StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm

[JTsyo]

Argh! How do you do this to me, Blizzard! After D3 I should expect that I would be immune to your wiles, and yet 15 years of absolutely loving your games has me thinking that maybe I should've pre-ordered this when it was $30.

Though I'll probably find the strength to resist this siren on account that I'm pretty sure they'll never deliver the game which I feel I should be entitled to expect from a $140 purchase (extrapolating to the third expansion based on the price of HoTS -- 60+40+40 $).
Which would be ALL non-hero units from the StarCraft universe in addition to new units from the sequel+expansions available for use in multiplayer by the time the trilogy is complete.

Because, good grief, WoL broke sales records, the complete sequel w/ expansions is going to cost $140 and you should humor old-school SC fans by including every single old-school unit from the first one in addition to the newbies by the time this all said and done with.

You say: but the hellion combines the vulture's speed with the firebat's flamethrower. And now the Hellbat builds on that to create a new walking, flamethrowing fiend.
I say: for $140 I should expect that all of them would be available. Give me the most viable builds ever seen in an RTS, damn it! I played that first game of yours for ten years, the least you could do is include all of the familiar faces from the first game alongside the new ones.

The SC1 units are in the game. Just not in ranked multiplayer. You can create a map with SC1 units enabled. The single player did have firebats and medics.

 

[Anubis]

oooh DOES HOTS utilize more than 2 CORES?!!!!

Can someone check this for me? (running game and checking cpu utilization)

but even if it does, people seem to be getting worse performance than with WoL.

it seemed to be hitting 4/8 on my I7920 but def hit 1/2 more than the others

ill check when i get home today and pay attention if no one else has an answer for you

It runs really smooth at 2560x1440 with an I7 920 @ 4GHZ & a 7950 - Ultra Settings

 

[Red Storm]

Waiting for it to go on sale before I bite.

 

[frozentundra123456]

it seemed to be hitting 4/8 on my I7920 but def hit 1/2 more than the others

ill check when i get home today and pay attention if no one else has an answer for you

It runs really smooth at 2560x1440 with an I7 920 @ 4GHZ & a 7950 - Ultra Settings

I have an i5 2320 and HD7770. At 1080 ultra, what the game defaulted to, my cpu use was very low, but I was getting only 30 FPS. Kind of surprising since I though it was heavily cpu limited, but maybe that is only multiplayer.

At those settings, one core showed about 40% usage and the other 3 showed about 20 percent or so.

I tried high settings instead of ultra, and the FPS increased to about 60. I assume cpu utilization was higher, but I did not actually check it. So to me the game is surprisingly GPU bound, but granted my card is not the best for 1080p.

 

[Barfo]

When will this be $15?

 

[Dumac]

I have an i5 2320 and HD7770. At 1080 ultra, what the game defaulted to, my cpu use was very low, but I was getting only 30 FPS. Kind of surprising since I though it was heavily cpu limited, but maybe that is only multiplayer.

At those settings, one core showed about 40% usage and the other 3 showed about 20 percent or so.

I tried high settings instead of ultra, and the FPS increased to about 60. I assume cpu utilization was higher, but I did not actually check it. So to me the game is surprisingly GPU bound, but granted my card is not the best for 1080p.

I have a 670GTX (and an i5 3570k) and noticed some slowdown as well. I think usually out of combat and in the campaign-specific areas.

 

[Farmer]

All I can say is:

They really screwed up the lore established in SC1 with the "primal" shit.

And... also made WoL story pretty pointless.

IDK, I think everything Blizzard has been so WoW-ified, everything story-related feels like a kid's game. Yeah, typical complaint about Blizzard, but really, the presentation of the SC1 story was way more mature.

 

[Anubis]

def tags 4 cores but hot hard for me

fps sits between 80-100 most times

 

[Zeze]

All I can say is:

They really screwed up the lore established in SC1 with the "primal" shit.

And... also made WoL story pretty pointless.

IDK, I think everything Blizzard has been so WoW-ified, everything story-related feels like a kid's game. Yeah, typical complaint about Blizzard, but really, the presentation of the SC1 story was way more mature.

You said it perfectly. SC1's story and dialogue was mature.

SC2 is just a dumb-down joke to appeal to the 13 yos for mass appeal and success.

Being a huge SC lore fan, WoL's storyline still pisses me off today.

I haven't played HotS yet, but I watched some walkthrough videos. That hokey romance between Raynor and Kerrigan made me keep cringing.

 

[Zeze]

When will this be $15?

Triple-A titles know their market and fall in price rather quick after the launch wave.

WoL was released in July and was $20 by early winter.

I suspect HotS will be $15 by summer.

 

[MustangSVT]

so the general result seems to be that it DOES use 4 cores (or more) but the performance is worse than in WoL?

 

[Zeze]

so the general result seems to be that it DOES use 4 cores (or more) but the performance is worse than in WoL?

System requirement went up from WoL as confirmed by Blizzard.

And I don't blame them, if you watch their in-game cinematics (drawn live), it looks quite beautiful. WoL's in-game cinematics were always bit awkward.

 

[blackened23]

Waiting for it to go on sale before I bite.

Blizzard games don't typically go on sale like that until well after the shelf life - which for blizzard games is a long time. Expect it to stay at the same 40$ price for many months.

In other words, if you want it get it now. There won't ever be steam sale type prices on it....if you're expecting to pick it up for 10 bucks any time soon, you won't.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

I'm enjoying it. The dialogue, is pretty bad though.

 

[smackababy]

Missed my UPS guy today. =( Have to wait until tomorrow now.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

You said it perfectly. SC1's story and dialogue was mature.

SC2 is just a dumb-down joke to appeal to the 13 yos for mass appeal and success.

Being a huge SC lore fan, WoL's storyline still pisses me off today.

I haven't played HotS yet, but I watched some walkthrough videos. That hokey romance between Raynor and Kerrigan made me keep cringing.

Starcraft's back story and detail was pretty awesome. I still read the manual with the back stories from SC1 every once in a while. It is super cool.

I still found WoL to be a pretty cool story, and what I have played of HotS to be pretty good.

 

[exdeath]

Blizzard doesn't exist anymore. Ever since Activision took over and ruined WoW I won't touch a "Blizzard" product again. SC:Broodwar and D2:LoD were the last for me.

 

[MustangSVT]

Blizzard doesn't exist anymore. Ever since Activision took over and ruined WoW I won't touch a "Blizzard" product again. SC:Broodwar and D2:LoD were the last for me.

I just love your name!

 

[Zeze]

nvm, figured out the bug myself.

 

[Tweak155]

I have a 670GTX (and an i5 3570k) and noticed some slowdown as well. I think usually out of combat and in the campaign-specific areas.

This is my combo... I only notice small dips with hundreds of units on the screen (lots of zerglings) at 2560x1440.

They definitely made the graphics better. When I was playing WoL before they released HotS, I could easily tell they made a LOT of improvements.

Overall the game isn't that much more demanding. I have everything set to Extreme and aliasing on. Biggest slowdowns are the non pre-rendered cut scenes. I think that mainly has to do with CPU. It runs perfect at 1080p.

 

[Tweak155]

I pre-ordered this game so I've been waiting for the launch... I have to say I'm slightly disappointed and slightly surprised.

I didn't really care for new units but I'm liking them so far. They really improved Zerg. However the story so far is not good (5 missions in?) and the scenarios you're fighting for don't really fit in the sense that

Spoiler

Kerrigan is just so determined to kill Mengsk, even before he states on the news Raynor was captured and killed. It makes sense now, but why was she so determined before that? Should have listened to Raynor and let it go, especially if she is SO in love with him

. In WoL I thought each mission had a very good purpose, but in this game

Spoiler

you're just going to locations to collect large armies of the swarm to kill Mengsk?

. Hopefully I'm not far enough in and it gets better, but so far a let down.

 

[MikeyLSU]

I'm finding the single player to be short. I remember when they first announced the game, they said each new release would be like a full game but just one race, with about 30 missions.

This one is 27 missions(I'm about halfway) but this includes these very short semi missions on evolution(5 minutes). I have played 4 of these so far, and I assume there is at least another 3 or 4 more, so that is a third of the new content. Also, the missions themselves seem to be on the short side.

Don't get me wrong, I like it so far, but I was expecting a longer campaign where these side missions didn't count towards the 30 missions, they don't even have achievements/goals in them, you just complete it and thats it.

 

[Zeze]

Here's my review. I'm about 6 missions in.

I'll start with the bad.

The Bad:

I'm still angry that they have botched the wholesome SC1 lore. SC1 & BW had dialogue that was awesome, plot was engaging, and overall quality was... mature. Raynor swore to kill Kerrigan with his own hands after she's murdered everyone and his friends. She killed his personal friend Phoenix, made Tassadar sacrifice himself, murdered millions, and outright decimated an entire race's home planet- Aiur.

Now SC2 has retconned Raynor to somehow develop romance for Kerrigan- a complete 180. What the fuck? Raynor was a likable, down-to-earth bald guy. Suddenly he now has beautiful tuff of hair with a sexy bang coming down. Yes, this was all made evident in SC2 Wings of Liberty, but I'm still not over it when I played Heart of the Swarm. This bullshit hokey romantic banter between Raynor and Kerrigan made me cringe so hard. And when Raynor twirled her around and kissed her, it made my skin crawl out of sheer elementary awkwardness.

I will never forgive Blizzard for dumbing down the plot to pander to twelve year olds for mass appeal. It is now soulless and I can't take the game seriously.

The Good:

SC1's expansion didn't offer much 'technically'. Yes it perfected the game as the #1 eSports platform for nearly two decades. But for the single player experience (which is what I care about), they just added 2 tile sets (snow and dessert) and few new units. While it offered lots of levels and amazing story, it was the same old 'build and destroy the base' formula. And they tossed in few 'adventure' levels.

Now for SC2's expansion HOTS, I expected the similar 'lazy' approach for single player campaigns. Boy, I will gladly admit I was pleasantly surprised. If being a Triple-A title comes with its ugliness, it also comes with shining examples of good things. The game is just FUN. They added super customized single player experience with thoroughly different mechanics. I was impressed at the level where a larvae infiltrates the Protoss ship and continues to evolve. And the game has tremendous amount of dialogue and cut scenes. They are really progressing the story line and it has lots of lore material to finally move forward.

From the CD sleeve manual of SC1, I've always wondered what the original Zerg race was like. The game finally visits the origin and it's all just refreshingly entertaining. Again, I'm only about 6-7 missions in. But it's pretty good so far- especially compared to the absolutely pointless and garbage filler storyline of Wings of Liberty.

They did a good job and surprised a veteran RTS player like me. The genre may be getting tiresome, but HotS threw a breath of fresh air at it. One quick example is the Evolution Missions. Those are just plain fun in both storytelling and gameplay.

Verdict:

-Still suffers from shitty retconn of Raynor and Kerrigan
-Corny dialogue and voice acting
-Outside of the two protagonists, story is finally getting exciting
-Great new gameplay to the tired RTS formula
-Not all pandering to kids are bad, the console-style checkpoint system works perfectly into SC2, making the general experience seamless.

8.5/10 If it continues to surprise me, I may give it a 9 later.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and your own review. Do you agree/disagree with me?

 

[Fenixgoon]

i want to say i'm ~12 missions in now?

i agree the storyline isn't as mature as SC1/BW, but at the same time, i recall plenty of flirting between kerrigan and raynor in the SC1 campaigns. if you're a tired, washed out marine who's seen everyone you cared for die, who helped exchange one dictatorship for another, who's been fighting for years against terrans and zerg alike... i could see raynor's current state being perfectly realistic/reasonable.

right now i'm finding the game to be a bit easy even on brutal, and i'm by no means a good RTS player. i think that's in part due to the fact that it does deviate from the traditional "build base, destroy enemy" formula. still, the game is very fun and has some great things like boss battles which SC1 never did. also, i enjoy the change to focus on kerrigan as being a complete badass hero. plus the whole "swarm" nature of the zerg is really emphasized - i think most base-building missions i've maxed out my army.

the evolutions are great. some of them seem downright overpowered, but i suppose that's part of what makes them so fun

Spoiler

in the mission where you infest the protoss ship, i had the banelings that can jump. gg. just spawned lings over and over and mobbed with 20-40 ranged-attack banelings. it was awesome. i just got the impaler (hydralisk mod, zerg siege tank basically). they look ridiculously fun to play with and give nice ground-based, long-range attack for the zerg

one thing that really annoys me is i can't select enemy units to get their HP. unless there's some setting you need to enable/disable.

 

[kevinsbane]

one thing that really annoys me is i can't select enemy units to get their HP. unless there's some setting you need to enable/disable.

New setting that defaults to "off" now. Odd. In any case, you can set it to on in your gameplay settings.