Its about time!

Tuck away the kids, kiss the wife good night, close the blinds and kick the cat out, because Starcraft II is hastily approaching store shelves and you’ll want to have your peace and quiet for a couple of weeks (months?), as the game is already on its way to becoming a must-have for any serious gamer (not to mention fans of the original Starcraft and Broodwar).

When will it be out?

Details are still unclear as to when the Starcraft II release date is set, since Blizzard, following their self imposed tradition of slow progress, recently let us know that the game “will hit the stores when it’s done”. Thanks Blizz, that’s a lot of information to use! All we’re left to do is assume and speculate on top of the short clusters of information about the game that can be found throughout the gameplay videos, press releases and community buzz.

Here's what we know So Far

The old races from the original game will also be present in Starcraft II and they’re coming back in full force, with fresh new units and a few of the old ones modified and adapted to the new age of war.

Join the Discussion

Starcraft II fansites and community forums are engaged in ardent discussions about a fourth race, the Xel Naga. Despite the fact that there’s room for a surprise from Blizzard, our past experience with the devs of Starcraft would have us think otherwise. Blizzard usually doesn’t change the winning team on their next match and since the original Starcraft produced such great chemistry between the Terrans, Protoss and Zerg races, it’s doubtful that another party could join in on the fun in the sequel.

How the plot unravels

The story follows up on where Broodwar left off. If you can trackback for around 7-8 years, or whenever you last finished Broodwar, you’ll recall that the game ended with a cliffhanger. The Zerg queen Kerrigan managed to defeat the uneasy alliance formed against her and finally established a foothold for her slimy companions in the galaxy. In Starcraft II, the story is set 4 years after Kerrigan’s success and it’s almost certain that we’ll see some old faces in the game such as Arcturus Mengsk, Zeratul, Jimmy Raynor and of course, Kerrigan. It’s also safe to say that at least one of these characters will die a dramatic death and two of them will either flirt or fall in love, for what is a Blizzard game without some love and sobbing? Personally, I’m hoping Kerrigan dies (come on, she had her fun!) and that Zeratul and Mengsk get together in a short romantic fling.

Verdict

Starcraft II’s 3D engine is almost complete from what we can see in the gameplay videos posted by Blizzard, so they’re probably just working on creating the content, chiseling details and balancing out the three races. Some estimate that it won’t be until the fall of 2008 that we can crush some zergling scum again, but let’s pray for an act of mercy from Blizzard and hope to play the game during the summer. The fans have spoken!