I wouldn’t call StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty an innovation in terms of game design, mechanics or story, but what I can say is that every single facet of the real time strategy genre is honed to the finest point I’ve seen to date. The game basically boils down to resource and unit management (along with the various skirmishes you’ll encounter), but everything is so clean, intuitive and refined, making for a game that’s an absolute joy to play. Coupled with the gameplay is an extremely well told story filled with colorful and extremely memorable characters in the gaming universe, creating an atmosphere that’s extremely compelling, and a constant desire to see what happens next.

In Wings of Liberty (the first of the StarCraft II trilogy), players take control of Terran forces led by Jim Raynor. For fans of the series, this name should be extremely well-known, but for newbies, Jim Raynor was one of the main characters in the original game. He was a marshall on an outlying planet in the Confederacy of Man, but he was eventually talked into joining a revolution against the confederacy, led by Arcturus Mengsk. During this revolution, Mengsk sacrificed the entire population of a planet when the Zerg swarm came calling. During this onslaught, Jim lost a dear friend, the elite ghost soldier Sarah Kerrigan, when the planet was overrun by the Zerg. As a result of these actions, Raynor discovered that Mengsk was actually a genocidal tyrant and must be stopped, but it was too late and Raynor’s efforts at that point were too little to put a stop to things.

 

For those unaware, because of the events of the original StarCraft, when Kerrigan was overrun by the Zerg, she was actually assimilated by the swarm, becoming the “Queen of Blades,” and one of the main protagonists of the series and a scourge of the galaxy. When Wings of Liberty picks up, we find Raynor still tormented by the fate of Kerrigan, drinking away his sorrows in a bar. What happens from there is an epic tale of space cowboys fighting for freedom, trying to undermine the forces of the Dominion led by emperor Arcturus Mengsk as well as a new threat for not only human civilization, but all life in the galaxy. The game’s narrative is extremely well told, providing great twists, turns and amazing action that culminates in a stunning finale. Even more impressive is that this is just the first chapter, setting the stage for what’s to come.

As you progress through the campaign mode, you’ll find that Wings of Liberty does a great job of integrating new units, objectives, and strategies, inspiring audiences not only to play the game through to the end, but also to play again, taking different approaches to these missions. You’ll often be faced with a choice of which mission to undertake and while the order you play these missions doesn’t particularly matter, the way it’s presented is rather ingenious. Many of these missions introduce a new unit to your arsenal, training you how to utilize these units, allowing you to get a sense of how best to balance your forces down the road. Complimenting that, you’ll also be challenged with different objectives throughout the game, allowing you to put your knowledge of units into practice in new and fun ways. It’s easy to stay on defense within your base until you have a large force assembled, but you’ll often find that your objectives won’t allow you to do that, forcing you to come up with a strategy quickly and off the cuff in order to succeed in a mission. It’s very much a rock-paper-scissors sort of ordeal, but the training you get throughout these sorties will give you a great sense of how best to use your forces.

 

A bit of customization also comes into play in the form of your research and upgrade system. Throughout your missions, you’ll be able to find research points (for both Zerg and Protoss technologies) as well as earn money, allowing you to tailor your forces to your play style. The research system has two trees: Zerg and Protoss; as you reach certain milestones in your research points for either tree, you’ll unlock a new tier of abilities. While there are two options, you’ll only be able to choose one improvement per tier, forcing you to carefully weigh the two. For the upgrade system, you’ll be able to purchase new tech for individual units using the money you’ve earned throughout your missions. However, it’s reasonably difficult to earn the money to buy even half of these upgrades, so once again, you’ll have to really thing where you want to spend your money. It’s these sort of choices you’ll face that help make the game that much more appealing. The forces you’ll command in the game will be different from player to player, creating something unique, engaging and hugely appealing.

While StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty doesn’t necessarily bring a host of improvements in terms of core mechanics, it’s all in the details. The choices you make really bring about an entirely different experience in terms of gameplay, creating a unique experience that’s tough to find elsewhere. Complimenting that is a stellar narrative, riddled with some memorable characters, culminating in a great denouement that’s tough to find in other games. In fact, more than once, I thought “this is like a really good episode of Firefly.” Yeah. It’s that good. Keeping in mind that this is the first of three games is another reason to be excited. It’s the RTS genre at its finest and I can’t wait to see what’s next. It should come as a surprise to nobody that Blizzard has reset the bar at a higher standard, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

 

The multiplayer component of Wings of Liberty is really where people will be spending the most time with the game. It’s extremely brilliant, extraordinarily fun, and wholly frustrating all at the same time, making for something I can’t help but keep coming back to. As a newbie to StarCraft’s multiplayer offering, I get stomped thoroughly by any and all opposition, causing waves of profanity to stream from my mouth. However, these defeats are a good thing as they’re an amazing learning tool for how to play. Even though you may get destroyed (a lot), you’ll be able to not only identify your mistakes, but see what your opponent is doing, allowing you to eliminate bad habits, but also pick up new tactics to employ. Though I’m still no good at the game, I’ve improved leaps and bounds simply by playing (and losing) while picking up new tricks, allowing me to become a better player.

The fact that everyone starts a match on an even playing field makes StarCraft II such a pleasure to play. No, this isn’t a new innovation, but it simply proves that this game is entirely skill based, forcing players to use some brilliant strategies in ingenious ways, creating something that not only do I want to play again and again, but also increases my desire to become better so I can hold my own in these online skirmishes. That’s how engrossing StarCraft II is, and a game like that is something that absolutely deserves your attention.

 

Note: This game was reviewed on PC