Posts Tagged ‘tosh’

StarCraft 2’s Tough Choices Are Missed Opportunities

23 September 2010 | 7 Comments » | 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

First Official Blizzard Custom Map: Burning Tide (SC2)

7 September 2010 | 4 Comments » | Heartbourne

Longing for some quality Starcraft 2 custom maps? Blizzard made a few for Starcraft and Warcraft III, and they are continuing the tradition in Starcraft 2.

Burning Tide is now available for play on Battle.net. Simply go to the custom game menu and you will see it as an option.

Burning Tide is similar to The Devil’s Playground mission in the Wings of Liberty campaign where players must mine from now lying areas on a volcanic planet while the lava occasionally rises and kills everything not on high ground. The first team to a specified number of resources wins. The map is designed as a 3v3 map.

It would seem like Terran have a huge advantage by being able to lift off their structures and reach difficult to mine spots with less risk. We’ll have a full report later in the week.