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[Starcraft 2][Singleplayer Thread] Abathur's 5th Grade Science Project
Lucascraft
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Note: This thread is for the discussion of the singleplayer component of SC2 only. If you wish to discuss multiplayer, racial imbalance, esports, arcade, or something called "Barcraft" please visit our SC2 multiplayer thread. Link: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/175213/starcraft-2-heart-of-the-swarm-arrives-march-12th/p1
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm
Singleplayer Discussion Thread
Trailers!
Official Starcraft II Homepage
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/
Lore Summary Video: (NOTE SPOILERS)
http://www.twitch.tv/nasltv/b/375704733
Game Info:
Heart of the Swarm release date: 3.12.13
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm
Singleplayer Discussion Thread
Trailers!
Original Preview Trailer (contains in-game footage of new units)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG_3R9BoVvg&list=UUZ2h0d4tP0R8klduwj-_bDQ&index=12
Vengeance Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCsGTP3-Jlw&list=UUZ2h0d4tP0R8klduwj-_bDQ&index=1
Opening Cinematic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbeoSPqRs4&list=UUZ2h0d4tP0R8klduwj-_bDQ&index=6
Gameplay and Singleplayer Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLZNJ1Bl2jo
Ghosts of the Past Trailer (Sarah Kerrigan backstory)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_E83GfWM-A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG_3R9BoVvg&list=UUZ2h0d4tP0R8klduwj-_bDQ&index=12Vengeance Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCsGTP3-Jlw&list=UUZ2h0d4tP0R8klduwj-_bDQ&index=1Opening Cinematic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbeoSPqRs4&list=UUZ2h0d4tP0R8klduwj-_bDQ&index=6Gameplay and Singleplayer Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLZNJ1Bl2joGhosts of the Past Trailer (Sarah Kerrigan backstory)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_E83GfWM-AOfficial Starcraft II Homepage
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/
Lore Summary Video: (NOTE SPOILERS)
http://www.twitch.tv/nasltv/b/375704733
Game Info:
Heart of the Swarm release date: 3.12.13
Lucascraft on
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Dr. Ariel Hanson -- is she going to be back in this game? I feel like her zerg research might be important to the plot here, but she hasn't been shown or referenced at all in any of the promotional stuff I've seen.
I thought either path you chose she ends up going psycho Zerg mode.
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
There was no more bad-ass muther fucker than fucking Fenix.
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
I've played through the campaign 3ish times and now that I think about it, you're right, if you choose her path she ends up leaving after a kiss.
So it'll depend on which plot point they decide being cannon.
The cure for the "Zerg" though is already identified as being that beacon though, isn't it?
So having two ways to "cure" infestation might be a bit much.
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
It's the mission that introduces the viking.
When you side with the toss though you don't technically have to slay the colonists if you kill the infestations before they hatch.
One of the more interesting plot points is the Tosh vs Nova one.
You have to choose one. Tosh dies if you go with Nova.
Nova's seen in many of the HotS clips, but that doesn't mean you sided with her.
Technically though, as far as multiplayer goes, you supposedly sided with Nova since you use ghosts rather than specters.
It'd be cool to see Tosh return.
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
...except that time when I said I was going to, you know, kill you.
By the time Legacy of the Void comes out, Starcraft 1 will effectively be retconned into some alternate timeline that never happened.
Indeed, Metzen seems to have great difficulty keeping the lore coherent. There are rectons everywhere!
After playing WoL, I'm just going to assume that the story concluded after Brood War, and SC2's plot is just fan fiction.
Metzen is a fan of his own work, that's fine. I'm hoping the storyline will be better than WoL, I won't be surprised if it isn't but I hope it won't be worse. The gameplay is bound to be fun though, which is what I'll play the campaign for foremost.
damning with faint praise, eh?
i'll bet that the storyline for HoTS will be better than ANYTHING done for Superfriends!
Joe's Stream.
Lings that can run up walls? Yes please!
WoL had a lot of neat stuff for terran. All the mercenary units, all the special armory upgrades like buildings that repair themselves, reactored tech labs, a tower that slows down zerg units, etc. etc.
Pretty excited to see what they came up with Zerg.
Hopefully the infested bunker is a thing, and offensive nydus too.
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
What kinds of currency do you have though? You had 3 in WoL, this has mutagens or something for units. But units get some common upgrades like ling speed and 1 final choice that's binary?
Metzen moonlights writing for Marvel.
More at 11.
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
Genetic strains/codes
Maybe, when you're in a mission you take the time to kill all the critters/track down odd fossils (or some other secondary objective) instead of just rushing to the mission objectives, if the critters had something that would make a useful mutation then it's applied to a unit or building upgrade. (similar to the Zerg/Protoss research points)
Biomass
Experimentation takes material. Minimize losses, maximize casualties on the other side, spawn as much stuff as possible and your biomass reserves go up at the end of the mission. Spend biomass for the ability to spawn experimental units (like Zerg mercs).
I seem to recall reading somewhere Kerrigan will be able to accrue XP while on missions to improve her own abilities, so I guess that could count as a third resource.
They probably won't have quite as big of a campaign tech tree as the terrans had in WoL, but as long as it's similar I'll have fun.
HotS will have around 20.
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
Oh yeah, Kerrigen has 2 or 4 different things she can spec into? And some focus she has to swap between missions?
Meh, that point isn't too big of an issue for me. It is entirely plausible that 4 years after the events of Brood War, that Jim Raynor's hatred for the Queen of Blades has waned especially when the Zerg went into hiding.
Also, he did technically kill the Queen of Blades when he converted Kerrigan back to being human if you believe in the QoB/Kerrigan duality. He still has time to kill her again, etc.
I did find that WoL's overall story was weak though. I'm still hating on Blizzard's trend of killing off characters every so often. I just hope they do a better job at the story this time.
EDIT Also a very possible ending for Heart of Swarm was leaked when WoL was released:
Streaming 8PST on weeknights
Raynor made up with Kerrigan.
Didn't you guys play Ghost?
I don't know why, but I just don't think it fits with sci-fi.
https://medium.com/@alascii
https://medium.com/@alascii
Also, I think Blizzard should give Ghost another chance. On the next generation consoles + PC. Only this time they should develop it all in-house rather than farming the project out to a 3rd party who cannot live up to their impossible standard of excellence.
Give us a tactical stealth shooter with elements of Uncharted and Splinter Cell.
Then, she kills him. No preamble, no long speech, just "fuck you, you're dead now". Maybe do it in front of some of Raynor's Protoss buddies so he can come back as a human/zerg hybrid in a dragoon body in the next expansion.
...maybe not.
Kerrgina's the key to stopping the xel'naga
kinda done deal?
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
yeah but that's so.....
bad.
https://medium.com/@alascii
agreed twice
^_^
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
with the 'foreshadowing' in WoL and the leaked HotS ending from ages there really isn't much point in speculating on the story because it's all pretty much laid out in the most boring way possible.
At least the gameplay will probably be awesome. WoL was the most fun RTS campaign I've ever played.
https://medium.com/@alascii
I think that's neat. Much more interesting than just "kerrigan's going to stop the xel'naga".
Hopefully Raynor realizes this after all of Zeratul's "you idiot!" and stops being a damn cry baby
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
Other than the Xel'Naga artifact that you assembled and used in the final mission, I don't recall a single other mention of the Xel'naga in all of WoL.
You know what I do remember though? The secret ending of Brood War. With the black guy. Back when that game came out, I was probably only like 14 years old, but the "oh shit! that just happened" factor of the hidden ending stuck with me. However, nothing at all from SC2 stuck with me.
Except for Tychus. That's like all I remember.
Glad your in charge of the sc2 campaign thread, then. :P
That was Duran, and he was working for the dark one to create the zerg protoss hybrids that you fight in the protoss missions of WOL.
My guess, though it isn't confirmed, is that the dark one is responsible for the xel'naga's extinction (and yes, he was a xel'naga himself). He probably used the zerg to accomplish it. He knew he could someday be reincarnated with the zergs help, and then use the zerg to dominate the universe. That's what I'm guessing will be revealed over the next two games, but who knows.
It seems silly to me because a terrifying race of bug monsters needs an overriding directive to be interesting. Whether it's 'kill mengsk' or 'kill protoss' or 'obey scary smoke man' doesn't matter much to me. The overmind wanted to be free? to do what? What are free zergs going to do? build fleshy office buildings and run a call center?
https://medium.com/@alascii
See, I find conflicted characters to be much more interesting than just characters who are good or bad simply for the sake of being good or bad. I feel there's more emotional reward if you are emotionally invested in the characters, and what's more emotional than an enemy struggling with his own destiny. It's hard to hate someone you sympathize with, but it's hard to have mercy on someone whose done atrocious things. If a story can walk that line carefully, I find myself on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens next.