At long last, the final episode hath cometh to us all. And I should really stop using 'th' to sound all poetic...
I confess - for once, my spirits haven't been this high since the very reveal of WoL, the very alpha and videos that showed me the first Marines, first Zealots, first Void Rays (Warp Rays, at the time, with Khalai skin), the Siege Tanks with muppet cannon mouths, the Mothership firing all those glowy balls and going Independence Day on the Terran bases. I was 17, back then, but then time passed. Time, awful games like C&C 4 and then HotS had desensitized me, as well as real life, better things and being a critic on everything. Because of these things, a lot changed, I've grown cold, with outbursts of anger, and I just couldn't re-kindle back with the 17 year-old teenager that jumped it, screaming and awaking my father, mother, neighbors and grandmother, all angry, at 6:30AM, back in 2007.
Officially, by 17:15, Brazil time, he woke up shouting the same as Tychus Findlay did - Hell, it's about time!
But let this be a warning to Blizzard, beforehand! A warning of a soul that was *already* let down with the poorest campaign ever conceived in all Blizzard career, poorer than Diablo III, which brought me to a point I could even write a review, exposing it's flaws, and even a Fanfic telling how the story could've been, in my view, and that I paused so that I could continue work in my campaign and the future projects. Let me down first, shame on you. Let me down twice, shame twice on you. Something like that...
WoL's story was everything but perfect, I'll admit. Besides using two of the most overworked clichés of all time, that is the Prophecy and Love Story stuff, and killing a character whom wormed his way into the hearts of everyone, like Fenix did, it also delivered some weak gameplay in form of gimmicks and predictable attack waves, as well as forgettable characters like Ariel Hanson and Donny Vermillion. Still, it was a fairly decent one, that went downhill after all the moronic decisions in HotS to infest Kerrigan again, even after Raynor went to Hell and back to save her, that they separate and return and again, rinse, repeat, as well as the ARGH Primal Zerg, an idea so stupid since THE BAT CREDIT-CARD! (Yeah, Doug, try not to faint...)
Now's the final chance. The last one. To make something worthy of the name StarCraft, that thing you, Chris Metzen, according to what you said some time ago, written and didn't like, that just happened to sell horrors back in 1998. Now, Blizzard, it's the final opportunity ever given to rid people of the horrors you made us come through, from poor gameplay and AI development to bland dialogue and characters. I don't expect that LotV can even return to the level WoL was, even less surpass it, but managing to come below HotS... I'd just give up Blizzard entirely, even after I grew up with it for 20+ years. Not just StarCraft, but also killing Lordaeron with Undead and rising Arthas as Lich King.
For a quick recap of things past, it's four years after Brood War. Friends meet together, start chasing artifacts as the Zerg start to take over the world. After picking some fights here and there, Jim Raynor meets the blondie prince, whom lo and behold, a solution to bring miss tendril-head back! It's done, but oh, no, the best friend is a traitor, BAM, he's dead. Cut to dusty planet, the Bitch Queen of the Universe recovers, but then mega-evil emperor attacks and it's all gone to hell, she thinking her boyfriend, whom she gets along with but also leaves him a lot, is dead. It's murdering rampage, as she gets her scale skin and wings back, now with glitter, and kills people, monsters and more people before she gets her payback, but not before realizing there's a douchebag villain she's gotta kill, else he will, you guessed it, take over- no, destroy the world.
BIT-PER-BIT
First, let's get it on with the mighty Hyperion/Leviathan our new buddy Artanis, whom we'll be controlling instead of Zeratul, as originally announced back in Blizzcon 2008/09. This ship, I think they took the spear thing to the letter,I don't like it. It's too thin, it's not thick enough and it doesn't represent that a serious threat or a comfort for friendlies for hiding behind the big guns. It doesn't sound like a ship you'd gleefully go to war with, this is more the Kubrick type of exploration vessel. No, spinning rings stopped being appealing to me for some time, now.
On the other hand, though, I like the interiors. Really, this IS the kind of thing I'd have imagined writing in a Fanfic, the color palette is exact, it only lacks a bit of futuristic Man of Steel Kryptonian machinery here and there. The areas are easier to read. The characters even blend in nicely and the particle system and animations are spot-on. Only a few things about a character or two that I don't like, but I'll resume them below.
Then we get right to terraining in-game, which I'm seeing is becoming more and more improving ever since Wings. The color scheme is becoming more richer and high-def, even the road splats are getting painted (manually, I know) with decals. The new Shakuran/Xel'Naga Tilesets, compared to the oldest in Wings, are ideal for Xel'Naga installation maps, too. That's becoming an advancement.
I like the new assets, moreso the reactor by the new platform, I could use that, modded a bit, for an UED reactor in some map. Though I was actually hoping a new set of platform cliffs, something different, like it was with the lower level back in HotS Char/Skygeirr platforms, or like they did with the Protoss/Xel'Naga installations. Maybe they could bring this in a later date, but I was rooting for something more fresh and not like more-of-the-same, as it is with this new platform. Others, like the Warcrafty Archon, are downright hilarious. I mean, the stone statues from HotS/WoL were just fine, we weren't that picky. No offense meant, of course.
MINE! ALL MINE!!!
Though one reason I found for definitely buying this is the BFT Turret! I won't translate the BFT, but the expletive has to summarize it, there's no other word to describe it. And it seems to act like a unit, if not, I can mod it as such. I predict boss fights, ideal ones, or striking objectives that shoot at you or your allies with that. Now THIS is something I expect to see more from LotV, not just bigger turrets, but richer structures, more varied things, aside, of course, from the Xel'Naga doodads torrent that will come with this expo. This will allow me to make more richer terrain than what I already have, and I believe, no arrogance meant, I'm reaching a peak level in my terraining skills.
THE MOTLEY CREW
As predicted, new characters, or ship crew, had to come in Legacy of the Void, apart from the torrent of all those that already have shown up in WoL, which I still expect they'll make brief appearances, here. Of course, I mean Urun, Selendis, Mohandar and the two main protagonists, but we already know what there is about them. We're here to discuss the new ones, appearance, character, predicted role and stuff.
Zeratul and Artanis, there's not much to talk about them. Many know them since Brood War, though it's now twisted between the Zeratul prophet-of-all-things and Artanis now has a more raspy voice and happens to having become the boss, a position out of place, IMO.
Some may complain on the fact Zeratul should've been the primary character and not Artanis, but somehow this makes sense, particularly with the background Blizzard's planning, according to ScLegacy. Think about it. You were a commander in Wings, a Queen in Swarm and now you'd become the unquestioned chieftain of all people, and this adds to more hurt to his downfall and gradual, as expected, recovery as he tries to pick apart the pieces together, and I sense the exploding planet on the trailer will have something to do with it. I'd have no doubt it'd be Aiur, though Korhal going ker-splat would be a nice surprise. But enough of that, let's get to the new roster additions, which are three.
KARAX - My complains on him are only two: Those servo arms and his name. I mean, we already got Karak, too much Karak stuffed in our heads, this name even sounded a tad too improvised, if you ask me. He's expected to be the Rory Swann of the Protoss Arkship, giving upgrades and teching units up for a price. I like his model, except the servo arms for two reasons. One, they look Terran, and Protoss are much above that, I like to think their design is super sleek-shelly. Two, as I recall, Protoss are psionics, and they have machines capable of doing work for them. Him being a 'phasesmith' would, I think, be left to drawing, testing and overseeing weapons, the heavy duty would be carried out by machines, whom are lore-wise sentient. So why the need of these arms? But, apart from that and I said it, I like his appearance, he recalls a tribal patriarch and would make such a nice, according model. It could even be a mere simple remove the servo arm meshes and shove him for my purposes, if only the future m3 can be ported to Max. Highly unlikely, given I can't port HotS models, too.
ROHANA - There's little to talk on her, if you ask me, she's practically fine, only missing the glowing skin from the Preservers in WoL. She's to be an Egon Stetmann of sorts, as per usual, unless she happens to replace Selendis or whoever else as adjudant. Now that'd be a nice surprise, and, if hopefully done right, a repair of what they should've done to Izsha, in first place...
VORAZUN - She's the character I get to talk more, of most things that are wrong. Yet another classic example of Blizzard lore butchering. First of all, since when did Raszagal had a daughter? How come she was never mentioned, not EVEN in Christie Golden's Firstborn saga, let alone any other source whatsoever? Then, her name, Voradun, which is CLEARLY a male-sounding like. I mean, Khastiana, Lasarra, Selendis. These three names at least have some sort of a feminine pronounce to them, but Vorazun would be more better applied to a burly Zealot than her. Her appearance, particularly the head, sounds like a Zeratul without the bump map. And then her role, judging by her background on the preview site: Frequently disagreeing with Artanis during debates in the Twilight Council? This, and her explicit aggressive posture, clearly denote she's to be a hell of a more-likely-whining troublemaker, one which will, through out the whole campaign, start screwing up as she tries to 'avenge her mommy'. I mean, shouldn't that place she's occupying, dear Blizzard, be clearly more reserved for someone else? You have a rich composition of Protoss characters, which are much more interesting. If it *has* to be female, put in Khastiana, instead, she'd be much more understandable, lore-wise, we can connect with *her* pain. If it *has* to be Nerazim, then why not Mohandar, instead, him acting like an advisor in troubling times, given his experience? But you know, Blizzard has the cliche checklist for the game to fill in, as per freaking usual...
BACK INTO THE GAME
Now we'll jump out of the campaign, we've talked enough of it and I'm still holding some *shred* of optimism that trailer recovered, and now let's get to the meat grinder that is multiplayer. First, the new general features. I'm not surprised, nor excited with the idea of co-commanders in single-player, that's entirely ripped off Red Alert 3 and it should be something like that, only CGI and voice dubbing instead of live-action, and some few controls to attack, hold an area, kill a target, and nothing more. One thing they could do to differ is having buttons ordering them to research a specific upgrade, getting a determined amount of a specific unit, ordering them to expand, planning a waypath for attacking, now THAT would be worth playing. Automated Tournaments, it's just the same we've seen in every FPS out there, particularly Titanfall.
The 'Archon Mode', fancy name for letting someone else command your base... I don't think I'd play much with it, I'm like Batman, time to time - I work better alone.
Now, then, straight to the units, the new ones and the changes to the originals. There were those I felt I liked, those I didn't like, those I felt were too complicated, and I'll list them. But this opinion on the units and why or not, I make them entirely on balance issues, seeing them (presumably) from a professional view, as well as a bit of a casual one. I try to be as a cold critic about this as I can, based entirely on the overall multiplayer views in a longer term, only time to time I slip a bit.
So, onto firstly, the rockstars of this expo, the Protoss (And also a race I play only in Melee):
WHAT I LIKED:
- The Disruptor. He seems like the best harassment unit to keep up in par with the Widow Mine, Drops, Reapers and Baneling bombing. He also returns us to the old days of the Reaver, and I get the feeling we'll see plenty of Disruptor/Prism micro. They'll help make or break a Protoss. It's the high risk, high reward thing. If you position right, and time it right, it'll devastate right. This is what I like and what made the Reaver so remembered. And also they'll be a good use of the Replicator Blizzard cut out from HotS, meaning that what they like they'll just recycle. They also seem to have bonus vs Light, meaning this could FINALLY be an answer to mass Terran MMM without having to depend solely on HT Storms and Colossi. It's all, as I said, a matter of positioning.
- The Oracle's Stasis Prison. Ever since Blizzard had the BRILLIANT (Irony mode on) idea of removing the Mass Vortex from the Mothership, practically removing the ship's only usefulness, it had been a hard time to put a halt to masses and trying to recover. In all Protoss related matches, either you're at the top, or you're dead. Expect for the 'mine' idea, which sounds so Terran, the Stasis Prison could be a turn around, like the Disruptor, it's all about being used right. And it'd be something to balance the Terrans' EMP and the Zerg Fungal Growth altogether.
- The Warp Prism's distance picking. This should increase the value of the Prisms and we could see them more as a weapon as Medivacs, now with boosters, already are, providing more micro-intensive harassment.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- Cutting Tempests as Air Counters. They were practically fine, if you ask me. This must've been done, no doubt in my mind, in favour of the Carrier, whom should be getting way much work than it should have at this game, both HotS AND WoL. They were fine in being long distance support and in countering BCs, losing to Corruptors, Mutas and Vikings. The Desintegrate sounds like an attempt at an ammend, 'sorry for bursting your bubble' thing, but, given how close the Tempest must get to use it on the targets of interest, it's not worth the effort.
- Oracle Revelation now revealing cloaked units. If the Oracle already has a spell capable of revealing cloaked units without an Observer, called Envision, mind you, then what's the point of adding this to Revelation? Unless, of course, you'd remove Envision to give room to the 'Stasis Mines', then that'd be perfectly explained.
- Only one patch to the Carrier. The Carrier, the most iconic unit, the most which people would want to use, is also the most needing work, and all we get from this Blizzcon is that it now has the Tac Fighter ability from the HotS Hyperion, to send the interceptors afar to handle the mess from a safe distance. What's the point, it practically adds nothing new to the Carrier, it only makes it artillery. The issue, Blizzard, is the trouble with it being ridiculously hard to access and being ridiculously easy to die. Many whom first tried getting to the Carrier, not on White-Ra level, fought hard lengths to get these units, only to find out the Interceptors didn't work as before and they were easily torn apart like paper, with so much lopped off AA attack speed. That's what you could easily fix, perhaps with a new upgrade, improving armor or health or even the firepower to compensate the trouble. Or reduce the costs and building period, to make it due. Even now there's more Tempests being built in matches than Carriers, the cold truth, because though they're artillery, they much more worth than Carriers.
- The Immortal shield removal. This thing is much more complicated, because there's advantages AND disadvantages to turning it from passive to active. Yes, it easily made the Immortal easier to kill with Siege Tanks, Marauders, Roaches and all other Armored, as well as it was made micro intensive, but the Immortal is all the Protoss has against these units and the meaner ones that are the Thor, Colossi and Ultralisks. And even if the shield was activated and the damage mitigated, the opponent would need only pull back and wait for the ability to shut down and then move in for the kill. And a mass of Stalkers, if you call this an 'alternative', does even less damage than a few Immortals, from personal experience. So, no, I don't think this was the best of ideas, particularly when they'll already be troubled facing the new units, particularly Hellbats and these new HERCs.
OVERALL: Not perfect, but still not terrible. I suspect the alterations to the Immortal and the Carrier patch should be the ones to be taken off in the later date. The Disruptor, in particular, could use a bit more of a work, moving them to Gateway, putting a high price on Gas and then adding some more speed. Nothing against it, but, with Stim Terrans moving quickly the moment the player sees a Disruptor, this unit, unless the player's that dumb not to run or scan, can't do much other than in single-player matches. With these alterations, I think a more viable Toss early defense against early mass bio, 7-10 minutes, would be a possibility. Still, it'd be all a matter of microing right and not getting caught. But it's still, as I said, a good worker killer to sneak in, and that'd be great for balancing the game with Terran Widow Mines.
Now the changes for Terrans:
WHAT I LIKED:
- Banshee upgrade once Fusion Core is built. I always liked the idea that to build something you didn't want to in order to gain some small repay, and this will come in the form of the Banshee, to make harassment and escapes more viable. It increases both the value of the unit and the structure which very few Terrans are making in melee, as Battlecruisers aren't finding their use. It's small, but it's win-win, for both sides. Some bizarre outburst of decent creativity, it seems...
- Battlecruisers with warp. Yes, it's seems OPed. Yes, it sounds more like the idea of a mod than an expansion. But this will increase more and more the value of such a mighty warship, now forsaken with the numbers of Vikings, Corruptors and Void Rays all around, that it's a miracle if you can bring more than four BCs to an enemy base unscathed. All it takes is exploration and hitting the button, and you got an useful late-game harassment venue. And combined with the fact it can cost more than a Yamato Cannon, this will definitely bring Capital Terran back into the game, it's already balanced. Of course, it can be balanced further by making the player research this ability, but I know I'd be asking too much...
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- The new units. What's the point of adding more to what Terran practically already has. It already has too much mobility, it already has too much firepower and more and more numbers than even Zerg can reproduce. It's not enough the Hellbat, but now there'll be HERCs to counter the Baneling explosions, practically saving Zerg, so far, from being overwhelmed by an already overpowered Terran MMM. Then, the Cyclone, which's technically a Diamondback with nothing new to offer and that would serve only to irritate players into rage quitting, as well as put more and more distance between the player and his opponent, distance that can't be recovered. The actual focus for Blizzard, as Terran already has EVERYTHING, shouldn't be adding more, but working on balancing what they already have. People wouldn't actually mind about LotV not having new units to Terrans, truth be told. They already have too much.
- Sieged Tanks can now be picked up. Again, what's the point? Not to mention it'd make the game too unbalanced, given all it's needed for the Terran, as seen in the video, is pick up again, take there, drop it and fire the shot. Repeat, rinse, repeat. All the while taking a laughter of the opponent. And people can ALREADY harass with the Siege Tank, just as they can with Widow Mines, Hellbats, the works. It's all a matter of effort, being cut off to no doubt entertain casuals or unskilled Terrans.
- Thors with self-repair. Thors are already harder to kill, even more with an army at their back, now they can repair by themselves when Terrans already can repairs with SCVs or call down MULEs for it to happen quickly. And, even if they can't attack or move, the army, especially after being skewered in fighting the other units, will need to clear something that can one-shot them. One can clearly see why the 'Immortality Protocol' ability was relegated to WoL campaign.
OVERALL: Terrans are what need the most work of all. The problem is not that, without this, they can't keep up with the other races. The actual issue, here, is that they have too much, and thus this should be the work, instead of pulling an EA-esque decision of adding more and more. But, the moment they can actually issue a new unit, even if it's an utility one, that doesn't hurt much the already strained gameplay, we'll then talk.
Finally the Zerg:
WHAT I LIKED:
- Corruptor's Caustic Spray. While I think this is a tad of an unbalanced idea, this one has potential, if it can be worked right. Perhaps take a single HP every two-three seconds the Spray is on. Not to mention it already prevents the Corruptor from it's AA role as long as this is on. A single tweaking, and this would be a nice addition to LotV, increasing a bit of the Corruptor's value, aside of being useful anti-BC, anti-Carrier and Brood Lord berth.
- Alterations to the Nydus Worm. Actually, I would've agreed that they can't be hurt while performing the Birth Animation, but they still could be damaged even underground, but this would actually be a good chance of improving the Nydus Worm. Yeah, there'd still be the warning and stuff, and the player would have time to take the army there to intercept, but this is something that could increase the value of the Nydus Worm.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- The Ravager. I am the only one whom thinks that incorporating C&C into SC2 is a bad idea? This is technically the Nod Specter from Kane's Wrath which you can literally spawn from a Roach, and a tier 2 artillery. While I won't complain that such thing could've been welcomed if worked right, the Zerg already have their share of long-distance strikers, just take a look at the Swarm Host and the Brood Lord. And the fact it's artillery strike can as well destroy Force Fields, the only thing that saves Protoss from Zerg, that's one direct blast right at balance. Well, whatever balance there's still left...
- The Lurker. Blizzard already compensated for the Lurker with the Swarm Host in HotS. I was one of the few that, while true, missed the lurker and it's ability to kill whole masses with it's underground railgun shot, could agree a bit with the Swarm Host and it's necessary aggressive use. But, now with the Lurker back, this will make a combo literally impossible to break: Swarm Hosts press in, Lurkers kill any aggressors whom try and kill the hosts. Combined with anti-air, then, this would be the cheese of the Zerg, even more than Photon Cannon rushes or Muta mass.
- The Infestor's Wild Mutation ability. That's what I call going Terran with Zerg, adding more than what you need, just because it has to be there. Kerrigan's wild mutation skill from HotS was clearly a major buff which made Zerglings nigh-invincible, and this was enough to be limited to single-player. In multi-player, this will screw up whole armies, particularly combined with the Fungal Growth. Infestors, because of Fungal Growth and Neural Parasite (AKA Tentacle Mind Control), are already useful. Simply, why the need to add this?
- Alterations to the Swarm Host. The Swarm Host natually came as a different replacement to the Brood War Lurker everyone wanted back in HotS. Some criticized, some welcomed it. Now, with the Lurker back, out of pure fan-service, the Swarm Host suffered alterations in order to become more 'aggressive', when it already needs to be used aggressively. First of all, it's too mobile, now that it can spawn Locusts without needing to Burrow. Burrowing, spawning and unburrowing to run off before the opponent's army catches up is one of the core gameplay elements of using the unit. It adds to micro, it requires developing these skills, and just taking this off so they can spawn Locusts on the move, that's just casualizing another unit. No, extending spawn durations while also increasing firepower is no remedy, at all, too, Locusts in HotS already had a ridiculous firepower. Combine this with the fact they can be upgraded to fly in Tier 3 and there, you managed to have a totally unbalanced unit.
OVERALL: The Zerg are clearly competing with Terrans on the many issues still to be solved, particularly those that jump them from UP to OP, like the Swarm Host and the inclusion of the Lurker, as well as the new Ravager. Definitely, Zerg will become more of the issue, here, and may be the more likely to suffer more alterations and removals than Terran. Only time will tell, for this one.
Future prediction to the LotV campaign? Maybe. I hope not... :p
CONCLUSION:
For the multiplayer perspective, I can't say much. It'll just have to be waiting until it's release, which we'll no doubt see units being removed, as well as these abilities, it always has been like that with Blizzard. I'm betting it'll be Ravager and both the Terran units who'll kick the can, at best. At worst, it can be the Disruptor. That'd be a bit of a shame, given Protoss has virtually little to no anti-Light in earlier tiers.
As I said, above, there was this youngling which lost himself due to time and a succession of said 'successes'. One that was re-awakened to feel a speck, whatever small, of joy after that trailer. An illusion? Perhaps. But I'd be willing to give a final try. If not for the story, then for those assets. It ultimately falls to Blizzard, now, to not screw it up as they did with HotS, which I'll still consider, for a very long time, an example of NOT how to tell a story. My LotV at least have the decency of returning to those shoddy, but at least bearable limits which WoL was. That'd compensate grinding gleefully through WoL, again, as well as struggling to bear HotS a third time, if not for the Achievements...
I see we will have different units choose, 3 for be exact, I really liked this:
Zealot for Khalai, Centurion for Nerazim
Dragoon for Khalai, Stalker for Nerazim
what will be the next? and who is the 3rd type of unit?
One thing that you may wish to factor in is the MASSIVE changes to economy. This will be covered in the Multiplayer panel today, but to wit: You start with 12 workers, 12 workers saturate a base, and Mineral Fields only have 1k minerals. From what I've read, it will do more to alter gameplay then any of the above changes to units, and also why some unit additions/changes were made.
Skimmed your post cuz its too long xP. I wouldn't be surprised if the infestor's wild mutation buff was percentage based instead of a flat health amount.
Edit: NVM. Saw that it was a damage buff, and they said it was a flat one. I guess it depends on how long the buff lasts then. I imagine it'd be short.
When I saw that flying platform mission showcase, I was thinking about how they made that fire so realistic. Probably, animated texture. Cause usual particles based fire was there too, and looked, as usual, shitty.
I doubt that the third list of units in the War council from SC2 Lotv could be possibly the Dark Protoss? I guess we should find out after SC2 Lotv is released.
Yeah, I forgot to add that. Sorry 'bout it, but I was more concerned with unit balancing, something Blizzard didn't get straight since WoL. On economy, I can't say much but that it'll just make SC more of a clickfest than a strategy game (Thinking and clicking must have a balance, not too dragging, not too fast) - If you're not fast or if you don't have a fellow commander for the Archon Mode, you're screwed as a Bronze/Silver and in serious trouble as Gold. 'Nuff said.
Anyway, there are four factions whose units you can chose from in the campaign: Aiur (replaces Daelaam Protoss once you leave Aiur), Nerazim (DTs, basically), Tal'Darim (Dark Protoss) and Purifiers (Robot race from Cybros space station - By the way, the holographic monitors on the Cybros station tileset are showing Mothership Cores - Disruptors are Purifier units as well, so the central core ball thing indicates it's a Purifier unit, most likely).
Each unit has 3 variants out of 4. So not every unit will have a Tal'Darim, Nerazim or Purifier variant.
There are 10 variable units (Beats the amount of HotS evolutions and WoL Mercs/Research Units), of which the Zealot/Centurion and Dragoon/Stalker were revealed. I'm pretty certain the Archon and Carrier will be in that list as well. No idea what other units might show up, though.
BLIZZCON 2014 LOTV - PERSONAL OPINION
I can stare that...
At long last, the final episode hath cometh to us all. And I should really stop using 'th' to sound all poetic...
I confess - for once, my spirits haven't been this high since the very reveal of WoL, the very alpha and videos that showed me the first Marines, first Zealots, first Void Rays (Warp Rays, at the time, with Khalai skin), the Siege Tanks with muppet cannon mouths, the Mothership firing all those glowy balls and going Independence Day on the Terran bases. I was 17, back then, but then time passed. Time, awful games like C&C 4 and then HotS had desensitized me, as well as real life, better things and being a critic on everything. Because of these things, a lot changed, I've grown cold, with outbursts of anger, and I just couldn't re-kindle back with the 17 year-old teenager that jumped it, screaming and awaking my father, mother, neighbors and grandmother, all angry, at 6:30AM, back in 2007.
Officially, by 17:15, Brazil time, he woke up shouting the same as Tychus Findlay did - Hell, it's about time!
But let this be a warning to Blizzard, beforehand! A warning of a soul that was *already* let down with the poorest campaign ever conceived in all Blizzard career, poorer than Diablo III, which brought me to a point I could even write a review, exposing it's flaws, and even a Fanfic telling how the story could've been, in my view, and that I paused so that I could continue work in my campaign and the future projects. Let me down first, shame on you. Let me down twice, shame twice on you. Something like that...
WoL's story was everything but perfect, I'll admit. Besides using two of the most overworked clichés of all time, that is the Prophecy and Love Story stuff, and killing a character whom wormed his way into the hearts of everyone, like Fenix did, it also delivered some weak gameplay in form of gimmicks and predictable attack waves, as well as forgettable characters like Ariel Hanson and Donny Vermillion. Still, it was a fairly decent one, that went downhill after all the moronic decisions in HotS to infest Kerrigan again, even after Raynor went to Hell and back to save her, that they separate and return and again, rinse, repeat, as well as the ARGH Primal Zerg, an idea so stupid since THE BAT CREDIT-CARD! (Yeah, Doug, try not to faint...)
Now's the final chance. The last one. To make something worthy of the name StarCraft, that thing you, Chris Metzen, according to what you said some time ago, written and didn't like, that just happened to sell horrors back in 1998. Now, Blizzard, it's the final opportunity ever given to rid people of the horrors you made us come through, from poor gameplay and AI development to bland dialogue and characters. I don't expect that LotV can even return to the level WoL was, even less surpass it, but managing to come below HotS... I'd just give up Blizzard entirely, even after I grew up with it for 20+ years. Not just StarCraft, but also killing Lordaeron with Undead and rising Arthas as Lich King.
For a quick recap of things past, it's four years after Brood War. Friends meet together, start chasing artifacts as the Zerg start to take over the world. After picking some fights here and there, Jim Raynor meets the blondie prince, whom lo and behold, a solution to bring miss tendril-head back! It's done, but oh, no, the best friend is a traitor, BAM, he's dead. Cut to dusty planet, the Bitch Queen of the Universe recovers, but then mega-evil emperor attacks and it's all gone to hell, she thinking her boyfriend, whom she gets along with but also leaves him a lot, is dead. It's murdering rampage, as she gets her scale skin and wings back, now with glitter, and kills people, monsters and more people before she gets her payback, but not before realizing there's a douchebag villain she's gotta kill, else he will, you guessed it, take over- no, destroy the world.
BIT-PER-BIT
First, let's get it on with the mighty Hyperion/Leviathan our new buddy Artanis, whom we'll be controlling instead of Zeratul, as originally announced back in Blizzcon 2008/09. This ship, I think they took the spear thing to the letter,I don't like it. It's too thin, it's not thick enough and it doesn't represent that a serious threat or a comfort for friendlies for hiding behind the big guns. It doesn't sound like a ship you'd gleefully go to war with, this is more the Kubrick type of exploration vessel. No, spinning rings stopped being appealing to me for some time, now.
On the other hand, though, I like the interiors. Really, this IS the kind of thing I'd have imagined writing in a Fanfic, the color palette is exact, it only lacks a bit of futuristic Man of Steel Kryptonian machinery here and there. The areas are easier to read. The characters even blend in nicely and the particle system and animations are spot-on. Only a few things about a character or two that I don't like, but I'll resume them below.
Then we get right to terraining in-game, which I'm seeing is becoming more and more improving ever since Wings. The color scheme is becoming more richer and high-def, even the road splats are getting painted (manually, I know) with decals. The new Shakuran/Xel'Naga Tilesets, compared to the oldest in Wings, are ideal for Xel'Naga installation maps, too. That's becoming an advancement.
I like the new assets, moreso the reactor by the new platform, I could use that, modded a bit, for an UED reactor in some map. Though I was actually hoping a new set of platform cliffs, something different, like it was with the lower level back in HotS Char/Skygeirr platforms, or like they did with the Protoss/Xel'Naga installations. Maybe they could bring this in a later date, but I was rooting for something more fresh and not like more-of-the-same, as it is with this new platform. Others, like the Warcrafty Archon, are downright hilarious. I mean, the stone statues from HotS/WoL were just fine, we weren't that picky. No offense meant, of course.
MINE! ALL MINE!!!
Though one reason I found for definitely buying this is the BFT Turret! I won't translate the BFT, but the expletive has to summarize it, there's no other word to describe it. And it seems to act like a unit, if not, I can mod it as such. I predict boss fights, ideal ones, or striking objectives that shoot at you or your allies with that. Now THIS is something I expect to see more from LotV, not just bigger turrets, but richer structures, more varied things, aside, of course, from the Xel'Naga doodads torrent that will come with this expo. This will allow me to make more richer terrain than what I already have, and I believe, no arrogance meant, I'm reaching a peak level in my terraining skills.
THE MOTLEY CREW
As predicted, new characters, or ship crew, had to come in Legacy of the Void, apart from the torrent of all those that already have shown up in WoL, which I still expect they'll make brief appearances, here. Of course, I mean Urun, Selendis, Mohandar and the two main protagonists, but we already know what there is about them. We're here to discuss the new ones, appearance, character, predicted role and stuff.
Zeratul and Artanis, there's not much to talk about them. Many know them since Brood War, though it's now twisted between the Zeratul prophet-of-all-things and Artanis now has a more raspy voice and happens to having become the boss, a position out of place, IMO.
Some may complain on the fact Zeratul should've been the primary character and not Artanis, but somehow this makes sense, particularly with the background Blizzard's planning, according to ScLegacy. Think about it. You were a commander in Wings, a Queen in Swarm and now you'd become the unquestioned chieftain of all people, and this adds to more hurt to his downfall and gradual, as expected, recovery as he tries to pick apart the pieces together, and I sense the exploding planet on the trailer will have something to do with it. I'd have no doubt it'd be Aiur, though Korhal going ker-splat would be a nice surprise. But enough of that, let's get to the new roster additions, which are three.
KARAX - My complains on him are only two: Those servo arms and his name. I mean, we already got Karak, too much Karak stuffed in our heads, this name even sounded a tad too improvised, if you ask me. He's expected to be the Rory Swann of the Protoss Arkship, giving upgrades and teching units up for a price. I like his model, except the servo arms for two reasons. One, they look Terran, and Protoss are much above that, I like to think their design is super sleek-shelly. Two, as I recall, Protoss are psionics, and they have machines capable of doing work for them. Him being a 'phasesmith' would, I think, be left to drawing, testing and overseeing weapons, the heavy duty would be carried out by machines, whom are lore-wise sentient. So why the need of these arms? But, apart from that and I said it, I like his appearance, he recalls a tribal patriarch and would make such a nice, according model. It could even be a mere simple remove the servo arm meshes and shove him for my purposes, if only the future m3 can be ported to Max. Highly unlikely, given I can't port HotS models, too.
ROHANA - There's little to talk on her, if you ask me, she's practically fine, only missing the glowing skin from the Preservers in WoL. She's to be an Egon Stetmann of sorts, as per usual, unless she happens to replace Selendis or whoever else as adjudant. Now that'd be a nice surprise, and, if hopefully done right, a repair of what they should've done to Izsha, in first place...
VORAZUN - She's the character I get to talk more, of most things that are wrong. Yet another classic example of Blizzard lore butchering. First of all, since when did Raszagal had a daughter? How come she was never mentioned, not EVEN in Christie Golden's Firstborn saga, let alone any other source whatsoever? Then, her name, Voradun, which is CLEARLY a male-sounding like. I mean, Khastiana, Lasarra, Selendis. These three names at least have some sort of a feminine pronounce to them, but Vorazun would be more better applied to a burly Zealot than her. Her appearance, particularly the head, sounds like a Zeratul without the bump map. And then her role, judging by her background on the preview site: Frequently disagreeing with Artanis during debates in the Twilight Council? This, and her explicit aggressive posture, clearly denote she's to be a hell of a more-likely-whining troublemaker, one which will, through out the whole campaign, start screwing up as she tries to 'avenge her mommy'. I mean, shouldn't that place she's occupying, dear Blizzard, be clearly more reserved for someone else? You have a rich composition of Protoss characters, which are much more interesting. If it *has* to be female, put in Khastiana, instead, she'd be much more understandable, lore-wise, we can connect with *her* pain. If it *has* to be Nerazim, then why not Mohandar, instead, him acting like an advisor in troubling times, given his experience? But you know, Blizzard has the cliche checklist for the game to fill in, as per freaking usual...
BACK INTO THE GAME
Now we'll jump out of the campaign, we've talked enough of it and I'm still holding some *shred* of optimism that trailer recovered, and now let's get to the meat grinder that is multiplayer. First, the new general features. I'm not surprised, nor excited with the idea of co-commanders in single-player, that's entirely ripped off Red Alert 3 and it should be something like that, only CGI and voice dubbing instead of live-action, and some few controls to attack, hold an area, kill a target, and nothing more. One thing they could do to differ is having buttons ordering them to research a specific upgrade, getting a determined amount of a specific unit, ordering them to expand, planning a waypath for attacking, now THAT would be worth playing. Automated Tournaments, it's just the same we've seen in every FPS out there, particularly Titanfall.
The 'Archon Mode', fancy name for letting someone else command your base... I don't think I'd play much with it, I'm like Batman, time to time - I work better alone.
Now, then, straight to the units, the new ones and the changes to the originals. There were those I felt I liked, those I didn't like, those I felt were too complicated, and I'll list them. But this opinion on the units and why or not, I make them entirely on balance issues, seeing them (presumably) from a professional view, as well as a bit of a casual one. I try to be as a cold critic about this as I can, based entirely on the overall multiplayer views in a longer term, only time to time I slip a bit.
So, onto firstly, the rockstars of this expo, the Protoss (And also a race I play only in Melee):
WHAT I LIKED:
- The Disruptor. He seems like the best harassment unit to keep up in par with the Widow Mine, Drops, Reapers and Baneling bombing. He also returns us to the old days of the Reaver, and I get the feeling we'll see plenty of Disruptor/Prism micro. They'll help make or break a Protoss. It's the high risk, high reward thing. If you position right, and time it right, it'll devastate right. This is what I like and what made the Reaver so remembered. And also they'll be a good use of the Replicator Blizzard cut out from HotS, meaning that what they like they'll just recycle. They also seem to have bonus vs Light, meaning this could FINALLY be an answer to mass Terran MMM without having to depend solely on HT Storms and Colossi. It's all, as I said, a matter of positioning.
- The Oracle's Stasis Prison. Ever since Blizzard had the BRILLIANT (Irony mode on) idea of removing the Mass Vortex from the Mothership, practically removing the ship's only usefulness, it had been a hard time to put a halt to masses and trying to recover. In all Protoss related matches, either you're at the top, or you're dead. Expect for the 'mine' idea, which sounds so Terran, the Stasis Prison could be a turn around, like the Disruptor, it's all about being used right. And it'd be something to balance the Terrans' EMP and the Zerg Fungal Growth altogether.
- The Warp Prism's distance picking. This should increase the value of the Prisms and we could see them more as a weapon as Medivacs, now with boosters, already are, providing more micro-intensive harassment.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- Cutting Tempests as Air Counters. They were practically fine, if you ask me. This must've been done, no doubt in my mind, in favour of the Carrier, whom should be getting way much work than it should have at this game, both HotS AND WoL. They were fine in being long distance support and in countering BCs, losing to Corruptors, Mutas and Vikings. The Desintegrate sounds like an attempt at an ammend, 'sorry for bursting your bubble' thing, but, given how close the Tempest must get to use it on the targets of interest, it's not worth the effort.
- Oracle Revelation now revealing cloaked units. If the Oracle already has a spell capable of revealing cloaked units without an Observer, called Envision, mind you, then what's the point of adding this to Revelation? Unless, of course, you'd remove Envision to give room to the 'Stasis Mines', then that'd be perfectly explained.
- Only one patch to the Carrier. The Carrier, the most iconic unit, the most which people would want to use, is also the most needing work, and all we get from this Blizzcon is that it now has the Tac Fighter ability from the HotS Hyperion, to send the interceptors afar to handle the mess from a safe distance. What's the point, it practically adds nothing new to the Carrier, it only makes it artillery. The issue, Blizzard, is the trouble with it being ridiculously hard to access and being ridiculously easy to die. Many whom first tried getting to the Carrier, not on White-Ra level, fought hard lengths to get these units, only to find out the Interceptors didn't work as before and they were easily torn apart like paper, with so much lopped off AA attack speed. That's what you could easily fix, perhaps with a new upgrade, improving armor or health or even the firepower to compensate the trouble. Or reduce the costs and building period, to make it due. Even now there's more Tempests being built in matches than Carriers, the cold truth, because though they're artillery, they much more worth than Carriers.
- The Immortal shield removal. This thing is much more complicated, because there's advantages AND disadvantages to turning it from passive to active. Yes, it easily made the Immortal easier to kill with Siege Tanks, Marauders, Roaches and all other Armored, as well as it was made micro intensive, but the Immortal is all the Protoss has against these units and the meaner ones that are the Thor, Colossi and Ultralisks. And even if the shield was activated and the damage mitigated, the opponent would need only pull back and wait for the ability to shut down and then move in for the kill. And a mass of Stalkers, if you call this an 'alternative', does even less damage than a few Immortals, from personal experience. So, no, I don't think this was the best of ideas, particularly when they'll already be troubled facing the new units, particularly Hellbats and these new HERCs.
OVERALL: Not perfect, but still not terrible. I suspect the alterations to the Immortal and the Carrier patch should be the ones to be taken off in the later date. The Disruptor, in particular, could use a bit more of a work, moving them to Gateway, putting a high price on Gas and then adding some more speed. Nothing against it, but, with Stim Terrans moving quickly the moment the player sees a Disruptor, this unit, unless the player's that dumb not to run or scan, can't do much other than in single-player matches. With these alterations, I think a more viable Toss early defense against early mass bio, 7-10 minutes, would be a possibility. Still, it'd be all a matter of microing right and not getting caught. But it's still, as I said, a good worker killer to sneak in, and that'd be great for balancing the game with Terran Widow Mines.
Now the changes for Terrans:
WHAT I LIKED:
- Banshee upgrade once Fusion Core is built. I always liked the idea that to build something you didn't want to in order to gain some small repay, and this will come in the form of the Banshee, to make harassment and escapes more viable. It increases both the value of the unit and the structure which very few Terrans are making in melee, as Battlecruisers aren't finding their use. It's small, but it's win-win, for both sides. Some bizarre outburst of decent creativity, it seems...
- Battlecruisers with warp. Yes, it's seems OPed. Yes, it sounds more like the idea of a mod than an expansion. But this will increase more and more the value of such a mighty warship, now forsaken with the numbers of Vikings, Corruptors and Void Rays all around, that it's a miracle if you can bring more than four BCs to an enemy base unscathed. All it takes is exploration and hitting the button, and you got an useful late-game harassment venue. And combined with the fact it can cost more than a Yamato Cannon, this will definitely bring Capital Terran back into the game, it's already balanced. Of course, it can be balanced further by making the player research this ability, but I know I'd be asking too much...
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- The new units. What's the point of adding more to what Terran practically already has. It already has too much mobility, it already has too much firepower and more and more numbers than even Zerg can reproduce. It's not enough the Hellbat, but now there'll be HERCs to counter the Baneling explosions, practically saving Zerg, so far, from being overwhelmed by an already overpowered Terran MMM. Then, the Cyclone, which's technically a Diamondback with nothing new to offer and that would serve only to irritate players into rage quitting, as well as put more and more distance between the player and his opponent, distance that can't be recovered. The actual focus for Blizzard, as Terran already has EVERYTHING, shouldn't be adding more, but working on balancing what they already have. People wouldn't actually mind about LotV not having new units to Terrans, truth be told. They already have too much.
- Sieged Tanks can now be picked up. Again, what's the point? Not to mention it'd make the game too unbalanced, given all it's needed for the Terran, as seen in the video, is pick up again, take there, drop it and fire the shot. Repeat, rinse, repeat. All the while taking a laughter of the opponent. And people can ALREADY harass with the Siege Tank, just as they can with Widow Mines, Hellbats, the works. It's all a matter of effort, being cut off to no doubt entertain casuals or unskilled Terrans.
- Thors with self-repair. Thors are already harder to kill, even more with an army at their back, now they can repair by themselves when Terrans already can repairs with SCVs or call down MULEs for it to happen quickly. And, even if they can't attack or move, the army, especially after being skewered in fighting the other units, will need to clear something that can one-shot them. One can clearly see why the 'Immortality Protocol' ability was relegated to WoL campaign.
OVERALL: Terrans are what need the most work of all. The problem is not that, without this, they can't keep up with the other races. The actual issue, here, is that they have too much, and thus this should be the work, instead of pulling an EA-esque decision of adding more and more. But, the moment they can actually issue a new unit, even if it's an utility one, that doesn't hurt much the already strained gameplay, we'll then talk.
Finally the Zerg:
WHAT I LIKED:
- Corruptor's Caustic Spray. While I think this is a tad of an unbalanced idea, this one has potential, if it can be worked right. Perhaps take a single HP every two-three seconds the Spray is on. Not to mention it already prevents the Corruptor from it's AA role as long as this is on. A single tweaking, and this would be a nice addition to LotV, increasing a bit of the Corruptor's value, aside of being useful anti-BC, anti-Carrier and Brood Lord berth.
- Alterations to the Nydus Worm. Actually, I would've agreed that they can't be hurt while performing the Birth Animation, but they still could be damaged even underground, but this would actually be a good chance of improving the Nydus Worm. Yeah, there'd still be the warning and stuff, and the player would have time to take the army there to intercept, but this is something that could increase the value of the Nydus Worm.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- The Ravager. I am the only one whom thinks that incorporating C&C into SC2 is a bad idea? This is technically the Nod Specter from Kane's Wrath which you can literally spawn from a Roach, and a tier 2 artillery. While I won't complain that such thing could've been welcomed if worked right, the Zerg already have their share of long-distance strikers, just take a look at the Swarm Host and the Brood Lord. And the fact it's artillery strike can as well destroy Force Fields, the only thing that saves Protoss from Zerg, that's one direct blast right at balance. Well, whatever balance there's still left...
- The Lurker. Blizzard already compensated for the Lurker with the Swarm Host in HotS. I was one of the few that, while true, missed the lurker and it's ability to kill whole masses with it's underground railgun shot, could agree a bit with the Swarm Host and it's necessary aggressive use. But, now with the Lurker back, this will make a combo literally impossible to break: Swarm Hosts press in, Lurkers kill any aggressors whom try and kill the hosts. Combined with anti-air, then, this would be the cheese of the Zerg, even more than Photon Cannon rushes or Muta mass.
- The Infestor's Wild Mutation ability. That's what I call going Terran with Zerg, adding more than what you need, just because it has to be there. Kerrigan's wild mutation skill from HotS was clearly a major buff which made Zerglings nigh-invincible, and this was enough to be limited to single-player. In multi-player, this will screw up whole armies, particularly combined with the Fungal Growth. Infestors, because of Fungal Growth and Neural Parasite (AKA Tentacle Mind Control), are already useful. Simply, why the need to add this?
- Alterations to the Swarm Host. The Swarm Host natually came as a different replacement to the Brood War Lurker everyone wanted back in HotS. Some criticized, some welcomed it. Now, with the Lurker back, out of pure fan-service, the Swarm Host suffered alterations in order to become more 'aggressive', when it already needs to be used aggressively. First of all, it's too mobile, now that it can spawn Locusts without needing to Burrow. Burrowing, spawning and unburrowing to run off before the opponent's army catches up is one of the core gameplay elements of using the unit. It adds to micro, it requires developing these skills, and just taking this off so they can spawn Locusts on the move, that's just casualizing another unit. No, extending spawn durations while also increasing firepower is no remedy, at all, too, Locusts in HotS already had a ridiculous firepower. Combine this with the fact they can be upgraded to fly in Tier 3 and there, you managed to have a totally unbalanced unit.
OVERALL: The Zerg are clearly competing with Terrans on the many issues still to be solved, particularly those that jump them from UP to OP, like the Swarm Host and the inclusion of the Lurker, as well as the new Ravager. Definitely, Zerg will become more of the issue, here, and may be the more likely to suffer more alterations and removals than Terran. Only time will tell, for this one.
Future prediction to the LotV campaign? Maybe. I hope not... :p
CONCLUSION:
For the multiplayer perspective, I can't say much. It'll just have to be waiting until it's release, which we'll no doubt see units being removed, as well as these abilities, it always has been like that with Blizzard. I'm betting it'll be Ravager and both the Terran units who'll kick the can, at best. At worst, it can be the Disruptor. That'd be a bit of a shame, given Protoss has virtually little to no anti-Light in earlier tiers.
As I said, above, there was this youngling which lost himself due to time and a succession of said 'successes'. One that was re-awakened to feel a speck, whatever small, of joy after that trailer. An illusion? Perhaps. But I'd be willing to give a final try. If not for the story, then for those assets. It ultimately falls to Blizzard, now, to not screw it up as they did with HotS, which I'll still consider, for a very long time, an example of NOT how to tell a story. My LotV at least have the decency of returning to those shoddy, but at least bearable limits which WoL was. That'd compensate grinding gleefully through WoL, again, as well as struggling to bear HotS a third time, if not for the Achievements...
I see we will have different units choose, 3 for be exact, I really liked this: Zealot for Khalai, Centurion for Nerazim Dragoon for Khalai, Stalker for Nerazim what will be the next? and who is the 3rd type of unit?
It must no doubt be the robotic sub-race Artanis will travel to Zerus- I mean, Cybros, to recover. Toss must have their Primal Zerg, too... xD
One thing that you may wish to factor in is the MASSIVE changes to economy. This will be covered in the Multiplayer panel today, but to wit: You start with 12 workers, 12 workers saturate a base, and Mineral Fields only have 1k minerals. From what I've read, it will do more to alter gameplay then any of the above changes to units, and also why some unit additions/changes were made.
Skimmed your post cuz its too long xP. I wouldn't be surprised if the infestor's wild mutation buff was percentage based instead of a flat health amount.
Edit: NVM. Saw that it was a damage buff, and they said it was a flat one. I guess it depends on how long the buff lasts then. I imagine it'd be short.
When I saw that flying platform mission showcase, I was thinking about how they made that fire so realistic. Probably, animated texture. Cause usual particles based fire was there too, and looked, as usual, shitty.
I doubt that the third list of units in the War council from SC2 Lotv could be possibly the Dark Protoss? I guess we should find out after SC2 Lotv is released.
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@ArcaneDurandel: Go
Yeah, I forgot to add that. Sorry 'bout it, but I was more concerned with unit balancing, something Blizzard didn't get straight since WoL. On economy, I can't say much but that it'll just make SC more of a clickfest than a strategy game (Thinking and clicking must have a balance, not too dragging, not too fast) - If you're not fast or if you don't have a fellow commander for the Archon Mode, you're screwed as a Bronze/Silver and in serious trouble as Gold. 'Nuff said.
Disagree with a lot of things.
Anyway, there are four factions whose units you can chose from in the campaign: Aiur (replaces Daelaam Protoss once you leave Aiur), Nerazim (DTs, basically), Tal'Darim (Dark Protoss) and Purifiers (Robot race from Cybros space station - By the way, the holographic monitors on the Cybros station tileset are showing Mothership Cores - Disruptors are Purifier units as well, so the central core ball thing indicates it's a Purifier unit, most likely).
Each unit has 3 variants out of 4. So not every unit will have a Tal'Darim, Nerazim or Purifier variant.
There are 10 variable units (Beats the amount of HotS evolutions and WoL Mercs/Research Units), of which the Zealot/Centurion and Dragoon/Stalker were revealed. I'm pretty certain the Archon and Carrier will be in that list as well. No idea what other units might show up, though.