StarCraft II and the Return of the RTS

Since the late 80's the RTS, or real time strategy, genre has been very popular but in the last ten years these games haven't gotten the recognition of other types of games such as shooters or action games. This may be because RTS games are mainly PC games which have been in a lull since the release of next-gen consoles, but recently new advances in PC video graphics have made PC's competitive on the next-gen level.

The RTS hasn't disappeared, it has been in the background and on back shelves of video game stores over the last ten years but has remained widely popular especially overseas, with Blizzard's StarCraft even becoming a national sport in South Korea, with televised matches and pro tournaments. The genre seems to be making a comeback with League of Legends, a remake of a mod to Blizzard's Warcraft III called DotA or Defense of the Ancients, and StarCraft II the long awaited sequel to the cult classic StarCraft.

StarCraft II

First off, StarCraft 2 is a graphical masterpiece. I played SC2 over the summer but today I opened my new MacBook Pro and I was finally able to witness the game in all its glory. Each unit, and they're are often dozens even hundreds rendered at once, is incredibly detailed. The scenery is also very detailed and realistic. SC2 also has realistic physics and shadows.    

StarCraft 2 is not only graphically light years ahead of its '98 predecessor, it challenges the genre in its story telling ability and creating a captivating game experience. It has an immersive story which builds on the first game and its expansions as well as 12 years of books, lore, and fan speculation. The use of well known characters from the StarCraft universe allow a veteran player to easily connect to the story of StarCraft II's campaign. The campaign also features a non-linear story line which allows the player to chose between several different missions and can complete them in any order. Also during the campaign, the strategy based missions are paralleled by a third person loading area, the battle cruiser Hyperion, which is reminiscent of an old school point-and-click adventure game which serves to drive the story as well as where a player chooses missions. Although released in July, the Wings of Liberty campaign is just one of a three part series that will be released over the next few years.

StarCraft 2 also builds on the competitive nature of the first game with an in depth multiplayer mode and intuitive ranking system which Blizzard hopes will overtake its StarCraft: Brood War as the most played game in the e-Sport circuit.

With any hope, StarCraft 2 and League of Legends are just the beginning of the return of this once great genre.