Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (Mac/PC DVD-ROM)

As an on-and-off player of Real Time Strategy games, I hadn't really taken an interest in StarCraft II. However, after watching some multiplayer games just prior to launch, I decided it looked a lot of fun and picked it up.The part that actually stands out most for me is the single player campaign. There were obviously some concerns regarding the fact that this is only the first of three parts of the StarCraft II storyline, but Blizzard have more than justified this decision. Rather than the 10 missions of "Kill the other team" that I have come to expect from RTS games, there are 26 missions, all of which feel noticeably different. Without spoiling too much, they vary from an intense "defend the base against waves of enemies" to a train robbery, to saving settlements from enemy hit squads while trying to shut down the shields of an initially invulnerable spaceship that is also threatening you, to a prison breakout in which you control just a sniper, to a mission in which you must frequently move your base to avoid an oncoming danger.Interspersing these missions are beautiful cutscenes and sequences on your ship where you can chat to your crew and purchase upgrades and research to improve your units. These are also very well done, and accompanied by some excellent songs, both unique creations alongside fantastic covers of well-known songs in an appropriate "Space Western" style.Outside of the single player, there is the well-known aspect that has made StarCraft of past the "National Sport of Korea" - it's finely honed multiplayer. I was obviously very apprehensive about jumping in, but luckily the game offers a wide variety of AI skill levels to practice against, as well as the option to team up with a friend or a random player and play a team game against an AI level of your choice.Once I actually got into the multiplayer, I found it incredibly satisfying, from the tactical, chess-like battles of 1-on-1 to the manic nature of 4-on-4 and 4-8 player free-for-alls. When you start, you get up to 50 "Practice games" with beginner settings against other beginners if you want them, but I only played four. After that, you play five placement matches which determine which league you are put into. I have found the system thereafter, which adjusts your position based on results (which can include you changing leagues where appropriate), to be excellent. It achieves Blizzard's aim of players winning around 40-60% of their games perfectly, as almost every player I have looked up is in that ratio.The multiplayer gameplay itself feels incredibly well-balanced, and Blizzard have been updating and patching frequently since launch to ensure that any units or tactics which are overused are modified slightly to bring them in line with everything else. The game is incredibly easy to pick up, challenging to get to a high level, and near impossible to master. My only slight gripe is the lack of LAN play, but this isn't the end of the world and I wouldn't put it past Blizzard to patch it into the game in the future. If you haven't gotten into a Blizzard game yet, I highly recommend you do so with StarCraft II.

After purchasing this game, installing it and waiting approximately one hour for 14GB of data to update the game and then being asked to upgrade to the full game for only £16.99 or whatever it was I can only say to the software developers, Blizzard, stick it up your a***.I have looked everywhere on the internet for solutions, changed the password on battle net etc tried everything.After the installation the game reverts to the starter edition and prevents you from playing the full game, including online.Blizzard you are as much use as an handbrake on a canoe.This is definitely not the sellers fault. Some people have no problems whatsoever with the game.

I played the original when I was young and loved it. The sequel doesn't disappoint. You build buildings, produce units and attack the other team. Unlike Command and Conquer (C&C) where you don't have such tight unit control and the buildings tend to be tougher SC2 is all about micro control of units.Fun at first this is meant to differentiate the men from the boys in allowing it not simply to be a resource game i.e. whoever has the most units wins. I say men from boys because it is the boys who win hands down at this. I say fun at first because the men with day jobs die as is appropriate as they have jobs to go to in the morning. Unless of course playing computer games is your job which is not as uncommon as you might thing for SC2 with a big Korean/US and European gaming community.Honestly this is a really great game that rewards your skill and ability if you are prepared to put everything on hold but is still great for novices who just want to enjoy the great game play or the nostalgia like me. And the careful balancing means you will be playing people of your own ability - or you can play the single player campaign which is not an after thought but genuinely entertaining.Definitely try it you like this sort of thing. This and SC1 are probably one of the "great" games in the pantheon of game history - it was genuinely something new when it first came out.

I held off buying this game as there where many reviews pointing out bugs and imbalance as well as complaints that this was only the first part of what would be a three part game. But in the end I succumbed and took the plunge. I was very pleasantly suprised and hooked from the start. The game is clever, and immense fun to play right from the first level and the cut scenes are a joy to watch. The whole thing plays out like a high budget movie and with some small exceptions the acting is spot on the mark.By now, all of the bugs and balance issues have been ironed out and the game flows like a well oiled machine. I haven't had this much fun playing a game in years. Each level is well designed and each tries to spice it up and constantly change things and keep you on your toes.The only reason I haven't given this game five stars is that I finished it within a fortnight and aside from multiplayer, Versus AI maps and challenges there isn't a whole lot more to do. The multiplayer element of the game could keep you going for a long time if that's your biscuit and I've had a few goes at it. But I feel like I've finished the game now I've completed the campaign and personally I think they could have made the game twice as long and still had the same amount of cut scenes. The scenes are that good, you can tell that's what took a lot of the development time. But still this game is well worth getting and the second part is now well into development.