Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty Campaign

RTS used to be a prominent genre within gaming, but recent years have seen the amount of releases dwindle. A large problem has been a lack of innovation in the single player campaigns. Each new title followed the old model of merging story with an extended tutorial, and if that story was lacklustre; there was little purpose to its existence. A prime example of this is Supreme Commander 2. A poor story married with very limiting missions.

So it surprised me when Blizzard took a real step forward in design with the first Starcraft 2 campaign: Wings of Liberty. And it needed to be a step forward as well considering Blizzard announced form the start that Starcraft 2 was to be released a full price trilogy rather than a traditional main game with expansions or DLC.

To begin with I was a little worried about jumping into the story having not completed the original game and its expansion. The installer handily provides an overview of all the major events as a slightly confusing barrage of names and places; although it does manage to convey the key pieces of information. Going into the campaign I knew that Arcturus Mengsk was a traitorous leader from the Saturday morning cartoon school of evil. And as the player I would be controlling the forces of Jim Raynor, a former member of Mengsk’s rebel group who is now an outlaw of the Terran Dominion.

And that was all I need to know as new and returning characters were introduced properly. Their links to Jim Raynor were explained, so I never felt that I had missed part of the story. To achieve this, Blizzard has used a mix of cut-scenes, in game dialogue and optional conversations between missions. The core cast of characters is reasonably small, as the game focuses on Jim Raynor’s story and the future of the Terran forces.

It keeps events easy to follow, which is an advantage considering the campaign’s length. There are a total of twenty three missions if you follow all of the optional paths, with each mission averaging twenty to forty minutes of gameplay. The flip side is that the characters are very one dimensional. Everyone can be easily defined by one or two motives, making the events of the game rather predictable.

There are a couple of missions which give you a choice on how you approach them. Either choice provides a different mission, but the actual effect on the story is minimal. That being said, I wasn’t expecting a wide branching story structure similar to Bioware’s titles.

And the lack of story choice is made up for in the upgrade options you can select from between missions. As you progress through the missions, you acquire cash and can discover research artefacts which are invested in persistent unit upgrades. These range from hiring mercenaries who are elite units to activating new battlefield abilities. All the customisation is accessed by wandering around Raynor’s flag ship between missions. It also gives you the opportunity to indulge in extra dialogue with the supporting characters.

Crucially the missions themselves don’t feel like an extended tutorial. The first few of course are very basic, but the game quickly spreads its wings as you get access to the optional missions. The majority also introduce new units to your arsenal which can then be used freely in later missions. Several of these units are unique to campaign, adding another reason for players that usually focus their attention on multiplayer to come and take a look.

Thankfully you don’t need competitive skills of multiplayer to complete the campaign. I was able to breeze through it with basic tactics on normal difficulty, only having to restart the final mission as I started with wrong strategy.

Blizzard has set the bar for single player RTS campaigns with Wings of Liberty. Like all good trilogies, they have been careful to make sure that on the whole, the story provides a complete chapter with its own conclusion. It would be nice to see a few more complex characters, but the story does manage to pull a few convincing twists. With the release of Heart of the Swarm, it may be possible to find Wings of Liberty for a reduced price; making it worth the purchase if you’re not that interested in the competitive multiplayer scene.

Survival of the Fittest: Natural Selection 2

When I first heard about Natural Selection, I thought the concept was a little crazy. Mixing FPS with RTS, Natural Selection 2 is the spawn of Starcraft mating with Unreal Tournament. Players fight across large scale maps as either a Frontiersman or Kharaa. Simply it’s humans against aliens, do you prefer guns or teeth?

The RTS side of the game is the most interesting. There’s one commander per side who locks themselves away in a command structure. They swap their FPS viewpoint for a top down RTS role and gain a new set of abilities. These allow the commander to place structures to expand and upgrade. Whilst also allowing them to give commands to other teammates and dropping them supplies. Taking out the enemy base will stop players from re-spawning after death, leading to success.

Being on the front lines is wildly different for each side. Humans have to rely heavily on their equipment. Starting out with an assault rifle and torch, they are just about a match for the basic alien known as the Skulk. Sticking together is vital; a lone ranger is an easy ambush target. Crucially there is no friendly fire. So as soon as the lead alien leaps out the shadows, you can open fire without fear of hitting a friend. It creates some fantastically frantic gameplay for both sides. Also, backwards movement is quite slow, so you have to commit to entering a room. Scanning the ceiling and vents for any nasty lurking enemies is vital, or you’ll quickly find yourself chewed to pieces.

The mouth-cam of the Kharaa is a curios perspective to play an FPS from. Trying to line up fangs with flesh takes some practice. A glancing nibble deals reduced damage, whereas a solid bite cuts humans to chunks. You’ll spend a lot of time as the Skulk, a fragile, fast moving alien. Its party piece is climbing up walls and ceilings, giving you access to alternative routes and ambushing possibilities. Again it’s an important skill to learn to be an effective Kharaa player. I found it difficult to stick to the ceiling whilst going through bulkheads. I’d often end up falling to the floor in front of Frontiersmen and end up playing the part of living target practice.

Unlike the humans who power up with new weapons and equipment; the alien players evolve into other life forms. Available at the start of the game is the Gorge, a support and construction role. Its main job is to assist the commander by speeding construction with healing breath. It can also place a few defensive structures to slow human players. It would look like an adorable little Hippo if it weren’t for the horrible tentacles growing out of it. The other alien life forms let you take to the skies, play as a phase shifting assassin and spawn as a living battering ram. All upgrades cost you personal resource which is gained from map control and general play.

A good commander is the key to victory. Their priority is to use teammates to secure the resource nodes dotted around the map. These resources drive the teams’ economy, granting quicker access to upgrades, thus gaining the upper hand.  Each side has different base structures which defines the strategy for each team.

The Frontiersman can place structures wherever they please. This allows them to build outposts and hold quiet corners of the map easily. All humans are equipped with a construction tool. Running up to the outline of a building and holding ‘E’ will slowly build the structure. More players will increase the build speed, but you’ll need someone watching your back. A group of distracted humans is dinner on a plate for the aliens. Power is the Frontiersman weakness. If the Kharaa knock out the power source in an area, all buildings stop working and the lights go out! This denies the resource, and creates the perfect environment to use their night vision.

Kharaa are much more limited in their expansion plans. The base has to be linked by a connected line of Cysts. These small glowing orange blobs spread infestation around themselves like a plague. Any structures placed on the infestation will function and grow. But if the Frontiersman break the chain, the infestation will retreat leaving buildings to wither and die.

Controlling the map’s resources and constructing secondary bases is the main plan for both sides. As the game progresses, the resources earned are converted into research and upgrades. This escalates into an arms race as each side aims to get access to its best equipment first. Humans utilise a variety of weapons such as flamethrowers and grenade launchers, as well as jetpacks and devastating mech-suits.

The aliens can evolve into greater life forms, and add to them with unlocked perks. These can allow them to move faster and in silence. On top of that they can gain quick health regeneration enabling some deadly hit and run attacks. Playing as the assassinating Fade, you can move at warp speed when fully evolved. I’ve run straight past targets accidentally due to ridiculous movement and then had to keep going past them to avoid the bullets aimed at my hide.

Overall, the feel of the game is that of a more old-school arena shooter. The reference to Unreal Tournament is very apt due to the fast pace of the game and no iron sights. With a little practice, picking up the FPS role of either side is straight forward. The command role however is very tricky, but equally very rewarding. There’s links to video tutorials within the game which is handy, but it’s a bit annoying to sit through several videos instead of learning through play.

The biggest flaw with the game is that the mechanics lead to a rich-get-richer scenario. When a team is dominating, it becomes impossible to turn a game around through good paly alone. To add to the loosing team’s misery; they have the choice of suicidal attacks, or to sit around and wait for the inevitable. But that is the nature of Nautral Selection 2. To get the most from it, you’ll need to find a server that suits your skill level for more balanced games. The complexity of the game’s mechanics come together to create an interesting, and most importantly fun game.