A few months later: what's the verdict on Starcraft 2's campaign? (Spoilers)

[lacktheknack]

The bigger question would be: "Why the hell did it rain on Char, and how did people breathe without their masks on, and how did Kerrigan, after becoming human, survive without burning up'?

Yeah... that made me cringe when I saw it.

 

[Coldie]

This is one of my bigger problems. Starcraft 2 establishes the idea that neither Kerrigan nor the Overmind are evil, just puppets being controlled by the Dark Voice. Forced to do evil by a force beyond their control. This is bullshit, because it ruins two major villains of the series. Kerrigan is back to being a human, and let's be honest; there's nothing special about human Kerrigan. She was put into the story for the purpose of becoming the Queen of Blades. Through the first game and the Brood War expansion, we saw how her new found power corrupted her both mentally and physically. Raynor realized that there was nothing redeemable about her when she killed Fenix. She had become a monster, and had to be treated as such.

But hell, let's go back and make all of that pointless. Kerrigan isn't evil! It's just evil Zerg infestation! Nothing she did while infested matters because apparently she had no control. Despite the first game saying otherwise. I guess none of that matters. Oh yeah, then Raynor shoots his friend in the face and doesn't really care about it. Good job bringing in a new character just to pointlessly kill them off later on.

And do I even have to explain why the Overmind not being evil is stupid and pointless?

I didn't come in expecting the story to be incredible, but I did expect it to at least be on par with the first game. Amazing how despite all the money they poured into those fancy cutscenes, they still aren't as effective as the primitive mission briefings from the first game.

The Zerg were never actually evil, they are just a Force of Nature. They don't care for your primitive morals or opinions, they just consume you and add your biological and technological distinctiveness to their own. Their only goal is perfection, to be reached via assimilation of everything into a universe-spanning swarm. And all of creation shall tremble before the burning standards of Zerg.

They are not good, they are not evil, they are outside the cycle.

Of course, the addition of Kerrigan to the swarm also added some vain humanity to it, making it weaker in the process - and now that she's out, the surviving cerebrates can start rebuilding. If there are any of them left, that is...

 

[The Madman]

I expected cheesy dialogue.

I didn't expect them to turn one of the greatest villains of all time into a pussy-footing human again. And to turn the Overmind, arguably the ONLY alien who's ever been able to frighten me, into a poor, dejected slave to a greater power, who only wants to save his people from BLAH BLAH BLAH HORSESHIT the Overmind is supposed to be an evil ruler hell-bent on universal domination to perfect the Zerg gene strain.

/waves cane and rants.

also, I LOVE those old b-flicks. I don't love some of my favorite characters being bastardized because Blizz thinks that no one likes to play the evil race.

Not the impression I got, plus we have no clue what's happened to Kerrigan after the end of Starcraft 2. It's pretty clear from watching the cinematic that not all 'zergification' has left her and that it will likely play a big part in future chapters as will any attempts to deal with the consequences of her actions or any attempts to redeem herself now that her actions are, in theory at least, her own again.

As for the Overmind I hardly got the same vibe as you. I thought the mission where you went to its remains was damned cool, and the general idea I got from that sequence as well as any followup dialogue is that of the Overmind not being a 'slave' at all so much as being intelligent enough to know that there's something out there capable of overpowering it, and this being the Overmind we're talking here, it then created Kerrigan as a sort of retort against that unseen force.

The way I see it it's as though the Overmind were so vast and powerful that even before any of the other races knew what was up it was already playing a grand game of chess against some as of yet unseen opponent, and Kerrigan was (And possibly continues to be) the Overminds carefully placed pawn posed right on the borders of becoming a queen with the potential to checkmate his opponent.

But then that's just my interpretation of things so it's certainly up to debate.

 

[TurtleBay]

I bet the whole story will come together when the other two sequels are released. Blizzard has to balance between telling a full story and leaving the world not "happily ever after" so there is a story to tell in the Protoss and Zerg games.

 

[ranger19]

After delivering the TV broadcast about Tarsonis Raynor has to wait a while for the revolution to kick start. The best thing Raynor could do was wait for the people to get restless again and bolster his forces in the meantime. Mounting an assault on Mengsk so soon could damage his image because Mengsk could label him as an opportunist, just in it for personal power. He just needs to wait for the people to exile or overthrow Mengsk and then come to their aid when they reform the government. Hes already got the support of Warfeild, and if worse comes to worse they are on good terms with Valerian, which they could use to bring about the changes they wish to bring if the people choose him as his father's successor.

Okay, that's fair enough. But I feel like the story could have skipped ahead a few months while political turmoil rose, before coming to a head with the final battle. (And see what I write for the next quote.)

The story was very well told and the decision-making sections really helped me care about parts of the game which would otherwise static and mundane.

The characters had coherent motivations, and the background world really worked well.

I must firstly say I definitely agree with you on this part. I definitely took pause at each of the decision points and thought hard about what I wanted to do; I definitely liked that a lot. I also liked the flavor text going along with the research materials (you know, the scientist's notes).

I don't know why many people like you keep on harping on the point of Zergs vs. Mengks dilemma on the mission from Jimmy. Jimmy just wanted Mengsk dead due to the betrayal of Kerrigan, nothing else, and the extra 'power to the people' message is being used to destabilize him and take him down. That's all he wanted, hell, even the way he acted and his dialogue came across rash in most cases, so he wasn't to be considered a hero.

He's objective changed when he found out he could get Kerrigan back, but the core idea stayed the same. Kerrigan. I mean criticizing a game for not giving the proper transitions from one story part to another is acceptable (and there were instances side-quests lacked context), but the main bulk of it was fine and perfectly follow-able...

The bigger question would be: "Why the hell did it rain on Char, and how did people breathe without their masks on, and how did Kerrigan, after becoming human, survive without burning up'?

Hm, you make some really good points. I guess in the early parts of the story, Raynor came across as hating Mengsk for both leaving Kerrigan to die as well as for being a terrible tyrant. I saw him as more of a good guy than he ended up being. His intentions in later parts are clear as you define them, but it felt different to me. (Although that could be and probably is a mistake on my part, I would contest that the game designers could have made his intentions clearer.) Also, I will claim that the transitions could have been better.

And no idea about your questions... all I can think is for cinematic/dramatic flair.

The gameplay was absolutely fantastic with bar-none the best mission design I've ever seen in an RTS.

The story itself was fun pulp sci-fi that was well-told if not Shakespeare. I thought some of the dialogue was corny, but it was presented well which makes up for it in a big way.

I thought it was excellent overall, and well worth my $60 even before you get to the MP.

I largely agree with you. If it didn't come through in my original post, I did enjoy the game a lot and am very happy with the purchase; and I would be a fool to pretend the gameplay was anything less than AAA quality. And I did enjoy the presentation/production values, excepting the occasional strange-looking in-engine cutscene facial animations.

Right after the game was released I made an entire thread sperging about my thoughts on the story. I really don't want to type all that up again, so forgive me if my responses are to short to have any value.

Sorry I tried to search for old topics but didn't find many. You bring up good points that I could not have since it's been forever since I played the original games. But yeah! Though I could tell from the beginning that Raynor's friend (blanking on his name now) was bad; it's a shame his backstory was so short and quickly resolved.

 

[oliveira8]

The story is all over the place, like you said, and it is complete bullshit that the Zerg aren't evil.

It's fucking the Orcish Horde all over again; way better when they were evil.

I kinda disagree with the Horde there. There was almost no story in Wc1 or Wc2, they were just...Raging orcs. A very poor villain to have in the long run, and let's face it, there was no Overmind material in the Orcish Horde, fleshing out the Horde backstory was the best thing to happen in WC. If anything most of the retcons and added story that WC3 and WoW brought improved those games. Story wise that is.

Though in SC that doesn't really feel right. Not to mention it sounds EXACTLY like the GRAND SCHEME of the Burning Legion in WC3. I don't know if that's plain laziness or just bad storytelling.


Anyway, I kinda of liked the campaign. The gameplay and mission was vastly superior to the original. The story had it's bad and head scratching "This shouldn't happen" moments. But overall it was good. I think it suffers from just being the first part of a three part story unlike SC1 which was a full story, with beginning, middle and end. Even BW.
Though that comes from knowing in advance that you still have 2 more games to fill and you have time to prepare the arcs better. Maybe we will see Raynor finally kicking the revolution into overdrive in the Zerg x-pac or Protoss? What's not nice is the next part only to be released in like...2 or 3 years. Not cool.

 

[LawlessSquirrel]

I thought it was great, especially considering the people at Blizzcon that confirmed it's about to get a lot deeper and darker as the expansions come along. Apparently Wings of Liberty was 'a scratch in the surface' or somesuch.

Anyway, as I said, I thought it was great...BUT I have two complaints. First of all, it seems a lot of people liked the Protoss arc, but I personally thought it was the greatest low-point of the series. Prophecies, cheesey dialogue, (IMO) blatant soap-opera style character twists...everything about it I thought was done poorly, save some of the Zeratul gameplay. I honestly can't see why people would have liked it, and I'm worried that the third expansion will just be the same kind of stuff.

My other complaint is about the lack of evil-ness in the Zerg, but it's been said a thousand times before. They just don't seem like monsters anymore, but they do live up to their 'swarm' claims.

Also, and this really bothered me so if anyone can answer this I'd appreciate it, why does Kerrigan have powers now? Specifically fire-powers? I know she was a telepath before, but...why fire powers? I personally thought she was more threatening when she'd tear at foes up close than shooting flaming projectiles at them from afar.

 

[Lyri]

Snip

He was accurate to a T.

The overmind was a good guy out to defend the galaxy & set the Zerg race free from The Dark Voice, the only way he could do that was to take Kerrigan and make her the Queen of Blades.
She was the only way, apparently.
The Zerg have been under control all this time, apart from the Overmind who put that one spanner in the works.

 

[s0m3th1ng]

For me the highlight was the Mission design. Simply the best missions I've ever been through in an RTS.
The nightly zerg swarm one was a particular favorite...and I raged multiple times during the magma overflow one.

 

[The Madman]

Snip

He was accurate to a T.

The overmind was a good guy out to defend the galaxy & set the Zerg race free from The Dark Voice, the only way he could do that was to take Kerrigan and make her the Queen of Blades.
She was the only way, apparently.
The Zerg have been under control all this time, apart from the Overmind who put that one spanner in the works.

Not really what I was thinking actually. I hardly see the Overmind as a good guy at all, it's as terrifying and evil as its ever been, an otherworldly being of such alien thought and design as to be incomprehensible to most mortals. Nor had it ever been 'controlled' by someone else outright. Thing is, the Overmind is smart enough, evolved enough from all the consuming and adapting its done, to see that in the grand scheme of things there's another power out there which dwarfs even itself and which has been laying unseen in the background, just waiting for the opportune moment to strike for its own unknown purposes.

Creating Kerrigan wasn't some attempt to 'save the galaxy', it was to use her as a weapon against this unseen force. Something that can't be anticipated or controlled, bearing none of the inherent weaknesses of the Overmind and with the potential to, as you say, throw a spanner in the works.

That wasn't done as a noble thing however, but rather as a cool, calculating move akin to the chess player positioning their pieces. The Overmind couldn't care less about the Terran or the Protoss and would gladly consume both if it could, but it *does* care about the prospect of being manipulated towards some other creatures purposes and that, I imagine, would to put it in terms a human could understand; pisses the Overmind off. And thus Kerrigan is the Overminds response! If she ends up saving the galaxy, whatever. So long as she delivers that all important check-mate is what counts.

As for after that? Who knows. Maybe the Overmind had that planned as well, maybe when the Zerg evolve and spread enough the Overmind will be born anew? No clue. Only Blizzard know for sure.

 

[Lyri]

Not really what I was thinking actually. I hardly see the Overmind as a good guy at all, it's as terrifying and evil as its ever been, an otherworldly being of such alien thought and design as to be incomprehensible to most mortals. Nor had it ever been 'controlled' by someone else outright. Thing is, the Overmind is smart enough, evolved enough from all the consuming and adapting its done, to see that in the grand scheme of things there's another power out there which dwarfs even itself and which has been laying unseen in the background, just waiting for the opportune moment to strike for its own unknown purposes.

Creating Kerrigan wasn't some attempt to 'save the galaxy', it was to use her as a weapon against this unseen force. Something that can't be anticipated or controlled, bearing none of the inherent weaknesses of the Overmind and with the potential to, as you say, throw a spanner in the works.

That wasn't done as a noble thing however, but rather as a cool, calculating move akin to the chess player positioning their pieces. The Overmind couldn't care less about the Terran or the Protoss and would gladly consume both if it could, but it *does* care about the prospect of being manipulated towards some other creatures purposes and that, I imagine, would to put it in terms a human could understand; pisses the Overmind off. And thus Kerrigan is the Overminds response! If she ends up saving the galaxy, whatever. So long as she delivers that all important check-mate is what counts.

As for after that? Who knows. Maybe the Overmind had that planned as well, maybe when the Zerg evolve and spread enough the Overmind will be born anew? No clue. Only Blizzard know for sure.

Tadaaa.

Just for the record, Blizzard have no idea how this story will end. They don't even have panels for the expansion yet.

 

[The Madman]

Tadaaa.

Just for the record, Blizzard have no idea how this story will end. They don't even have panels for the expansion yet.

I know, it changes nothing.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the saying goes. Doesn't make the Overmind any less terrifying, unless you're implying that were the Zerg and Overmind left to their own devices they wouldn't continue to devour and evolve Tyranid style and would instead sit back and start cuddling bunnies or somesuch, because I *really* find that hard to believe.

No. It's just a case of the above statement: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Overmind knew that for whatever reason, whether because the unseen enemy is Xel'Naga or Hybrid, it could not defeat that enemy alone and so created Kerrigan as a weapon to fight back. That doesn't make the Overmind any less evil, it just makes it practical. Besides, I don't trust ghostly Tassadar! Too convenient!

Regardless, I guess we'll how things turn out eventually. Personally I hope that I'm right, because I don't like the idea of a chibified friendly cuddly Overmind any more than the OP does. Screw that!

 

[Lyri]

I know, it changes nothing.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the saying goes. Doesn't make the Overmind any less terrifying, unless you're implying that were the Zerg and Overmind left to their own devices they wouldn't continue to devour and evolve Tyranid style and would instead sit back and start cuddling bunnies or somesuch, because I *really* find that hard to believe.

No. It's just a case of the above statement: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Overmind knew that for whatever reason, whether because the unseen enemy is Xel'Naga or Hybrid, it could not defeat that enemy alone and so created Kerrigan as a weapon to fight back. That doesn't make the Overmind any less evil, it just makes it practical. Besides, I don't trust ghostly Tassadar! Too convenient!

Regardless, I guess we'll how things turn out eventually. Personally I hope that I'm right, because I don't like the idea of a chibified friendly cuddly Overmind any more than the OP does. Screw that!

Did you listen to the video at all?

"The Zerg were altered, a single over riding purpose was forced up on them. The destruction of our (Protoss) people.
The Overmind was created with thought & reason but not free will."

 

[Ridgemo]

I was having fun up till the last cut-scene. Then after Raynor shoots my favourite character in the face and uses bullshit to turn Kerrigan back into a human, only to see them walk into the sunset was just...

One of the worst endings to a game i've played. I know theres a trilogy, but i still like to be left like i accomplished something. It was like i was watching a movie and the DVD had a massive scratch 75% of the way through the film and i couldn't watch the real ending.

Glad i never personally bought it and just borrowed my mates. Was fun to play through the missions but the ending was lame.

 

[tzimize]

Curious to hear what other people think, because quite frankly, I was a little disappointed in it.

The original game had (as I remember it) a great storyline - but this one felt all over the place. The story begins with Jim Raynor trying to come back to power and dethrone the evil tyrant Mengsk, and most of the first half of the game has players working to build up money and resources to take him on, eventually finding evidence of his cruelty. Sounds like the story is shaping up for a huge revolutionary battle, right?

Well, about halfway through, this Protoss guy gives you his memories and helps you realize that the Queen of Blades may be the only one to save the world from its doom; she is not such a bad girl after all. But then you spend most of the rest of the game working to rescue her and bring her back to her human form, and the game ends on a peak when you do save her.

So this is great, but: what happened to overthrowing Mengsk? Everyone in the game just decides "oh there's no point it stopping him if the Zerg wipe out all human life." While this is true, it means that halfway through the game you drop one major plot thread in exchange for another, which is disappointing for players who have been working towards this goal. (I realize that the order you can play missions in means that you might still be playing Mengsk missions until near the end of the game, but the point remains that that story is still unfinished.) And what about Kerrigan, who was supposedly going to save everyone? Now that she's back in human form, doesn't that mean trouble? This was also unaddressed.

I was disappointed in the game, and it felt like it was trying hard to keep things open for the sequels, which is really unfortunate. What are your thoughts?

Feel more or less exactly like you op. While the gameplay and graphics were as slick as ever, the story was probably the worst I've seen blizzard produce.

All the major characters (terrans) were boring as muck, and the campaign had no point to it. There was really no story going on to speak of, and compared to SC1 it was way beyond pathetic.

When you finally arrived at decision point missions (like choosing to help the professor/protoss, or that rasta dude/ghostgirl) it started out good, then turned to shit when it turns out it doesnt really have ANY impact on the campaign. Either way you get some nice new unit, but the hero units are nowhere to be found. Helping rastaman does not make him stay with you and help you on YOUR quest.

Overall it was a terrible disappointment. Also the campaign felt WAY too much like a tutorial for single units. Almost every map had a specific unit you had to learn. If you used that unit, GG. While I understand the campaign has to learn the units to players it was just too badly disguised.

I have never been as dissapointed as this with blizzard and will not be getting Heart of the Swarm untill its dirt cheap.

That said, the protoss missions were AWESOME...but its kinda amazing that the best missions in the game are when you are playing someone ELSE than who the campaign should be about :|

 

[Nouw]

Motives were clear which was good but otherwise, pretty boring and dull. Emphasis on boring and dull. I just didn't like it, sure the plot-twist was alright and the decision making was pretty damn awesome but I have a bone to pick.

In 4 damn years, heaps of things have changed. i.e. Canon excuse to make changes.

But in the last Zeratul Mission, nothing had changed even though it was clearly at least a decade later. Forgive me but I'm pretty sure the Terrans can't just be wiped off the Galaxy in let's say, a few months.

The changes from Starcraft I to Starcraft II were explained through 'breakthroughs in technology' and 'evolution!' Yet the Zerg and Protoss are the same! Couldn't they at least make the Zerg units look a bit more menacing or simply stronger?

 

[The Madman]

Did you listen to the video at all?

"The Zerg were altered, a single over riding purpose was forced up on them. The destruction of our (Protoss) people.
The Overmind was created with thought & reason but not free will."

So? You're saying that before that the Overmind spent its time snuggling with puppies and sniffing flowers?

As I said above, the Overmind was smart enough to realize it was being manipulated towards a purpose by some unseen opponent. The Overmind didn't like that and so created Kerrigan, again, as stated in my other post, a creature without the limitations and weaknesses of the Overmind in order to strike back against that unseen force.

That doesn't make the Overmind a nice guy, it makes it not stupid. I don't see what you're getting at.

 

[Deylin]

I've never been a fan of RTS games online (Had a bad bad bad match with Age of Empires 2 back in the day...ruined my desire to play them online forever) so obviously the campaign is what i spent my money on. I loved it. Thought the storyline was awesome, loved how you could get special units or buildings from the zerg or protoss tech points...just overall was fun and the last cinematic still has me pumped for the next expansion! xD

 

[Lyri]

So? You're saying that before that the Overmind spent its time snuggling with puppies and sniffing flowers?

As I said above, the Overmind was smart enough to realize it was being manipulated towards a purpose by some unseen opponent. The Overmind didn't like that and so created Kerrigan, again, as stated in my other post, a creature without the limitations and weaknesses of the Overmind in order to strike back against that unseen force.

That doesn't make the Overmind a nice guy, it makes it not stupid. I don't see what you're getting at.

I don't believe I'm reading this lol.

You're telling me, that the evil overmind would break free from it's evil masters to fulfil the plan their masters are making it fulfil.
Makes tonnes of sense.

The overmind made Kerrigan so that when it died (which with it's magical clairvoyant powers it just happened to see) the swarm would be under her control and not the hybrids.
If the eradication of everything was the purpose, Kerrigan would not exist. That is the story SC2 has given you in that video.

Kerrigan was made to free the swarm from the overminds master.

So no, you're blatantly ignoring facts presented to you by the game itself.

 

[The Madman]

I don't believe I'm reading this lol.

You're telling me, that the evil overmind would break free from it's evil masters to fulfil the plan their masters are making it fulfil.
Makes tonnes of sense.

The overmind made Kerrigan so that when it died (which with it's magical clairvoyant powers it just happened to see) the swarm would be under her control and not the hybrids.
If the eradication of everything was the purpose, Kerrigan would not exist. That is the story SC2 has given you in that video.

Kerrigan was made to free the swarm from the overminds master.

So no, you're blatantly ignoring facts presented to you by the game itself.

Huh? All I'm saying is that the Overmind isn't some gallant hero out to save the universe but just a creature intelligent enough to think in the long-term and plan its moves ahead.

It's the Starcraft equivalent of the Borg and the Federation teaming up to fight some greater threat, just because they're working together this time doesn't make the Borg any less a threat in the long term nor does it mean they're nice people.

Another nerdy example: The Eldar and the Dark Eldar teaming up to fight the Necrons. Again, doesn't make the Dark Eldar less twisted themselves, it just means they're not stupid.

Enemy of my enemy is my friend.