EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/KizZBG/sc2banner.jpg)
A week ago Blizzard.com started teasing its audience with spash screens showing a countdown of all its major titles from 1994 to the present. On May 19th, 2007, gamers around the world stood still as Blizzard made their humongous announcement in their Worldwide Invitational event in Seoul, South Korea. We F5ed (refreshed) our way to keep updated with information at teamliquid.net and ign.com and finally at 3:00 Seoul time (11pm PST), they announced the long awaited STARCRAFT 2!
This sequel brings StarCraft into a 3D world with many familiar units from the original game as well as new units for Protoss, Terran and Zerg races. Original StarCraft units have been upgraded with new functionality. The gameplay is fast-paced real-time strategy which utilizes a new 3D-graphics engine with realistic physics and can handle massive army sizes. Online play will make use of an upgraded version of Battle.net. There will also be a single-player campaign that continues the StarCraft story. A powerful full-featured map editor is included for our map making community which will help keep the game ever changing and always new as it did for the original StarCraft. This game will be released concurrently on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Mac OS X.
Official StarCraft 2 website: STARCRAFT2.COM
Screenshots: http://www.starcraft2.com/screenshots.xml
Videos: http://www.starcraft2.com/movies.xml
FAQ: http://www.starcraft2.com/faq.xml
IGN live report page where announcement was made:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/788/788627p1.html
New and updated Protoss units:
- Zealot (announced in starcraft2.com) - Has a new charge ability that help them run quickly to a close range when attacking enemies.
- Immortal (announced in starcraft2.com) - The updated versions of dragoons. They have powerful shields that wield a strong defense against powerful attacks but weaker attacks do not activate their shields.
- Stalker (announced in starcraft2.com) - A ranged unit inspired by dragoons and includes within it the essence of dark templars. They teleport quickly over short distances.
- Phase Prism (announced in starcraft2.com) - A transportation unit that can teleport armies anywhere on the battlefield.
- Colossus - A large four legged vehicle that fires strong dual lasers and is mobile through uneven terrain.
- Mothership - A powerful hovering unit that utilizes a great amount of resources. It can attack multiple units at a time and has three abilities - Time Bomb which slows enemy missile attacks, Planet Cracker which is a large laser that fires from below the Mothership and obliterates anything in its field, and Black Hole which creates a void that absorbs and destroys enemy air units. Only one of these can be active at a time.
- Phoenix - An air unit that can overcharge guns for multiple projectile blasts. After the initial blast, the ship is unable to move or attack for a short period of time.
- Warp Ray - An air unit that attacks with a blue laser and dteals more damage as it focuses on the same target. It is powerful against tough units and buildings but wastes damage on small units.
We are still pretty much in the dark regarding Zerg and Terran units.
New and updated Zerg Units:
- Nydus Worm - A transportation unit similar to the nydus canal which transports small units such as zerglings from underground.
- Baneling - Zerglings can mutate into suicide bombers similar to infested terrans. They fill with explosive and acidic chemicals and can roll across terrain and explode on impact.
- A unit that has an "infect" ability which allows takeover of hostile organics for a limited amount of time, ending in target unit exploding and damaging units around it.
New and updated Terran Units:
- Reaper - Similar to a marine, this unit can fire strong dual lasers and can traverse differences in terrain height.
There is currently no release date but Blizzard promises to take as much time as needed to make sure the game is as polished as possible.
Higher Quality Trailer and Gameplay Videos on YouTube/Google: (thanks to mr0919)
- Cinematic Trailer - US Version(Source: Blizzard): www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxybAA326-c
- Cinematic Trailer - Korean Version(Source: Blizzard Korea): www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWs8dz1NYzM
- Artwork Trailer(Source: Blizzard): www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX7fQUY01nw
- Gameplay Video (Source: OGN / Not Splitted): http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6287387257388853221
- Blizzard Worldwide Invitational - Official Announcement Scene of SC2 (Source: OGN): http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7244020136130218996
Lower Quality Embedded YouTube Videos below:
Youtube clip of first video seen of StarCraft 2 cinematics (thanks to Tieno):
Youtube clip of first video seen of StarCraft 2 gameplay (thanks to koreanism):
Youtube clip of gameplay showcasing protoss and terran units (thanks to koreanism):
Youtube clip of gameplay showcasing protoss and zerg units (thanks to koreanism):
The videos have little clues regarding what else may be added to the game. Kerrigan shows up briefly in the cinematic trailer.
Teamliquid thread that had been keeping track of the Blizzard.com front page from day 1:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=53135
Thread that was formed right after the announcement:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=53386
We have an all new StarCraft 2 section of our forum as well so please feel free to post related topics in there!
Reference Websites:
http://www.teamliquid.net
http://www.starcraft2.com
http://pc.ign.com/articles/788/788627p1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCraft_2
and those kamikaze lingz already look imba to me 
