Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty Collector’s Edition

5 Comments

1. J. J. Marino says:

   August 1, 2010 at 4:57 am

   This new iteration of Starcraft is very good.

   This is the collectors edition. Its about thirty dollars more than the base version. While that may seem like a lot being one third more cost, you do get a ton of really cool extras. I will put a + next to the ones I think are good. Whats different in this version vs the other version. For your thirty dollars you get:

   ..>> A nice art book with paintings, character models, sketches for behind the scenes look into the art of the game.
   
   + >> A making of DVD with behind the scenes movie of how the game was made.
   
   ..>> A CD of the music from the game.
   
   + >> A 2GB Flash drive shaped like Raynor’s dog tag. In the drive there is the original Starcraft plus the Broodwar Expansion. You can use this drive for anything its still a 2GB drive in the end.
   
   ..>> A Starcraft comic book
   
   + >> A different icon for your character on Battlenet.
   
   + >> Special Icons and logos for your units in the game
   
   + >> Special collectors edition of the Terran Thor.
   
   + >> MY favorite a MiniThor pet for WoW that is for all characters on your Battlenet account. Just like the Pandaren monk or Mountain Dew promotional pet.

   Its alot for only a few dollars more. I spent that much on 3 WoW pets, so if your into unique items this may be the upgrade for you. I have too many books now as it is so the extras are not IMHO worth it all that much. That being said the DVD has a nice production value to it and the other pieces are well made so if you are into that aspect you may enjoy it more.

   The review of the game:

   Blizzard has taken this game into the modern time with a new look, 3D engine and new strategies. You do not have to have played the original Starcraft to understand what is going on here. Blizzard has made this game to be completely stand alone and to train you as the player from the ground up. This means that if you may be new to the story then you will be brought up to speed quickly. If you are a veteran you will appreciate the new and exciting look and feel plus the new units.

   3D:
   
   + For the first time you can swing down and check out your units and see what they can see with regard to the terrain.
   
   + Beautiful 3D terrain and environment. You really feel immersed in the fantastic vistas and look of the game.
   
   + Smooth performance even with low end graphics cards. I played this on my PC which has a GTX 470 and of course it was beautiful. I then tried it out on my wife’s Macbook Pro (with old ATI card) and while not as rich looking it was very playable and smooth. Which means Blizzard cares enough about their fan base to let older slower computers play this game.

   Sound:
   
   + Zerg squishy noises are awesome and make me nauseous to hear them. The clink of the space marines are so fitting and the phased sounds of the Protoss are spot on. Great sounds that add to the immersion.
   
   + Voice acting is some of the best I have heard in a game. It has a cinematic feel to it as you play.

   Single Player:
   
   + The single player mode is fun and it is what I have played most sofar. It is challenging and without using any cheats (I am sure they are there but not released as of yet), it means I really have to watch my resources and units well.
   
   + Units are easily queued and respond with amazing AI. Give them a general order and they follow it and can think on their own better than any other RTS I have ever played, thats saying alot because I have played probably most of the RTS games even back to the original Civilization ( yes I am dating myself here).

   Online play:
   
   + Games are quick to get into and feature a nice interface that makes the waiting time pass.
   
   + The ranking system thus far seems very fair and well thought out. I am sure it will change in the future but for now is very good.

   Summary:
   
   This is more than an update of the original. It is more like a movie playing homage to an old classic. What you get here is a brand new game with a history behind it as being one of the best video games of all time. Don’t believe me ask one of the professional SC1 players. This game will grow over time and by the time the last iteration comes out it will be so polished that it may surpass SC1 as the seminal RTS game.

   In closing:
   
   I am not an employee of Blizzard nor am I a Fanboy. I merely purchased a game, enjoyed it wrote a review here on Amazon. Nothing more nothing less. I am passing on this information to you the consumer in hopes you will find this to be the case for you too.

   It is great RTS game, get it.

   Thank you for reading my review.
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. Sazkion says:

   August 1, 2010 at 6:24 am

   I’m going to make this review short.
   
   For everyone who is complaining about only having one side of the story, the story is over 20 hours long! I have read that it can take 25-30 hours to beat, which is about as long as the single campaign was in the original StarCraft for all three races. Blizzard only released one side of the story to go as in-depth as they wanted. They couldn’t do that if they had all three races at once.

   My biggest problem with this game is one thing. No LAN. Seriously Blizzard? One of the main perks of the original game was being able to play with all of your friends in a basement while drinking soda all night. You can’t do that anymore which is a major killer.

   However, StarCraft has surpassed all of my expectations, plus it comes with the original game as well which is a great perk.
   Rating: 5 / 5
3. Chad D. Jacobson says:

   August 1, 2010 at 9:14 am

   This game is fantastic. It has great single player, great multiplayer, and the kind of depth that should keep players entertained for years to come. Blizzard has made another classic.

   Does the game lack simple Battle.net features that Blizzard pioneered 13 years ago (and should have had)? Yes. Does the game lack LAN support (when it should have included it)? Yes. But, even without those features, the rest of what this game has to offer us makes it simply amazing. (People need to weigh the value of a game on the basis of everything it provides and not get overly focused on one issue or another.)
   Rating: 5 / 5
4. Terrance Shaw says:

   August 1, 2010 at 10:31 am

   Honestly, I’ve been a fan of StarCraft since I found out about it back in 1993. That being said, I think it only fair to warn you that I’ve never been any good at it, or for that matter, strategy games as a whole. I can and do, however, enjoy the games on a somewhat more artistic level, which is something that saddens me to learn isn’t the norm. More people are concerned with just getting into the game so that they can “melt other people’s faces”, and “roll their faces across the keyboard” to victory.

   Again: I’ve never been a good strategist, and I put this out there as plain as the nose on my face.

   That being said, the Collector’s Edition of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is perhaps the most beautiful CE of any game that I’ve ever purchased in the history of ever. I consider myself fortunate that I was among the first to pre-order when Amazon started sales for it back in April, and I don’t, for one minute, regret my decision to purchase it.

   The Box That Rox
   
   So yeah, the first thing that always stands out about a CE is the packaging. The SCII CE is no slouch in this department, and indeed, goes far above and beyond what I’ve seen before. The cardboard is a thick and dare I say rugged affair, emulating the militaristically efficient machines that the Terrans employ in their warfare. Honestly, the picture of the packaging dfoesn’t do it any justice: It actually has some serious depth and feel to it.

   It’s What’s Inside That Counts
   
   Once you hastily peel away the cellophane protecting your treasure, you’re given access to the cache of goodies that Blizzard has delivered for your enjoyment. You’ve got the game DVD itself, a pre-comic of sorts, USB thumbdrive resembling Jim Raynor’s dog tag, soundtrack, art book, and extras DVD. What you don’t see, that’s given to each of your characters in World of Warcraft, existing or yet to exist, is an exclusive Mini Thor pet. Sadly, despite the fact that Mini Thor can fly around you in loops, it cannot fly when you yourself lift off. Though I suppose this makes sense, as Thor isn’t an air unit itself.

   I haven’t checked out ALL of the extras just yet, but the dog tag is quite remarkable in that it seems to actually be encased in aluminum. It’s got a very solid, very heavy feel to it, and I gotta be honest: If my job didn’t expressly forbid the wear of USB thumbdrives on the premises, I’d be all over it. I haven’t actually tested the pre-installed SC and SC:BW on the drive, but I’m gonna assume they’re there… just waiting.

   The soundtrack… this is what I’ve been waiting for since they first unveiled the cinematic with Tychus earlier in the year (or was it last year?). Either way, I had to get rolling off to work, so I snagged the disc and took it to play in the car. As per the norm, Blizzard seated the track from your title screen as track numero uno. Of particular note would be the tracks, “The Deal”, which is the same music from that cinematic, and “I, Mengsk”, which reintroduces us to the same opera suite they had from back in the SC:BW intro. All in all, it’s a gorgeous set of tracks, and it’s just one more in a long line of musical masterpieces by Blizzard’s audio department.

   It’s About The Software, Stupid
   
   So obviously, chances are good that you’re not gonna be buying this solely for the box and the swag. I haven’t played the actual game itself yet beyond the first mission, but I’ll say this: It’s a beautiful world that gets installed on those spinning platters. The visuals are gorgeous, the voice acting is phenomenal, and there’s a point at which I forget that this an RTS that I’m playing. Controls are familiar (i.e., identical) to the original game, and being able to swoop in to ground-level to put yourself among your units? Amazing.

   It’s not without its problems, however. Installing requires you to authenticate your copy of the game with the B.NET system. Which wouldn’t be a problem, except that now I’ve got TWO games that require I have my Blizzard Authenticator on hand. And come on, requiring that I use an Authenticator to play an offline campaign? Please, Blizzard. Please. (Yes, I realize that you can sign on as a guest, but that’s a copout.)

   All in all, the SCII CE is a beautiful package deal, and I highly recommend it to anyone that considers themself a true fan of the franchise.
   Rating: 5 / 5
5. J. Bonifacio says:

   August 1, 2010 at 11:46 am

   I did not pre-order my copy of the game online; I attended the official Midnight Launch of Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty at the Fry’s located in Orange County. Blizzard set up a great event, and signed copies of the games and the collectibles, though I could tell their turn out was less than what they had expected. That was worth the 100 dollars just right there. I expect more staged events for future releases from Blizzard.

   From the game itself, the collectors edition includes are few nice knickknacks; an artbook, OST, dog-tag USB w/ Starcraft and Starcraft Broodwar preloaded, comic book, WoW mount, and several guest passes for WoW and Starcraft itself. The box itself is made of sturdy material, looks great, and opens in a unique fashion. It opens like a set of jaws. Very cool!

   Note that unlike Blizzard’s classic games, only one [...] account is tied to each CD-key. As of today, there is no way to change your in-game-name. Amazon user Bryssa has kindly correct my error, but it is possible to play [...] offline via a Guest Account. Bryssa states:

   “Guest account – This completely ignores your BNet account and is entirely local. All your saves only exist on your PC, they will never sync with the Blizzard Cloud, and you do not earn achievements. Log in once to your BNet account and you can use this Guest account as much as you want for 30 days, then it’ll nag you to touch base with the BNet servers again. This isn’t meant to be the true offline mode, but is fine for letting friends and family try the campaign/skirmish to see if they’d be interested in the full multiplayer.”

   Also, there is an offline mode: as long as you log on once in a while, you may use your local profile to continue playing. There is no LAN (Local Area Network) play for Starcraft 2. For some players, this is awful, and worth complaining/whining/not buying SC2. That just means there are less jerks in the community to hassle dedicated players who enjoy their gaming experience.

   Now here’s the most important thing: Gameplay. I’ll break it up into two parts, Multiplayer and Single Player Campaign. Multiplayer features a new sleek interface for their new [...] project. It has a friending and chatting system for networking. Something new to the PC gaming world is the ability to hook up your Facebook to your in-game-name. Unfortunately, some people see this as a security risk or invasion of privacy, because it reveals your full name. However, this is not required when adding an individual; you may used your in-game-name and a friend code, and your name will not be revealed to other users.

   Continuing, multiplayer features a state-of-the-art Ladder system. It has dedicated system calculating scores of players in order to assure players are pitted against another player of equal skill. It’s not as sophisticated as it seems: the better you opponent is, the more points you will earn if you win; if you lose, you will lose less points. If you’re opponent is calculated to be less favored than you, then you will earn less points with victory, but lose more points if you lose.

   The points determine your rank in a league; each league comprises of 100 different players or teams. This means if person A plays with person B in 2V2 ladder, he will have a different ladder score when he plays 2V2 with person C. Leagues are also ranked in terms of skill level: Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum, from least to most skillful. Blizzard confirmed that ladders will be reset on a cyclical season. The community, so far, is great. There are forums where people may direct questions towards each other. From the 30 so games I’ve played, my random opponents have been courteous and respectful, save a few jerks.

   Onto the actual gameplay in multiplayer. It contains three distinctly unique races, Zerg, Protoss, and Terran. Note that mechanics of Terran units/gameplay in multiplayer will be different to a certain degree from the campaign. Players will head off in real-time and victory is achieved by destroying your opponents base. Months of dedicated beta-testing have proven fruitful; I myself (I am ranked 12 in Platinum when I wrote this) cannot really notice any great disparities between the three races. However, Blizzard will continue to work on balancing through the work of patches.

   Single player is almost a distinctively different game from it’s multiplayer half. Players will go through missions given by important characters in the game, and as they progress, they will unlock and obtain powerful, permanent units, upgrades, and mercenaries. Through the campaign, there are achievements, some which go towards unlocking portraits for the player’s avatar. There are four difficulties to play in: casual, normal, hard, and brutal. In brutal, the AI opponents receive boosts in their speed (not only movement and attack, but build, collection, etc) and it provides a real challenge!

   The cinematics are beautiful; it’s on par with the current state of graphic animation. It’s reported to have over 45 minutes of CGI. The music sounds great. They re-hauled a lot of the classic Starcraft music. They also have several tracks from country/rock/jazz bands playing on a jukebox which the player may interact with. The story itself is filled with deep, complex characters. The character’s themselves will not develop, but their interactions with allies and enemies deliver a dramatic and intense plot-line. Speaking of the characters, Voice-acting is top-notch, and is on par with many others, such as Red Dead Redemption.

   From what I experienced, Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty delivered one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences for the PC ever. If there’s anyone who considers themselves a PC gamer and has not heard of Starcraft 2, I recommend them buying it ASAP to add to their library of games. The learning curve is moderately steep but SC2′s ranking system and difficulty system will make sure you enjoy your experience either if you’re a Pro or New to the game. As for a 60/100 dollar asking price, it is a bit steep. If you can hold out, I wouldn’t blame someone to wait for it to go on sale. But the experience is definitely worth the money.

   [EDIT 07.30.2010] I corrected the wrong information I posted in my review. Thanks Bryssa!
   
   Rating: 5 / 5