StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

A ton of great RTS titles have released since StarCraft: Brood War, but despite all the great campaigns we’ve played since then, StarCraft II: Wing of Liberty still manages to make every mission feel exciting and fresh. Strangers to RTS titles shouldn’t be daunted by StarCraft II. The singleplayer campaign eases newcomers into the game gracefully, but still offers interesting twists for RTS veterans with unique objectives and special scenarios.

ome games contain a brilliance that is difficult to capture in words. Braid's greatness, for instance, lies in suggesting emotion to our minds and challenging us to interpret it how we will. StarCraft II is anything but that sort of enigmatic, subjective experience. This is a sublimely engineered game with a simple, elegant core design and all of the rough edges ground away.

The genius of StarCraft II is that these decisions rest in the very framework of how the game is played. By playing the missions, you embody Jim Raynor and decide where to place your resources and how to accomplish your goals. StarCraft II is not an open-ended experience, it is, in fact, fairly railroaded as modern games go, but it never feels like your decisions are meaningless. How you play, how effective you are as a battlefield general, matters.

Blizzard wasn't trying to do anything drastically different with StarCraft II. Much of the core gameplay of the original has been preserved, yet with plenty of tweaks, additional units and new abilities for veteran players to toy with and devise new approaches to competitive battles. Anyone intimidated by the notion of playing against live opponents will find a lot to enjoy, with a fantastically presented single-player campaign featuring impressively varied mission design supported by a memorable, though often cheesy, cast of characters.

Somehow, Blizzard has managed to make StarCraft II feel instantly familiar, while still keeping the entire game feeling fresh and new. The single-player is ridiculously fun, the multiplayer is as addictive as hell, and virtually every new mechanic Blizzard has introduced has helped to improve the game. There are some minor flaws that prevent the game from being completely perfect, but I can guarantee right now that StarCraft II is going to be one of the best games released this year.

Starcraft II would stand on its own as a true gem, providing strategy veterans with a tournament-focused online package while easing newcomers in with easier difficulty levels, offline challenges, and even a friendly introduction to competitive play. The campaign's focus on the Terrans and a few scattered inconveniences aren't great nuisances--not in an RTS as outstanding as this one. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is not just an old game with a pretty new face. It's a varied and full-featured jewel that will keep you stuck to your computer chair for weeks, months, and even years to come.