StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm - Windows

This is a strange situation. I feel like I love the game and hate it at the same time. Lets start with Single Player. The main campaign was executed poorly. I will not reference any specific spoilers but Imagine all the work you did in the first game to reach your end goal. Now Undo that all in the first hour. It isn't a bad story but could have been much much better. Also very little substance. The game is at least 15 -25 hours long depending on difficulty, but there isn't much in the way to the StarCraft story as it is more building up the lore. Lots of that. Some Characters are there just to talk to but don't do anything until the end. Some do stuff in the beginning but are just tagged along you until the end where they are just standing their in your command area. Minor sure but Blizzard could have done more with them. Now it may be that they are is more to the story and everything will make sense when the third part is released and I will realize how wrong I was. But I don't expect this entire 2nd Trilogy to even match the Original StartCraft game released in 1998. On to the Multiplayer.....Amazing. I love how they re purposed some units and added new ones. I felt ripped off when they added some StarCraft 1 units back in. But there are more everything in multiplayer. Bottom Line, get this game if your into playing online against others. If your primary reason is to play Single Player games for stories, wait for a price drop but don't wait too long. ALSO: Need to be online to play this game. Bummer. My Brother is currently being educated in abroad problems outside the US where internet access is very limited. He can't play this game at all.

This title can be played standalone [without purchasing Wings of Liberty], and it's good they did it this way. It's been called an "expansion", but it's really a game on it's own. Those who haven't followed the series can jump right in. It's smart to do that, because if they are going to wait 3 years for each release, almost everyone has a new or significantly upgraded computer at that point. As Blizzard has always done, SC2 runs equally well on WINDOWS or MAC. I was a late purchaser of this title, Heart of the Swarm, but am enjoying the reduced price as it was released March 12, 2013. Being a Starcraft fan since 1998, I have loved the game and all it's releases since it's early groundbreaking successes. When the new generation came out (Starcraft 2), it was a special time when the first in the Trilogy, Wings of Liberty (Terran campaign) came out July 27, 2010, then this title in March 12, 2013, then the long awaited Protoss campaign recently released November 10, 2015 - which I look forward to playing. As always, there are new units, new twists, new objectives/goals - not just in the campaigns, but on the Battle.net multiplayer modes. That said, the core of the game has remained solid since the beginning. What I was very impressed with in Heart of the Swarm, was the rich storyline, graphics/style overhaul, and the voice/acting talents are some of the best in the gaming industry. Blizzard has done well at weaving engaging storylines with strategic gameplay on the highest levels possible!

After the disappointing Diablo 3, fans began to question whether Blizzard has lost their touch. I too questioned it. I wanted to get the Collector's Edition, but my doubt in this made me just get the regular edition. This time, I made the mistake. They still got it. Blizzard answers back with an expansion pack worthy of its hefty price tag ($40 instead of the usual $30 price tag for expansion packs). We get an amazing storyline focused on Sarah Kerrigan, one of the biggest names in the Blizzard character universe. We get to experiment with unit specific upgrades, and also upgrade Kerrigan with different abilities. The campaign itself is rather easy even on Brutal difficulty, perhaps that goes to show how overpowered Zerg is, or maybe its Kerrigan, or maybe its both. I haven't really played much of the multiplayer mainly because I'm not that great at it and don't want to waste time getting my butt whupped game after game, so I wouldn't also be a reliable source on the discussion of whether the new units are worth it, or if they balance or unbalance the gameplay, but I feel the singleplayer campaign alone made it worth it. I am looking forward to the concluding expansion pack Legacy of the Void. Can't wait!

The main story is pretty fun so far. My big gripe is that they seem to have taken away a lot of options in matchmaking. I use to set up matches against the AI and mess around with the difficulty and choose a map. Now they have taken all those options away. I get to choose my race and how many AI teammates I want. And then the game determines what difficulty level I am playing at after playing a few matches. How the heck am I supposed to develop a better strategy when I'm fighting against easy opponents? How am I supposed to get a feel for the different maps when I don't even have a choice in the matter. Then there is the fact that you must be connected to the internet, and on day one I had to wait while the game downloaded some files and updated. I just want to play the game. If your a fan of the series there really is no choice. You have to pick up the game and find out what happens in the story. If your not a fan of the series already I wouldn't bother. Blizzard is trying to fix things that aren't broken.

I am no RTS aficionado, but Starcraft has always been a staple of the genre, and this is carried forward in Starcraft 2 in Wings of Liberty, as well as Heart of the Swarm. I enjoyed the story of Wings of Liberty - but with the talent Blizzard has for stories and narrative, I expected much more from Heart of the Swarm. I couldn't finish the campaign - the story is that bad. But the gameplay is solid. The new units are good, and add some needed spice to the recipe of the gameplay. I think it's a solid game, but it's also an expansion pack, so you need Wings of Liberty to be able to play the content in Heart of the Swarm, which is rather debilitating on the ol' wallet. But otherwise, it's still far from a bad game, and should at least be on your radar if you're looking to pick up a relatively new RTS.

Starcraft 2 part 2 is centered around the Zerg campaign. It is exactly like you would expect it to be. You progress through the story and get new units as you make your way through mission after mission. Some of the missions involve working with a definitive number of units instead of creating your own army from scratch. These missions are not the funnest, but they are few and far between. The story itself picks up right where part 1 left off and is satisfying enough. The dialogue and voice acting are both surprisingly satisfying. However, all of that said, this game doesn't really do anything to change the landscape of RTS's. That's not really a problem, per se, just a statement.

Fans of Starcraft will carry on their merry way with this most recent release. Granted it took me a while to get to it, and the next expansion is just around the corner, but well worth the money. Great content, challenging missions, solid plot development,, and, in general, an engaging and enjoyable game. I will definitely go back and play the campaign again, and maybe take a stab at Brutal difficulty. I managed to knock out WoL on Brutal and nearly wet mad in the process. I will try, but HoS might be my limit. Good luck everyone and enjoy!

StarCraft Heart of the Swarm is another fantastic game from Blizzard Entertainment - you can see that Blizzard have really had the chance to work on the gameplay and mission structures after the release of Wings of Liberty. The missions are varied and the storyline moves along nicely - exploring the history of the Zerg alongside Kerrigan's quest for revenge. Blizzard's multiplayer service Battle.net provides a compelling online mulitplayer experience, with great matchmaking system and competitive ladder ranking systems that are packed with players of all experience levels. All-in-all Heart of the Swarm is a worthy sequel and will enthrall you, leaving you eagerly waiting for the third installment!