When the fliers are down, the Vikings will sprout legs and turn into heavy armoured walkers.Īnd anyway, you might not have access to the optimal unit mix at the time. Maybe a group of Vikings to take out any fliers, supporting Marauders. You'll want a mixed force of vehicles and infantry, tailored to the situation. You can't just select ten siege tanks and send them toward a Zerg base – they might outrange the Spine Crawler defences (horrific fleshy spikes), but they'll get chewed up by fliers, such as Mutalisks, and any zerglings that can reach close range. StarCraft II delivers the most entertaining options, and the most entertaining solutions. The fun in singleplayer RTS is in figuring out the right combination of soldiers to send forward, and how best to neuter the opposition.
None of these objectives can be completed by simply selecting everyone and sending them forward, nor would that solution be fun. All the while, the mothership is vapourising infected colonists. Or there's a last-ditch defence of a planet marked for extermination, where a Protoss mothership can only be shot down once you've defeated three powerful bases. When you can finally afford the bribe, their unstoppable regiments are turned over to your control. And then there was the race for resources where I was fighting over mineral patches and scrap metal to buy off a vast mercenary army. I've enjoyed nearly every mission, including a raid on a prison planet that played out like a beginner's version of Defence of the Ancients: you control a single overpowered hero while waves of basic marines throw themselves at the defences. The zombie mission might be a standout, but it's not alone. You can see the effort and thought that has gone into every little model, every tiny animation. And when the sun bursts through, the poor zombie souls flail and wave as they roast alive. It's the perfect time to lead an army.Īs the sun sets and rises every five minutes, there's a gorgeous transition, each little soldier casting a long purple shadow. Now, the human dictators are being dicks, the Protoss are back on the scene, and the Zerg are advancing. In the original StarCraft, Raynor and the Protoss formed a loose alliance against the Zerg.
And there are his old sparring partners and occasional allies the Protoss: mystical space-elves. He has faced multiple threats to the galaxy, from human dictators and rebellious traitors, to the repellent Zerg – squishy cartoon bugs that can infest a planet and tear it apart. You play Jim Raynor, veteran space marshall, part-time cowboy. Although if you're disconnected during a mission, you're not booted out – you just lose the ability to earn achievements in the campaign. And yes, frustratingly, it continues the modern trend of requiring you to be online to play, even in singleplayer. If friends are playing, you can hook up with them via Facebook.
Office workers will discover that their savegames travel from home to their work PC and back again thanks to cloud saving. It has a slick and gorgeous front-end, beautifully textured backdrops, 7.1 surround sound and superbly integrated achievements, leagues and challenges.