July 26 - July 30

Section: 

A complete single player campaign by any reasonable standard that reportedly offers more than 20 hours of solo play and unique units. A multiplayer experience that has been crafted over a public beta period extending more than 5 months and that is already featured at the highest levels of play. A matchmaking system that even during the beta, which was presumably weighted down with Starcraft's most eager fans, was able to provide competitive matches to a non-hardcore player such as myself. A robust map editor system and eagerly engaged, highly established community that is set up to deliver a diverse range of new experiences from day one. A pure RTS experience that is not hampered by the need to serve other systems besides the PC. A level of spit-shine polish that has become the trademark of a company with a flawless game pedigree. These are a handful of the reasons that I believe Starcraft 2 deserves Game of the Week as well as my $60 and pound of flesh.

On the other side I've heard the endless kvetching about the loss of LAN support, the $60 price tag and the supposed cowering deference to the Kotick Doctrines displayed by the weak willed Blizzard. I know already that as high praise rolls in for this game -- which having played over the past couple of months, I take as a given at this point -- many will assume that it is the infected opinions of those either on the take or delivered from the clutches of objectivity by the hype. I can not imagine a world where anything I say will be taken by those that subscribe to the conspiratorial whispers of impending evil as anything less than the musings of the delusional.

Either way, soon enough the only reasonable measure will be the product that lives on the shelves. Let the games begin.

PC
- Starcraft 2

PS3
- BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
- Clash of the Titans

360
- BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
- Clash of the Titans

Wii
- Arc Rise Fantasia

Coming Soon -
- Mafia 2 (PC, 360, PS3) : August 24
- Metroid Other M : August 31
- DC Universe Online : November 2
- Kinect : November 4
- Little Big Planet 2 : November 16

Comments

Elysium wrote:

I know already that as high praise rolls in for this game -- which having played over the past couple of months, I take as a given at this point -- many will assume that it is the infected opinions of those either on the take or delivered from the clutches of objectivity by the hype.

I don't see this, although I realize that it happens - I guess many people have the inability to distinguish. It's entirely possible for SC2 to be a great game, but for Blizzard still to be compromised as a company. It's the same kind of choice we have to make for the Ubisoft DRM - yeah, the games might be great, but are you willing to treated that way in order to play? With Blizzard, sadly, the answer is going to be yes for a lot of people, but that's ok - it's still a mostly free market.

The other thing with any game company, is that you're only as good as your latest game. In the cases of SC2 and D3, they've been cooking for a while, and Blizzard have been experimenting to see what works before putting it out. The merger has happened relatively recently so if anything it should be games after those that show the longer term effects.

Clemenstation wrote:

I'm already terrible at Starcraft 2 and I haven't even played it, so I see no reason to pay $60 to confirm my failures.

Agreed--BlizzoVision should set the price in direct correlation with how good you are at the game. In which case, they'd be paying me to play.

I just can't bring myself to buy this game while it requires an internet connection to play the single player campaign.

Reikijenosaido wrote:

I just can't bring myself to buy this game while it requires an internet connection to play the single player campaign.

It doesn't.

It has an offline mode, but no-one knows yet quite what that entails. Apparently there are 'features' you lose by not being online, but as long as I can play and save I don't care.

Just installed my collectors edition...(that's one sweet...sweet collectors edition by the way, even the box is cool as hell).

stevenmack wrote:

Just installed my collectors edition...(that's one sweet...sweet collectors edition by the way, even the box is cool as hell).

Agreed. The box is pretty bad ass, definitely a keeper, I'm gonna proudly display it on the shelf This is one of the best collectors edition I ever got. Definitely worth $100 price tag.

Chairman_Mao wrote:
Clemenstation wrote:

I'm already terrible at Starcraft 2 and I haven't even played it, so I see no reason to pay $60 to confirm my failures.

Agreed--BlizzoVision should set the price in direct correlation with how good you are at the game. In which case, they'd be paying me to play.

The geopolitical consequences of that statement are mind blowing.

MrDeVil909 wrote:
Reikijenosaido wrote:

I just can't bring myself to buy this game while it requires an internet connection to play the single player campaign.

It doesn't.

It has an offline mode, but no-one knows yet quite what that entails. Apparently there are 'features' you lose by not being online, but as long as I can play and save I don't care.

Ah, I was under the impression they were handling the single player the same way C&C 4 did. If that's not the case then I may be making a run to the store today...

Yeah, thankfully Blizzard hasn't gone the Ubi way yet. If they do I'm out.

Reikijenosaido wrote:
MrDeVil909 wrote:
Reikijenosaido wrote:

I just can't bring myself to buy this game while it requires an internet connection to play the single player campaign.

It doesn't.

It has an offline mode, but no-one knows yet quite what that entails. Apparently there are 'features' you lose by not being online, but as long as I can play and save I don't care.

Ah, I was under the impression they were handling the single player the same way C&C 4 did. If that's not the case then I may be making a run to the store today...

They've said you will need an internet connection for an initial activation, but after that you can play without an internet connection. However, you will be playing without certain "features" (achievements, friends lists, etc...)

Okay Zerg and protoss campaigns as expansion packs makes much more sense I still want to see pricing though.

Tkyl wrote:

They've said you will need an internet connection for an initial activation, but after that you can play without an internet connection. However, you will be playing without certain "features" (achievements, friends lists, etc...)

Sounds about like GFWL stuff like Batman:AA or Bioshock 2. Gotta sign in to GWFL to save, have achievements, etc.

Stele wrote:
Tkyl wrote:

They've said you will need an internet connection for an initial activation, but after that you can play without an internet connection. However, you will be playing without certain "features" (achievements, friends lists, etc...)

Sounds about like GFWL stuff like Batman:AA or Bioshock 2. Gotta sign in to GWFL to save, have achievements, etc.

Steam, too.

Has anyone played SC2 on a lower-spec system and can share any comments on overall performance? Based on benchmarking sites, my laptop slightly exceeds the minimum requirements but falls a bit short in the CPU and video card departments.

If I jack down the detail levels to the lowest or medium-low and still get good performance out of this game I just might pick it up.

Stele wrote:
Tkyl wrote:

They've said you will need an internet connection for an initial activation, but after that you can play without an internet connection. However, you will be playing without certain "features" (achievements, friends lists, etc...)

Sounds about like GFWL stuff like Batman:AA or Bioshock 2. Gotta sign in to GWFL to save, have achievements, etc.

My connection was really spotty last night and I had no problem doing the core single player. Required a connection when I fired up the game, and that was it. I was able to save without any issues - the only thing I noticed that didn't work was the achievements.

Bah. For $40 on Steam with a free copy of Starcraft 1 thrown in, then I might be interested.

No interest in multiplayer. And Starcraft, like most RTSs, is one of those games where I trudge through the singleplayer maps only to discover at the end of each mission that I really feel like I just wasted two or three hours of my life.

polq37 wrote:

Bah. For $40 on Steam with a free copy of Starcraft 1 thrown in, then I might be interested.

No interest in multiplayer. And Starcraft, like most RTSs, is one of those games where I trudge through the singleplayer maps only to discover at the end of each mission that I really feel like I just wasted two or three hours of my life.

Try watching the intro to the first mission:

I'm only three missions in, but so far there's been 2-3 cutscenes of similar length and quality between each mission, including news reports, conversations between NPCs, comments on the history of trophies, etc. Closest comparison is Wing Commander 3, but with more style. There's a ton more story in this than in other Blizzard games (again, only 3 missions in). The missions themselves are still RTS-y, but are up to the usual standards of Blizzard polish and have some nice little touches like propaganda-spouting holograms and a random dog that follows your marines on one level, and there's optional achievements to allow you to play around with how you actually play the mission.

Short version: If the style that they're going for floats your boat, the single player is miles better than usual RTS fare. If not, fair enough.

A pure RTS experience that is not hampered by the need to serve other systems besides the PC.

That is a happy sentence.

The only thing I would really like from the CE would be the "making of" DVD. I am fascinated at the game development process, especially at Blizzard. But I'm certainly not going to pay an extra $40 just to watch the danged thing! Maybe somebody I know will let me watch it one day. Until then, I am enjoying my regular version very much even if I totally suck at it!

Coolbeans wrote:

The only thing I would really like from the CE would be the "making of" DVD. I am fascinated at the game development process, especially at Blizzard. But I'm certainly not going to pay an extra $40 just to watch the danged thing! Maybe somebody I know will let me watch it one day. Until then, I am enjoying my regular version very much even if I totally suck at it!

I wouldn't be surprised if you could find it on YouTube ... at some point. Don't know if Blizzard/Activision clamps down on that stuff like movie and music companies, but there are SO many game videos on youtube it would surprise me if it doesn't get upped at some point.

garion333 wrote:
Coolbeans wrote:

The only thing I would really like from the CE would be the "making of" DVD. I am fascinated at the game development process, especially at Blizzard. But I'm certainly not going to pay an extra $40 just to watch the danged thing! Maybe somebody I know will let me watch it one day. Until then, I am enjoying my regular version very much even if I totally suck at it!

I wouldn't be surprised if you could find it on YouTube ... at some point. Don't know if Blizzard/Activision clamps down on that stuff like movie and music companies, but there are SO many game videos on youtube it would surprise me if it doesn't get upped at some point.

I found it with some really easy searching. I wonder if they offered the components of the CE as downloadable videos, PDFs, or to buy the WoW pet separately how many would buy them? Perhaps with a delay for the box to have exclusivity. It's hardly difficult to do, so it's money on the table I think.

Starcraft 2 is like a stubborn/beligerent son...No matter how much I suck...I can't give up on it!.

[spoiler] After 4 attempts I'm still on the campaign mission "zero hour," trying to save the colonists from the Zerg swarm, and destroying the hatcheries. I'm too stubborn to play it on normal difficulty. Oh whoops, spoilers.