Starcrafty Goodness!

Good Morning Sentient Beings!

I hope this morning finds everyone well.

As many of you probably know, this week Starcraft 2 was released!  It's a game I've been waiting for since 1998 or so, and I will confess I've spent nearly every free moment playing it since Tuesday afternoon (sadly my writing has suffered, but I'm looking at it as much needed relaxation and additional inspiration!)  Here's the trailer (one of my favorites):

The game is amazing for several reasons.  They preserved all of the best parts of the original in terms of what made the game fun, and added additional functionality and content as well.  The end result is that Starcraft 2 plays like SC1 but still manages to feel like a new game.  The campaign is just mind-blowingly good.  Kudos to the writers for coming up with a more than worthy sequel to the original storyline.  My one regret is that they are releasing the story in 3 parts spread across the next 2 years or so.  The original game had the whole story in one package (plus an expansion).  My only problem with the game is that due to this format, I'm going to spend the next 2 years salivating for more.

For those of you who feel this is a bit of a rip-off, I can sympathise, but don't get all twisted up over it yet.  Wings of Liberty (the storyline for SC2's current release) has 25 action packed missions, and a bunch of cut-scenes that will have you cheering.  The flow of the game allows for personal choice, something like what Bioware puts into their RPG's, so you will have to play through it 4 times to see all of the possible story branches.  (I'm looking forward).  The multi-player content allows you to experience all 3 races, and has been upgraded way beyond the old LAN and Battle.net capabilities.  The AI's are a lot more intelligent, and you can really customize the battle experience to your play level by setting the intelligence level of each AI you fight.
When you're ready, Battle.net offers both practice and full on kick-your-butt ladder and league style mutliplayer options.  I'm certain that I'll be playing SC2 like my life depended on it right up until the next release (and hopefully get good enough at it in the process not to humiliate myself in the public arenas).

I doubt anyone who was a fan of the first game is in a debate about buying the second, but if you are, just buy it.  I guarantee you won't regret it!