blizzard’s behalf. The company pays an extraordinary amount of attention to the way it is perceived by customers and has managed its reputation so well that most of them believe Blizzard is simply unable to release a bad game.
How many of you have heard of Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans? Probably not many because this point-and-click adventure based on the Warcraft universe was canceled. After a year of intense development, magazine interviews, press tours and built-up hype, Blizzard decided that the game was just not good enough. Fans were in uproar, and an online petition to resurrect the game was formed mere hours after the announcement hit. Blizzard responded to the community but remained adamant in the company’s decision, citing that the game did not provide enough value for their customers and that the company would not sell out on the quality of their games. Continue Reading
30 October 2007 | |
LHStaff
Ok, maybe not yet, but I’m laying it down right now saying that I guarantee that Blizzard will create a MMO out of the beloved Starcraft series. In fact if this site is still around by the time the game comes out I will give a free copy to everyone that posts in this thread (contact by email). And if within 10 years Blizzard does not announce a Starcraft MMO than I will give everyone $50.
Seriously, why wouldn’t they. I mean Starcraft is the best selling RTS game of all time, beating out every Warcraft RTS game to date. It has 3 races all with incredible character selection that could easily be turned into a MMOFPS. Just imagine creating your character and being able to choose between Marine, Firebat, or Ghost and being dropped into Zerg territory for your first mission. With Starcraft’s immense following a World of Starcraft MMO would most undoubtably become the biggest MMO ever.
However taking into account that Starcraft II took 10 yrs, I wouldn’t hold my breath for World of Starcraft. Maybe by 2017 I’ll be writting about how World of Starcraft is almost out :)
(First 50 responses only)
