Post by Dja Majista on Dec 28, 2006 14:49:21 GMT -5
A title still worthy of recognition since its release several years ago, Starcraft is easily the king of RTS (real time strategy). The game was Blizzard's first to feature battlenet, closely followed by Warcraft II's expansion set, Beyond the Dark Portal. Starcraft was an improvement on warcraft II's model (an already excellent game) on several dimensions.
Gameplay:
Starcraft features three races: terran (human), zerg, and protoss. Unlike warcraft's identical two races, Starcraft's big three share very few similarities. Looking at it from a very broad perspective, most would agree that protoss are characterized by elite, but expensive warriors; zerg get their strength in numbers; and the terran advantage comes from their variety of functions in battle. With these three races comes a massive array of possible strategies. And due to their differences, a match can turn out an infinite number of ways. For example, the game could be silent for the first half hour and then explode with large-scale, top-tech air battles. Or the two players may rush eachother at the exact same time, changing the terms of victory to "kill the opponants buildings before he kills yours." So starcraft's gameplay rests largely in the massive variety of possibilities, as well as the absolute necessity of good tactical decisions on the players behalf.
Many RTS's fail to require a player to make good tactical decesions on how to defend/attack. This simply means, all that matters in a battle is how much firepower the opponants have. This is not true for starcraft. From a defender's standpoint, good building placement must be utilized. Instead of exposing a photon cannon (protoss defensive structure), it would be more wise to surround it by buildings so that the enemy has a harder time attacking it. Also when making decisions about base defense, the player must predict the enemies path. If the only way in is through a canyon, defend the canyon until they get air units; then spread out. Some of the most powerful tactics in the game involve terrain use. Attacks are often much more successful when staged on higher ground as lower units have a harder time hitting and seeing them. Terrain can also be used to make a choke point. Here is an example of how good terrain use can completely change the tide of battle. A protoss force of around ten zealots, four photon cannons, and a shield battery would usually be crushed by a vastly superior force of 50 or 60 zealots. However, by forcing the zealots through a small pass and using strategic building placement the inferior force wins (this actually happened). So in Starcraft, the tides of battle can be altered dramatically with good tactics.
Score: 10/10
Balance:
Blizzard took a big risk when they chose to make their three races so different. Balance is very difficult to achieve under these circumstances. Nonetheless, Blizzard produced an impressive display when the races matched up just right. As explained in the previous section, the three races are extremely different, which contributes in creating a variety of possible tactics. While it is true that one race is definitely better suited in certain things than its counterparts, no single race has an overall advantage in the big picture. Granted, as a general rule perfect balance is almost impossible to achieve without making the races/characters identical, and by no means does starcraft measure up to that. But overall, there are very few things in this game that are unbalanced, all of them minor. And on top of that, the Blizzard staff has been constantly releasing patches through battlenet to further improve balance.
Score: 9/10
Control
Starcraft features a brilliant control interface. It involves a wide strip at the bottom of the screen showing what units are selected (up to twelve). It has a small diagram for each displaying how much damage they have based on how much red or yellow they have on them. And when you select just one unit, you can look at their stats ranging from HP to kill count. On the right hand side of the strip is a box giving you a display of commands, and on the left is a minimap, which you can click on to go anywhere on the map. On the top left is your resource display consisting of minerals, vespane gas, and supply. While a lot of control comes from the mouse interacting with the interface, hot keys can be used in conjunction and hasten the players ability to manage tremendously. Hot keys can be used to make units, use a command like "attack," assign units or buildings to a number for future use, and even assign an area of the map to a number so you don't have to click on the minimap. Starcraft has control options for beginners who may use exclusively the mouse and advanced players who rely primarily on hot keys cruising from one task to the next.
Score: 10/10
Effect (Graphics/Sound):
Graphics:
For its time, Starcraft had some excellent graphics, but by today's standards that would not be as true. Starcraft boasts no three dimensional effects nor demanding video card. Instead the graphics have more of an artistic quality rather than power. This simply means the interface, units, portraits, and landscape are all well drawn, but the picture quality does not extend passed its time.
Subscore: 7/10
Sound:
The sound quality in starcraft, though it is a fairly old game, is nothing to sneeze at. No problems appear evident when listening to the voices, nor the music. The voices are very well done. Clicking on a unit prompts a voice message from them accompanied by a talking portait. Also, Blizzard has kept the familiar concept of "annoyances" from warcraft. Clicking on a unit enough will cause them to get annoyed with you, and otherwise they just start saying funny things. Sound effects, like explosions and gun fire are good quality, and are not over done. The music is also very good. It has excellent quality, is different for each race, and blends very well without being disruptive from gameplay. Not to mention, Starcraft features a secret track called "radio free zerg" which is initiated when entering those words as a cheat code.
Subscore: 9/10
In this case general effect is an average of the two above scores. Sound blends very well. Graphics are not powerful but they are very well detailed. The overall effect does not add a whole lot to the game, but certainly does not take away.
Score: 8/10
Story:
Starcraft involves three campaigns, one for each race. Six altogether if you include Brood War (the expansion set). The story is loaded and the player literally has the opportunity to see things from every perspective. It is very immersive and a huge background story for each race can be found in the manual. Obviously the story is tremendously detailed, so I will keep it brief. The first campaign in original starcraft was, naturally, terran, who were just minding their own business when extraterrestrial war visits them from the zerg. Now, the zerg just want to take over all the planets so the overmind can expand his knowledge and power. And the protoss are trying to chase their monstrous counterparts to keep them from taking over the universe. Not too cliched at all especially when you get deeper into the story. Overall Blizzard created a brilliant, detailed storyline that is difficult to contend with.
Score: 10/10
Fun Factor
Starcraft features an impressive "campaign editor." Aside from triggers, it is very easy to use. Anyone can make a normal level, completely customizing the landscape. Advanced users have the opportunity to make their own custom campaigns, using almost all the features provided to the Blizzard staff when they built the campaign. Levels can be distributed through battlenet and even submitted to blizzard as "games of the week/month" which can also be downloaded. The campaign editor adds to all of the following categories. It improves singleplayer capabilities, adds a whole new dimension to the multiplayer realm, and is a great feature that improves overall replayability.
Singleplayer:
Starcraft's singleplayer mode features custom matches with computers and a campaign mode. There is a campaign for each race (as stated above) and the missions vary greatly. It could be an installation level (no buildings), a small scale battle between two bases, or a large scale battle involving many bases and expansions. So campaign can be very fun just by shear length and variety. You can also do custom matches which are also fun but it can get boring fighting computers all the time.
Subscore: 8.5/10
Multiplayer:
Battlenet: the best thing sense toilet paper in my humble opinion. For one thing, it's free. There's a chat room that allows you to interact with anyone on Blizzard's battlenet (not just starcraft). Players can opt to play custom matches or even ladder matches, and get ranked with other players. It's an excellent place to download maps as well. But enough about battlenet itself. How about gameplay? Well, think a custom match just with humans instead of computers and 12 possible game types, ranging from one-on-one to capture the flag. You can team up with humans and stomp the comps, or you can have a massive 8 player free for all. The possibilities are unlimitted. Players can interact and formulate strategies with the messaging feature, and can use a minimap ping to indicate to team mates a location on the map. Unlimitted possibilities, unlimitted combinations.
Subscore: 10/10
Replay value:
This question is what makes it or breaks it for a lot of games: "Will I play it after I beat it?" The answer: Yes, as long as you enjoy the multiplayer, or like the campaign editor. Otherwise, you're stuck with singleplayer customs. After all the campaign unfortunately does not feature any difficulty settings. However, multiplayer will most likely be the hook. If not that, you may find an obsession with the powerful campaign editor. Personally, I still own this game and would not play it if it weren't for the multiplayer funtion. Obviously, that's the case for many as there are still tons of people playing on starcraft battlenet despite Blizzard's release of two other supurb games Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne...
Subscore:10/10
Score:10/10
If you have enjoyed any RTS's in the past, rest assured, you will definitely enjoy this one. Starcraft easily surpasses other RTS titles in just about every aspect. It is truly a phenomenal game, and is easily one of the best games ever created, which is why I give this game a final score of:
10/10
Gameplay:
Starcraft features three races: terran (human), zerg, and protoss. Unlike warcraft's identical two races, Starcraft's big three share very few similarities. Looking at it from a very broad perspective, most would agree that protoss are characterized by elite, but expensive warriors; zerg get their strength in numbers; and the terran advantage comes from their variety of functions in battle. With these three races comes a massive array of possible strategies. And due to their differences, a match can turn out an infinite number of ways. For example, the game could be silent for the first half hour and then explode with large-scale, top-tech air battles. Or the two players may rush eachother at the exact same time, changing the terms of victory to "kill the opponants buildings before he kills yours." So starcraft's gameplay rests largely in the massive variety of possibilities, as well as the absolute necessity of good tactical decisions on the players behalf.
Many RTS's fail to require a player to make good tactical decesions on how to defend/attack. This simply means, all that matters in a battle is how much firepower the opponants have. This is not true for starcraft. From a defender's standpoint, good building placement must be utilized. Instead of exposing a photon cannon (protoss defensive structure), it would be more wise to surround it by buildings so that the enemy has a harder time attacking it. Also when making decisions about base defense, the player must predict the enemies path. If the only way in is through a canyon, defend the canyon until they get air units; then spread out. Some of the most powerful tactics in the game involve terrain use. Attacks are often much more successful when staged on higher ground as lower units have a harder time hitting and seeing them. Terrain can also be used to make a choke point. Here is an example of how good terrain use can completely change the tide of battle. A protoss force of around ten zealots, four photon cannons, and a shield battery would usually be crushed by a vastly superior force of 50 or 60 zealots. However, by forcing the zealots through a small pass and using strategic building placement the inferior force wins (this actually happened). So in Starcraft, the tides of battle can be altered dramatically with good tactics.
Score: 10/10
Balance:
Blizzard took a big risk when they chose to make their three races so different. Balance is very difficult to achieve under these circumstances. Nonetheless, Blizzard produced an impressive display when the races matched up just right. As explained in the previous section, the three races are extremely different, which contributes in creating a variety of possible tactics. While it is true that one race is definitely better suited in certain things than its counterparts, no single race has an overall advantage in the big picture. Granted, as a general rule perfect balance is almost impossible to achieve without making the races/characters identical, and by no means does starcraft measure up to that. But overall, there are very few things in this game that are unbalanced, all of them minor. And on top of that, the Blizzard staff has been constantly releasing patches through battlenet to further improve balance.
Score: 9/10
Control
Starcraft features a brilliant control interface. It involves a wide strip at the bottom of the screen showing what units are selected (up to twelve). It has a small diagram for each displaying how much damage they have based on how much red or yellow they have on them. And when you select just one unit, you can look at their stats ranging from HP to kill count. On the right hand side of the strip is a box giving you a display of commands, and on the left is a minimap, which you can click on to go anywhere on the map. On the top left is your resource display consisting of minerals, vespane gas, and supply. While a lot of control comes from the mouse interacting with the interface, hot keys can be used in conjunction and hasten the players ability to manage tremendously. Hot keys can be used to make units, use a command like "attack," assign units or buildings to a number for future use, and even assign an area of the map to a number so you don't have to click on the minimap. Starcraft has control options for beginners who may use exclusively the mouse and advanced players who rely primarily on hot keys cruising from one task to the next.
Score: 10/10
Effect (Graphics/Sound):
Graphics:
For its time, Starcraft had some excellent graphics, but by today's standards that would not be as true. Starcraft boasts no three dimensional effects nor demanding video card. Instead the graphics have more of an artistic quality rather than power. This simply means the interface, units, portraits, and landscape are all well drawn, but the picture quality does not extend passed its time.
Subscore: 7/10
Sound:
The sound quality in starcraft, though it is a fairly old game, is nothing to sneeze at. No problems appear evident when listening to the voices, nor the music. The voices are very well done. Clicking on a unit prompts a voice message from them accompanied by a talking portait. Also, Blizzard has kept the familiar concept of "annoyances" from warcraft. Clicking on a unit enough will cause them to get annoyed with you, and otherwise they just start saying funny things. Sound effects, like explosions and gun fire are good quality, and are not over done. The music is also very good. It has excellent quality, is different for each race, and blends very well without being disruptive from gameplay. Not to mention, Starcraft features a secret track called "radio free zerg" which is initiated when entering those words as a cheat code.
Subscore: 9/10
In this case general effect is an average of the two above scores. Sound blends very well. Graphics are not powerful but they are very well detailed. The overall effect does not add a whole lot to the game, but certainly does not take away.
Score: 8/10
Story:
Starcraft involves three campaigns, one for each race. Six altogether if you include Brood War (the expansion set). The story is loaded and the player literally has the opportunity to see things from every perspective. It is very immersive and a huge background story for each race can be found in the manual. Obviously the story is tremendously detailed, so I will keep it brief. The first campaign in original starcraft was, naturally, terran, who were just minding their own business when extraterrestrial war visits them from the zerg. Now, the zerg just want to take over all the planets so the overmind can expand his knowledge and power. And the protoss are trying to chase their monstrous counterparts to keep them from taking over the universe. Not too cliched at all especially when you get deeper into the story. Overall Blizzard created a brilliant, detailed storyline that is difficult to contend with.
Score: 10/10
Fun Factor
Starcraft features an impressive "campaign editor." Aside from triggers, it is very easy to use. Anyone can make a normal level, completely customizing the landscape. Advanced users have the opportunity to make their own custom campaigns, using almost all the features provided to the Blizzard staff when they built the campaign. Levels can be distributed through battlenet and even submitted to blizzard as "games of the week/month" which can also be downloaded. The campaign editor adds to all of the following categories. It improves singleplayer capabilities, adds a whole new dimension to the multiplayer realm, and is a great feature that improves overall replayability.
Singleplayer:
Starcraft's singleplayer mode features custom matches with computers and a campaign mode. There is a campaign for each race (as stated above) and the missions vary greatly. It could be an installation level (no buildings), a small scale battle between two bases, or a large scale battle involving many bases and expansions. So campaign can be very fun just by shear length and variety. You can also do custom matches which are also fun but it can get boring fighting computers all the time.
Subscore: 8.5/10
Multiplayer:
Battlenet: the best thing sense toilet paper in my humble opinion. For one thing, it's free. There's a chat room that allows you to interact with anyone on Blizzard's battlenet (not just starcraft). Players can opt to play custom matches or even ladder matches, and get ranked with other players. It's an excellent place to download maps as well. But enough about battlenet itself. How about gameplay? Well, think a custom match just with humans instead of computers and 12 possible game types, ranging from one-on-one to capture the flag. You can team up with humans and stomp the comps, or you can have a massive 8 player free for all. The possibilities are unlimitted. Players can interact and formulate strategies with the messaging feature, and can use a minimap ping to indicate to team mates a location on the map. Unlimitted possibilities, unlimitted combinations.
Subscore: 10/10
Replay value:
This question is what makes it or breaks it for a lot of games: "Will I play it after I beat it?" The answer: Yes, as long as you enjoy the multiplayer, or like the campaign editor. Otherwise, you're stuck with singleplayer customs. After all the campaign unfortunately does not feature any difficulty settings. However, multiplayer will most likely be the hook. If not that, you may find an obsession with the powerful campaign editor. Personally, I still own this game and would not play it if it weren't for the multiplayer funtion. Obviously, that's the case for many as there are still tons of people playing on starcraft battlenet despite Blizzard's release of two other supurb games Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne...
Subscore:10/10
Score:10/10
If you have enjoyed any RTS's in the past, rest assured, you will definitely enjoy this one. Starcraft easily surpasses other RTS titles in just about every aspect. It is truly a phenomenal game, and is easily one of the best games ever created, which is why I give this game a final score of:
10/10
pffft
