With the imminent release of Starcraft II we decided to take a look at some details of this eagerly awaited real-time strategy title.

Releasing on the 27th of July worldwide, the second instalment in the Starcraft universe has nerds and gamers the world over aflutter in a frenzy of anticipation.

Background

The original Starcraft, released way back in 1998 is still played to this day, and not just by a few hardcore fans. South Korea still holds regular tournaments which are even broadcast on national television. This may give you an idea of how popular this game is.

Continuing the epic saga of the Protoss, Terran and Zerg and with a range of improvements such as brand new units and buildings, advanced graphics and improved AI, Starcraft II is set for a spectacular release.

Story and multiplayer

As you may already know, Blizzard has decided to release Starcraft II in three separate editions, one covering each race’s campaign. This decision was met with much dismay from the gaming community at large as this means you’ll have to purchase all three games to get the complete single player experience.

Luckily all the races can be played in online multiplayer, so users will only miss out on additional campaigns if they decide to not buy all the versions.

The version releasing next week is entitled ‘Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty’, and covers the story of the Terrans (or humans) throughout the game. Picking up where Starcraft: Brood Wars left off more than a decade ago, Starcraft II will introduce new heroes as well as familiar faces to an undoubtedly stellar Blizzard campaign experience.

Online play will be handled by Blizzard’s Battle.net online game servers, which also saw a slew of improvements. LAN play will unfortunately not be supported, with players needing to be logged into Battle.net at all times when playing multiplayer.

Full map-making and scripting tools will also be included, ensuring thousands of maps will be available online in a few short weeks.

Improvements

Aside from the added units, the game features a new 3D-graphics engine with amazing effects and support for massive units and armies on-screen. Destructible elements and physics are also new to the game, with splintered units rolling down hillsides in an amazing display.

Some improvements veteran Starcraft players will no doubt love includes building queues for workers, meaning a string of buildings can be constructed without numerous commands. Smart casting has also been introduced, with players able to tab between individual units ensuring no ability is wasted. Multiple building selection or ‘MBS’ means that unit production now happens faster than ever, with multiple buildings (a Barracks for example) being able to receive simultaneous commands.

The Xel’Naga observatory, a capturable structure which reveals a large part of the map to the player who controls it is also sure to result in some chaotic battles, as our experience with the Beta indicated.

There are many more amazing features which remain to be seen in Starcraft II, so look forward to our full review on the game in the coming weeks.