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Real Time Strategy (Games) Games

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Details Released 106

Posted by Soulskill from the call-it-a-sequelspansion dept.
trawg writes "Blizzard has lifted the veil of secrecy surrounding StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm at a recent media event held at Blizzard HQ in California, where press were treated to a hands-on preview of the game. Gamers can expect 20 new single-player missions with Kerrigan as a playable hero, and while they're tight-lipped about multiplayer they have confirmed in a FAQ that there will be new units and maps." Eurogamer's detailed preview sums up the expansion's relation to Wings of Liberty thus: "Heart of the Swarm is still evolution rather than revolution," adding, "What they've clearly got right is the atmosphere. The hubs between missions, and the whole look of Heart of the Swarm's interface and environment, are infused with the moist and creeping personality of the Zerg, every surface chitinous, every hole infested."
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StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Details Released More

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Details Released

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  • First Post!

  • Sounds familiar... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 31, 2011 @11:54AM (#36297800)

    every surface chitinous, every hole infested

    Sounds like my ex-wife!

  • 1) Has LAN play been restored?
    2) Can I stay 100% offline at ALL times, including during installation and single-player gameplay?

    If the answer to either question is "no," I'm not buying. I'm actually perilously close to switching to Linux full-time, since I've already skipped GTA4, Civ 5, the first SC2, Fallout New Vegas, and several other games over similar issues, thereby knocking out my last reasons for using Windows (gaming).

    • From reading the FAQ, no.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Perhaps you missed the "Activision" part of Activision-Blizzard. Besides squeezing all the money they can, they also want to control everything. (See paid subscriptions for MW3)

      Which is why I'll probablly be skipping this game as well. Bad memories of the Bnet2.0 issues that kept me from progressing far in SC2, and by the time it was resolved, it was only a month away from Halo Reach (SC2 was to entertain me until then), and I'd lost interest.

      Also why I've lost interest in Diablo 3 as well. Activision has s

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Raenex ( 947668 )

        Perhaps you missed the "Activision" part of Activision-Blizzard. Besides squeezing all the money they can, they also want to control everything.

        Blizzard acted like a bunch of douchebags before Activision came along (reference: bnetd among other lawsuits)

    • Wings of Liberty works fine in Wine. At least until last week or so.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by emanem ( 1356033 )
        I've been playing on Linux since it came out. Apart setting the shaders "low" (which is beneficial for multiplayer) never had any issue at all. Cheers!
        • Meh. Something about the Updater broke when I upgraded to 1.3.20. I downgraded, deleted my .wine folder, and started anew. No dice.

    • Makes sense in some ways - if there's no LAN play, there's no pirated Hamachi or VPN or what have you networks popping up to play. I think that can turn a bunch of pirated games into effectively SP games.

      I don't think that's going to get them any extra purchases (obviously it might cost them some, or at least yours), but the customer-as-criminal mindset is pervasive today.

    • Le grande beating-a-dead-horse sigh.

      We get it; some people are still surly that SC2 doesn't have LAN play. There are valid reasons to feel that way. We still don't need to hear about it in each and every Starcraft-related story.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by drakaan ( 688386 )

        I disagree.

        For the same reason that complaining about graphics or a paucity of new online content or performance is relevant to each and every discussion about SC-II likes and dislikes, complaining about the lack of LAN play is relevant.

        Each of those topics address an area of the game that affects its perceived depth and long-term playability. If it wasn't a big deal to people who dearly love(d) playing the original, then I'd maybe agree with you, but clearly, it is still a big deal.

        Just as with other thin

      • Le grande beating-a-dead-horse sigh.

        We get it; some people are still surly that SC2 doesn't have LAN play. There are valid reasons to feel that way. We still don't need to hear about it in each and every Starcraft-related story.

        Sure we need to! An unsatisfied customer that doesn't complain can't help companies provide a better product.

      • Yes we do. Silence is exactly what these companies want. They want us (and everyone else) to ignore the abuse of the customer so they can provide ever less value for more money. Soon games will shift entirely to services, not products, and if you want to play, you'll pay, and pay, and pay. Many, like those who admonish us to STFU, will pay willingly and gladly, and these are the people who are truly ruining it for everyone by making this sort of crap profitable.

        The problem is that people do not naturall

        • good luck bringing the console ppl on board with that.

          • I don't want gaming companies to stop what they are doing. I am saving so much money and both of my children spend a lot more time in the real world. I used to buy ~$500 in games a year. And more for consoles and game rigs. It was a lot of fun, but the stuff coming out is less and less appealing, and the communities are more and more like some big city slum middle school playground. I get more fun out of writing stored procedure for business shills.

            So, thank you to EA, Atari and others for writing cra

        • It's like this: in voting with your wallet, as in other forms of democracy, sometimes what you want isn't what 99%+ of the voters want.

          Beating the same dead horse again and again in this case isn't winning anyone over. People either care about LAN play or they don't, and most people don't and will never be persuaded by anything you can say to care.

          Sometimes being vocal can win people over; in other cases it takes something different. This is one of those latter cases.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Lundse ( 1036754 )

            It's like this: in voting with your wallet, as in other forms of democracy...

            Just a quick voting with your wallet is not democracy. At best, it is a really broadly enfranchised oligarchy with a continuum of degrees of participation.

  • Are they charging a full game price for it? Or expansion pricing?

    • Full game - these are being billed as all different "chapters" rather than Wings of Liberty being a full game and the others expansions.

      And honestly, it makes sense. Businesses charge what people will pay, and Blizzard can charge full game pricing and still sell a ton of copies. The people that won't pay the full game price but would pay expansion will probably just wait till later to buy it and they'll still make their money.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        RTFFAQ:

        Q: How much will Heart of the Swarm cost?

        A: We typically don't provide details about pricing until the game is closer to release. We do view Heart of the Swarm as an expansion set, so for the regions that have a standard box business model such as North America and Europe, we will price accordingly. For other regions that have alternative business models, we’ll provide details at a later date.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Dan667 ( 564390 )
        I honestly did not think it was that great to pay full game price for an expansion. Guess I will wait till it goes on sale on Steam for $5.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jandrese ( 485 )
          You will probably have a long wait given that even Wings of Liberty isn't available on Steam. Between Activision and Blizzard, someone over there doesn't like Steam apparently.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Bengie ( 1121981 )

            Why would Blizzard even want to use Steam? It would be annoying to have to log into Steam, only to then log into SC2/WoW/etc.

            Because of NDAs, current rumors are Steam charges ~30% of the sale price. I don't think Blizzard would be willing to had over that kind of money when they already have the infrastructure.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by gid ( 5195 )

          You might be waiting a while, Blizzard doesn't release their games on Steam as they have battle.net, and from what I remember, they only go on sale after quite a while has passed.

      • "A: We typically don't provide details about pricing until the game is closer to release. We do view Heart of the Swarm as an expansion set, so for the regions that have a standard box business model such as North America and Europe, we will price accordingly. For other regions that have alternative business models, weâ(TM)ll provide details at a later date. "

        • Thats good to know. I wonder if people who haven't bought WoL will be able to play the game on its own, or do you require both?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tukz ( 664339 )

      They previously said it's a stand-alone game, so expect full game price for it.
      Blizzard is part of Activision, so what'd ya expect? Greedy bastards.

      • They previously said it's a stand-alone game, so expect full game price for it.
        Blizzard is part of Activision, so what'd ya expect? Greedy bastards.

        http://www.shacknews.com/article/60020/blizzard-on-starcraft-2-expansions [shacknews.com]

        ""We effectively look at it internally as expansions," said Sigaty. "So we'll see what that means for the price--we're not just going to raise it and call it that for the purposes of that. We would need to offer the same content.""

        Of course, more than a few people figured this was bullshit to begin with. As someone said above, they can price it at 60 bucks and still make boatloads - hence they will.

      • Please provide a source for this.... given that I know there isn't and many others have provided sources to the contrary I'm guessing that you are one of the 0.5% previously referenced and are sore about what amount to baseless complaints, so you make up stories to suit your view of reality.

        And before you retort with "fanboy" comments, let me save you the time
        I am a Blizzard fanboy, after 20 years of awesome I believe they deserve it.

        • I'm wondering if their "countries where we have alternate business models" means Korea, and if so, it means they want to make it an expansion priced like a full-game there...?

    • Even more importantly, will we be able to keep playing Wings of Liberty multiplayer without buying Heart of the Swarm? I couldn't find an answer to this in any of the links. If we can't and they charge $60 for the expansion, you can bet I'll never buy anything from Blizzard again.

  • god mode will be enabled by default, this should add new dimensions to play...

  • We were playing Brood War yesterday on the airplane with no internet connection and no cd drive.

    Can't do that with WoL as far as I know.
    • Sure you can, on both counts. I've done it countless times when my Internet went down for any number of reasons. By default SC2 does not require the CD after installation, and you are able to play single-player offline. You just can't get achievements offline.
  • I'm going to wait until all 3 are out. After a few months they will release the "bundle", probably for the price of 1. At least that's what I hope.

    • No real issue with that, but personally holding off on playing a good game(s) for the 6-7 years it's probably going to take between the the release of Wings of Liberty and the final bundle just to save $75 or so seems like a waste.

      • I'm not exactly holding off playing it. I just don't have the time to play games anymore. I just finished Bad Company 2. I still haven't finish Mass Effect 1.

    • Then you're missing out. IMHO, the real special thing about SC2 has been the online multiplayer (both coop and vs random internet folks). The single player game was fun and all, but only barely worth the price of admission, but when you look internet play alone I'm down to under a buck an hour of fantastically fun game play. Getting together with friends online, joining with them to play some good 3v3's, 4v4's, etc is where it's at. Simply waiting until the game is on sale means you're waiting for every

      • I have no idea where you are in life, but here's where I am. I loved starcraft1 and played the hell out of it in highschool and into college. Played with friends online, at lan parties, had a hangout channel, etc.

        I'm in my late 20s now, married, and have a kid.

        Playing games online with friends--real or internet-only--has moved far down my list of fun activities! It sounds boggling, but taking my son to the park is pretty much more fun than I've had playing video games online in years.

        Not to say I don't like

        • So I'm 37 with three young kids (oldest is 5yrs), and yet I still find time to play multiplayer video games. Granted my time is limited to after 9pm at night when all the kids go to sleep, but my friends are scattered around the country and if we didn't play video games together we wouldn't really talk (because guys don't tend to pick up the phone and call each other to just shoot the shit).

          Out of the poeple I game with, I have two friends in Seattle, one near Washington DC, one in LA, and I'm in SF bay a

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by slyrat ( 1143997 )

        Then you're missing out. IMHO, the real special thing about SC2 has been the online multiplayer (both coop and vs random internet folks). The single player game was fun and all, but only barely worth the price of admission, but when you look internet play alone I'm down to under a buck an hour of fantastically fun game play. Getting together with friends online, joining with them to play some good 3v3's, 4v4's, etc is where it's at. Simply waiting until the game is on sale means you're waiting for everyone to get bored and move on to another game before you get all excited about it yourself. Totally not worth it for a online multiplayer game.

        A games social value is very time specific and by waiting you're missing out.

        d

        Very true, but I'm sure there will be quite a bit of people, myself included, that will get on to play these games for the first time when the bundle happens. I am a fan of Protoss and want to play when the stand alone for it comes out. I also know that the majority of people I game with do the same for these pricey games. So everyone I know will be playing when the bundle happens. So the multiplayer, at the moment, has no appeal to me. It will have appeal to me when people I know jump in.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by pavon ( 30274 )

        Simply waiting until the game is on sale means you're waiting for everyone to get bored and move on to another game before you get all excited about it yourself.

        If Starcraft 2 anything like Starcraft, then this couldn't be farther from the truth. It will continue to be played for the next decade.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Ogive17 ( 691899 )
        I don't like multi-player RTS... probably because I was never very good. I play slow and like to build up everything. Therefore I enjoy the RTS single player missions.

        • I didn't either... until I started playing SC2. I never liked the feeling of the unknown pressure that someone out in the dark fog of war was building up and I was falling behind and the dreaded sinking feeling of seeing their army of massive early units while I'd been busy teching up and expanding. However I found that when playing with my friends, we could scout the maps and find out what was going on well enough that my initial fears and dreads didn't come about and our strategizing before and analysis

  • This is interesting. By adding new units, Blizzard just destroyed the multiplayer scene. Will different games be able to play each other (my copy of WoL versus a HoTS copy)? If not, will multiplayer split into the WoL, HoTS and whatever-the-protoss-one-is-called scenes? This is gonna get pretty interesting to watch. On another note, I'm not sure if I'll be getting this or the next game. I bought WoL on my personal love of James Raynor, and while he didn't disappoint me as a character in SC2, the overall s

    • same thing happened with broodwar - competitive scene will hop the the latest thing. But in sc1 it happened once and rather quickly, now it will happen twice and be stretched in time so i think many will drop out in the mean time.

      story quality - agreed. it's the worst single player campaign blizzard ever produced (i am not talking about technical side of SP). They pissed all over the lore established in sc1, turned sc2 into a venezuelan soap opera about a tragic love, riding on prophecies and greater ancien

  • Personally I have no intention at all of buying this game. I bought the first game without realizing what i was getting in for. There are a thousand things about SC2 that piss me off and make me wish I'd never purchased it. No offline multiplayer, no true LAN games, no more spawn copies, having to type in my fucking name and password each time I want to play a single player game, buying the same game full price 3 times just to get all 3 races, an awful in game map management system, awful online play, and a

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Galmok ( 2220432 )
      I certainly agree with your comments. Personally, I downloaded a "trial" of SC2 and played it for an hour but I just didn't like what I saw. I was expecting a similar game to SC1, only updated in graphics and better AI, but Blizzard put in a login (which the "trial" version doesn't show which makes the hacked game better than the original), between games sceenes that I seriously dislike, no LAN and especially no offline play. I wont get together with my buddies to play SC2 and rely on a single Internet conn

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by brkello ( 642429 )

      Ugh, you are so wrong in a million ways. The Starcraft 2 missions are a million times better than the first Starcraft. Each mission is unique instead of you just building a base and then trying to grow and destroy another base. The ability to choose your mission to get your favorite units earlier or later is great. The fact that you can choose upgrades to fit your play style is brilliant. Battle.net is a million times better and I have never had an issue other than something on my side going down. The

  • When is it coming out?
    A: We're not saying.

    How much will it cost?
    A: We're not saying.

    Those are the only things I care about so fuck you, Blizzard, fuck you.

    • If you knew anything about Blizzard you'd know they don't announce these things until they are dead certain of them. They never announce specific dates, only time-frames like "this fall" or "next spring". When they are more certain they won't have to delay, they give a specific date, and then they announce the price.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

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