# Starcraft II announced! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716 "2007-05-19T13:29:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/1 "2007-05-19T13:29:01Z")
> **[Blizzard announces StarCraft 2](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2007/05/blizzard-announces-starcraft-2/)** > > Blizzard has officially announced StarCraft 2, bringing joy to millions across … official site: > **[StarCraft II Official Game Site](https://starcraft2.blizzard.com/en-us/)** > > Wage war across the galaxy with three unique and powerful races. StarCraft II is a real-time strategy game from Blizzard Entertainment for the PC and Mac. Brian ---
**Author:** ![anamnesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@anamnesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anamnesis)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/2 "2007-05-19T13:33:29Z")
Why does someone _always_ beat me to these announcements by mere moments? Damn youuu, N9. 😉 I’m uh, woah … this looks … neat. I’m off to … soak in all the hype, and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/3 "2007-05-19T13:40:28Z")
I love the subtitle, “Hell, it’s about time.” And they’re right. I’m stoked. This might just take the #1 slot for me above Spore… though I don’t know when we’re going to get it. – IG ---
**Author:** ![anamnesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@anamnesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anamnesis)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/4 "2007-05-19T14:29:31Z")
Right. That trailer just blew my mind. I’ve been waiting for Blizzard’s ever-evolving cinematic wizardry to be applied to this neglected universe, and I am absolutely impressed with the result beyond all expectations. The engine and unit animations look better than I would’ve expected, incredibly smooth and polished, eschewing quite a bit of the blocky polygon look of WC3 and WoW. The engine is claimed to have built-in physics modelling, but I guess we won’t see that until at least tomorrow when the gameplay video is online. Reports are suggesting it’s no lie, though. Here’s a [really grainy gameplay shot](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sog2k6s7xVQ) from the event in Korea, perhaps taken from the gameplay trailer that’ll be online by tomorrow. I always wondered how the marines got into those combat suits. Now I’m wondering how the hell they get out … or don’t they? I love the incredible detail they labored over with every single detail of that suit. Even the small rocker arms that get licked by the flaming jet thrust in his shoulder-mounted nacelles as they power up. Just incredible. The quip about it being damn time is great. In other news, the rest of the world released a huge sigh of relief as the Doomsday Clock was turned back. A spokesman for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was quoted as saying “A Starcraft MMO could have ended it all. We may never know just how close we came to the complete and utter destruction of society as we know it.” _(quoted from a Slashdot posting)_😃 ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/5 "2007-05-19T14:50:42Z")
[Click here](http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=rink3) for three nice gameplay videos showing off new units and new abilities for old units. SC1 is still the most popular competitive RTS after nearly 10 years. I don’t think SC2 will live up to the hype in the multiplayer component, although I’m sure it will be very, very good. Then again, it IS Blizzard…if anyone can do it they can. Still, I really just want to see the continuation of the single player campaign. Go Kerrigan! 😉 Best video game villainess ever. My impressions: - Retains the fast, responsive, smooth style of the original (there was a fear it may be a WC3 redux) - The masses of zerglings are perfectly animated, like a tsunami of claws. - Good muta design - The stalker with the blink and the reapers with their booster looks like they could be quite promising for competitive gaming. - Good trailer music. I especially liked the “artwork” video from the official site (although it had some live stuff in there too). - Mothership? Might be fun for single player, but not exactly very SCish when it comes to multiplayer…we’ll see. - Immortal/stalker design is…meh. - Dropships have to land to deploy the units. Yuck! Hopefully it’s just for the demo. - The tanks look dumb. It’s true to the SC1 artwork but the ingame tank looked way better sieged. A longer barrel is better, eh? Ahem… ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/6 "2007-05-19T15:20:01Z")
Oh wow, that zerg rush scene from the gameplay trailer is just incredible. This is going to be awesome. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/7 "2007-05-19T15:24:35Z")
About the mothership: The announcer in that film did say pretty early on that in a real game she would have been killed already, and they were artificially sustaining her shields etc. So it doesn’t sound to me like a game breaker, though I agree it is worrying. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/8 "2007-05-19T15:29:26Z")
FYI, here’s the press release I got yesterday concerning it. > [@](#): > > _From PR Flack Generis_ > > STARCRAFT® II UNVEILED > > Blizzard Entertainment® announces highly anticipated sequel at > > 2007 Worldwide Invitational event in South Korea > > SEOUL, South Korea – May 19, 2007 – Blizzard Entertainment® today unveiled StarCraft® II, the sequel to its award-winning real-time strategy game StarCraft, at the 2007 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational event in Seoul, South Korea. The announcement took place inside the Olympic Gymnastics Arena, in front of thousands of attendees, who received a presentation that included a StarCraft II cinematic trailer and a gameplay demonstration by the development team. > > Designed to be the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game, StarCraft II will feature the return of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg races, overhauled and re-imagined with Blizzard’s signature approach to game balance. Each race will be further distinguished from the others, with several new units and new gameplay mechanics, as well as new abilities for some of the classic StarCraft units that will be making a reappearance in the game. StarCraft II will also feature a custom 3D-graphics engine with realistic physics and the ability to render several large, highly detailed units and massive armies on-screen simultaneously. > > “With StarCraft II, we’ll be able to do everything we wanted to do with the original StarCraft and more,” stated Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We recognize that expectations are high following the long-running popularity of the original game, but we plan to meet those expectations and deliver an engaging, action-packed, competitive experience that StarCraft players and strategy gamers worldwide will enjoy.” > > StarCraft II will include a unique single-player campaign, as well as fast-paced online play through an upgraded version of Blizzard’s renowned online gaming service, Battle.net®. In addition, the game will come with a powerful, full-featured map editor that will put the same tools used by Blizzard’s designers into the hands of players. > > Blizzard is developing StarCraft II for simultaneous release on the Windows® and Macintosh® PC platforms. Further information about the game, including details on the single-player, multiplayer, and map-editor features, as well as system requirements, pricing, and availability, will be announced in the months ahead. To learn more about StarCraft II, please visit the official website at [www.starcraft2.com](http://www.starcraft2.com). ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/9 "2007-05-19T15:31:08Z")
Gogo lockdown. Poor mothership… Speaking of changing things, hopefully some of these names are just placeholders. They’re about as generic as can be. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/10 "2007-05-19T16:06:57Z")
Y’know, I _thought_ I heard millions of South Koreans cheering earlier today. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/11 "2007-05-19T17:08:12Z")
Wwwwwwwwa **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaoaoaoao** aoaoaooaoaoao_yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah!_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/12 "2007-05-19T18:14:39Z")
So is anyone else wondering what the Terrans and Zerg are going to have new? The only new things we see here are those Reapers (apparently, low-power infantry which can somewhat ignore terrain) and “Nydus Worms”, which apparently are more mobile variants of the Nydus canal. But ignoring terrain and quickly deploying units to the front lines are both things we saw with the Protoss, there, as well: What are the Terrans and Zerg going to have that’s distinct? Also, it looks like the balance is maybe a little _too_ much Rock-Paper-Scissors. OK, so Reapers are more effective vs. Immortals than Siege Tanks are… But it looks like Reapers actually do _more_ damage than Siege Tanks in that situation? That’s… odd. And where are the Xel’Naga? One would expect that, in the continuation of the story line, they’d be the next logical opponent. But they’re saying that there’s still only three races. ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/13 "2007-05-19T19:21:19Z")
Sweet googly moogly. That trailer just blew my pathetic little mind. I’m just playing it over and over. I was excited just from the announcement, not even from seeing the trailer. _hyperventilates_ – IG ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/14 "2007-05-19T20:07:29Z")
The trailer’s awesome. Just one question, though… aren’t the shoulder mounted thrusters mounted a bit… awkwardly? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/15 "2007-05-20T02:46:05Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Also, it looks like the balance is maybe a little _too_ much Rock-Paper-Scissors. OK, so Reapers are more effective vs. Immortals than Siege Tanks are… But it looks like Reapers actually do _more_ damage than Siege Tanks in that situation? That’s… odd. [/quote] Yes and no that it’s odd. The shield only activates when hit by something powerful, so the little potshots can get through without having its damage reduced. But it’s pretty similar to BW in certain unit match ups (e.g. explosive damage does full vs. large size, half vs. small size, so a tank does more damage to a goon than a zealot or a marine). But yeah, it seems like immortals would own a tank line since it could just absorb the first volley while the rest of the Toss army charges in. But we don’t know what other units the Terran may have to balance the field… > [@](#): > > And where are the Xel’Naga? One would expect that, in the continuation of the story line, they’d be the next logical opponent. But they’re saying that there’s still only three races. The Xel’Naga isn’t quite next logical race, at least by itself. There was certainly some speculation about a fourth race, but it would’ve been the hybrids shown in BW (or a combo of both) since the Xel’Naga seem to prefer to stay behind the curtain and there are probably very few of them left alive after their worldships were massacred when the Zerg learned how to use space flight. But the three race thing is VERY good news. Balancing four races is a nightmare. I’m sure the hybrids will be in the single player campaign though (see: artwork for the tube). ---
**Author:** ![Carnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carnick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnick)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/16 "2007-05-20T03:08:39Z")
I just hope it’s not too spell heavy. I want to select a large number of units with my mouse and make them all go march in formation with a single click, not memorize 50 hotkeys. WC3 had too much emphasis on twitch reflexes, so I hope Blizzard is able to tune it back a bit for SC2. Less micro, more macro. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/17 "2007-05-20T03:12:55Z")
Meh, same old 4x stuff though, only with better graphics? Is kinda like buying a new chess set made of jade or something to replace your plastic set no? ---
**Author:** ![Montgomery0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Montgomery0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montgomery0)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/18 "2007-05-20T03:45:50Z")
No need to get excited so soon, its from Blizzard so it’ll probably be at least 3 more years away. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starcraft-ii-announced/404716/19 "2007-05-21T00:23:33Z")
Maybe there’s no need to get excited, but I sure am. Woohoo! Daniel