|
+ Show Spoiler + Any help on this subject? On July 29 2010 02:22 Jimmy Raynor wrote: On the topic of pre-rendered cinematics, does anyone remember that scene with a viking maneuvering between buildings from some of the promo videos before the release? I didn't see it in the campaign.
|
I don't know much about the storyline, but I have to say that playing the campaign is much, much more fun than I could have ever imagined. I was just going to run through it on hard, but it's actually really fun playing through on hard/brutal.
|
Finished the first missions on brutal, rest on difficult cauz i didn't plan to play campaign forever... The middle part was just boring tbh except maybe the kate lockwell TV's show but that's about it. The end was just lacking so many points. I feel really "incomplete". Dunno how to say it, but that was just meh tbh. Why turn Kerrigan in human form ? I don't remember the story saying that she had to come in human form to save the universe. And what about valerian ? Why the 2nd in chief of raynor's BC didn't say something more about tydus and his vital's devices ? Seriously too many questions and not enough answers that made feel frustrated.
|
I really liked the new style of campaign.
First, mission types. In the first SC1, AFAIR there was only "build your base, destroy over 9000 bases, with new units all along", with exceptions. This time, sure you still have to build your base and destroy the other (it's an RTS after all ) but there are things added up that change the feeling of this. + Show Spoiler + For example, the Supernova mission and the first Tosh mission, where you have to move your units/base accordingly to a map factor ; the Mediatic Bomb mission, where you must keep a spot for a due time ; the mission with the trains on Tarsonis is fun too, and there are other examples. Also, infiltration. It gives a new impression for an RTS, and this pleases my easy self. But please, don't call this newshaped briefing a "Stellar map", or at least, give it a REAL meaning.
Second, interactive mission choice, and the Hyperion. Ok, you will still do ALL the mission anyway, but + Show Spoiler +for one, you can't in the first try since you have at least 2 choices to make, and since you can choose the order, you can find yourself try a mission with units you had not the first try. . This give a very different feeling from your usual "Briefing then go" rts-style. I played RTS from warcraft to SC2, from C&C to AoE, and I find this touch to be effin great. Also, side useless things that add some fun : + Show Spoiler +The Lost Vikings, Jukebox wih those awesome Tarantino-country-blues-like songs, Easter egg on TV...
Three, customizable army. This is so good. Even if in normal and hard it means you will totally rape the AI's with proper unit choice, this let you the choice of your style of play, and this is great imho. Also this give a replay value and different strategy to (I hope) suceed in Brutal mode. Never seen before in any RTS I played although it might have been already done.
Four : storytelling, background. Hmm I'm not as enthousiast as the other points. Conspiracies everywhere (one or two are good, but one in every situation...). Some dialogs are great (I like cliche-vulgar random words, and Tosh and Tychus are awesome) but they often feel empty. Raynor finds himself paraphrasing his mates more than one time. Some side-stories give the feeling they were put in for completeness, but in the end they feel useless + Show Spoiler +Mira Han. Ok this was a good lol time, but what is the point of this ? .
tl;dr Holy sh!t this IS awesome !
PS : excuse my english, am french. Bonjour le baguette !
|
On July 29 2010 14:16 Jimmy Raynor wrote:+ Show Spoiler + Any help on this subject? On July 29 2010 02:22 Jimmy Raynor wrote: On the topic of pre-rendered cinematics, does anyone remember that scene with a viking maneuvering between buildings from some of the promo videos before the release? I didn't see it in the campaign.
It's just in the intro cinematic, when you first start the game.
|
There was alot of padding, the Zeratul missions and the Char missions felt important, they felt like they mattered and very connected to the larger scope of the game.
My problem is that there was too much padding, yet we barely got to see many of the old characters who clearly have a big role, Duran, Artanis (barely appeared) and introducing new -important- characters.
Dont get me wrong i like Raynors crew but they arent really that important, Tosh was pretty cool, its a shame we didnt see more new Protoss heroes, or even Zerg Cerebrates to set them up for the next 2 games.
The story is sadly about all 3 races coming together to defeat the big baddie, which is exactly what Warcraft 3 was about.
You can sum up SC2: WoL this way
1. Kerrigan is key to defeating the Hybrids 2. Capture Kerrigan and use the artifacts (plot point) to turn her "good"
Thats all that really happens, the first 15 or so missions are all just padding, they are fun to play, but storywise they arent neccessary.
26 missions yet less happened in them than 8 missions in any of the Brood War race campaigns, look at the Terran campaign they introduced the UED, few characters, made things happen.
TLDR: Not enough happened in this campaign, only 2 things as ive said really happened, only 1 interesting new character introduced (Tosh) who hopefully will have a bigger and more important role than just "lol assassin dude".
Everytime you did a mission in BW things changed, because important things tended to happen in them that would change the whole story, in SC2 that dosent come into play until later when you find out that Kerrigan and her Zerg are important to defeat the Hybrids, it took them 10 or so missions to just get to that point.
|
Gameplay wise, there were some memorable stages. I loved the zombie one. And the Zeratul ones. And the Char stages, especially the final one, had an epic feel to them. But looking back, I think BW did the wacky side levels better. It had some interesting infiltration and UMS-esque levels where you're given a small amount of units and obstacles which you must overcome. Especially the levels where you get ghosts and have to sneak around and nuke carefully. Or infiltrating as Zerg and you can use Kerrigan to slice and dice everything. Or having to use sairs/arbiters carefully. As opposed to this game, where I didn't care much for being the Jamaican ghost. That was a snooze fest.
Storywise, I wonder about something. If you think the original SC/BW had uninteresting dialogue or characters or you don't really care how the three races are playing off each other then how in the world did you play through the campaigns without wanting to put a bullet through your head? There are a couple cool levels here and there, but that's not really the point with most people and their loving the SC campaigns. At least, as far as I can tell.
But storywise, it's a very strange transition from the Kerrigan dominated BW. There she's a very a busy bee who is seemingly having a ton of fun being rid of the overmind's control so she can be as evil as she wants. She's delighting in it, like her id has been unleashed. I don't know if it was the voice acting, the writing, dumb luck or what, but Kerrigan stole the show in that game. You want to play just to hear more of her dialogue.
SC2 opens up basically ignoring BW, almost like the Terran and Toss getting their asses handed to them never happened. Then there was that bad ass Kerrigan intro on the news. Ooh, this is about to get serious! Wait, no, then she drops off a cliff. And when she did show up, finally, there was no emotion in the confrontation (or lack thereof) with Raynor. She basically pops up, spouts some cliche '80s Saturday morning cartoon villain line in a shocking monotone, and then dashes off. In BW all of her lines oozed with either flirtatious sarcasm or seething bitterness. In this game she's a pale shadow and really not all that interesting. It's almost too bad she didn't get shot in the head at the end because I'm afraid what Blizz is gonna do with her in the next two games.
There were some good Kerrigan related CGI at least. For a serious fanwankery observation, her human form was changed from a freckly geek girl to a weirdly airbrushed cartoon girl. She got the Samus Aran treatment I guess.
Did anyone else feel like Tychus Findlay was the most interesting character in the game? I always wanted to track him down after missions to see what crazy thing he'd say. Unlike the rest of the cast he had a real voice, cheeseball lines and all. It's weird how he kinda hangs out. You discover his suit is sabotaged and he's being controlled by an outside power, but oh well, nothing is attempted or even said re: fixing that issue. Kind of a weird detail to introduce since it doesn't really explain anything or close up a plot hole.
|
well, this "introduce 1 unit per map", the "you can complete the maps in the order u like" sounds good. But i think it makes it too long... A lot of side quests side stories, i mean, get to the point!! Also Hard difficulty was too easy for me, and i can barely complete the maps on brutal, i find the gap a bit too large. And also, my last dunno 4-5 maps was build-up a force and kill ure enemy kind of stuff. I would like to play more: U get x units (and Rainor or smthing), beat it with them... Anyway i dont think im halfway trough the whole story, maybe later it will get better, but still, i got bored with it right now:S. I like the little things like The lost viking though
|
as i said in another thread, only thing there was abit of a letdown was the lack of cinematics maybe i was spoiled by the 12 videos in the orignial campaign, but ever since, blizz have made less and less of them for every game, ofc its alot of work and all, but it would have made it almost perfect for me. But i did enjoy the in-game cutscenes alot
and maybe i was the only one suprised by the ending: + Show Spoiler +i did NOT exspect to save Kerrigan, was 100% sure some retarted plot twist would come, but it didnt, and i don't concider the Betrayel as a plot twist, saw a mile comming  heck listen to the intro cinematic
all in all, worth the wait, looking forward to next playthrough and all the small things i missed + endless multiplayer and custom map 
Edit: not at all suprised by all the critiscism, it is TL afterall, godspeed
|
Well. I didn't like that they had turned the cinematics into action movies for 13 year olds, I didn't like how they removed all the INTERESTING and SMART from Kerrigan and made her just another silly stupid & evil end-boss, I didn't like how non-epic the hybrid part was, but I did enjoy most of the gameplay through the campaign, it was way above expected, every map was very well-made with quirks and different tactics.
The original SC had a story that was epic and in some way very real, like how it actually could've been if human criminals had colonized outer space and two alien races appeared. SC2 felt like watching a stupid hollywood ripoff of space marines standing around comparing the size of their guns, fighting aliens that reminded more of the Starship troopers alines than of my dear old Zergs. Bah.
|
Fun, but expected so, so much more in terms of story development. Nothing happened. At all. Remember how in 10 missions you went from guarding a Chrysalis, to unleashing it, to improving Kerrigan's powers, to holding back a Zerg 'rebellion', to invading Aiur?
How you went from hunting down Tassadar, to joining him, to finding the Dark Templar, to proving Cerebrates can be killed, to fighting the Conclave, to busting out Tassadar to destroying the Overmind.
Each mission's objectives have absolutely nothing to do with the story, so it doesn't feel like you're really DOING anything. This whole 'building an army' thing that Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, and now Starcraft 2 have done just aren't the least bit intriguing.
|
On July 29 2010 15:54 keioh wrote: PS : excuse my english, am french. Bonjour le baguette !
I donno why, but this makes me always laugh XD
|
Burned through it on hard, going back again tonight on Brutal. The only real issue I had with the story was the meetup with Valerian. I mean, the dominion fleet just sits there while Raynor and Tychus board their flagship and start killing people?
I also wish they'd had a few more 'final' missions, the whole Char -apocalypse raining space battle debris all around you while the Zerg flood up from the ground - was awesome.
|
I just finished campaign in normal...
What can i say...nothing special although in sum everything is nicely set and displayed, but there was no real threat. I guess Blizzard wanted that every noob can complete campaign.
Storyline: hell, it's about time. But for what? Nothin at all beside Kerrigan got her ass covered by J.R.
I guess in Zerg campaign, J.R. becomes successor of overmind and with his "wife", he starts kind of slaughter against everything. Jez, that would be epic
|
On July 27 2010 20:34 snotboogie wrote:So, I'm about halfway through it and I feel somewhat underwhelmed. The campaign feels utterly... cheesy.  I think the writing of the original game was so much more refined and on point - I guess they either changed writers or the format of the old briefing rooms gave a more epic feel. The new lines sound like they come from a bland fantasy novel. Still, the missions are OK I guess, and I'm especially liking the Protoss bit, but that may be because of my P bias. What are your thoughts?
I thought the campaign was very good for a game. It was alot less cheesy than BW and SC1. If you replay sc and bw you will find that it might be your memory that playing you.
However, the general quality is very up and down, sometimes the "cinematics" were almost like a good movie, but sometimes they went a little too far (the constant repetition of the "propaganda" anchor man, they should have stopped that after at least 2 go's).
Sometimes the ingame dialog/monolog was extremely bad however. I remember I had the same feeling with War3. Dont know if it is the programming, but there were SO many strange pauses in this dialog. Especially when switching from one person to another, but also during a monolog. Like "I ............................... Am .................................. Afraid.................................................................................. .....................................................................................................................................Very afraid."
But I thought it was very good campaign. The main weak point being, (as others have said), only the zeratul missions and very few others actually got the story somewhere. Too much, get this get that without learning any new SC lore (which for me is the best part).
|
On July 30 2010 00:22 soverRR wrote: Well. I didn't like that they had turned the cinematics into action movies for 13 year olds, I didn't like how they removed all the INTERESTING and SMART from Kerrigan and made her just another silly stupid & evil end-boss, I didn't like how non-epic the hybrid part was, but I did enjoy most of the gameplay through the campaign, it was way above expected, every map was very well-made with quirks and different tactics.
The original SC had a story that was epic and in some way very real, like how it actually could've been if human criminals had colonized outer space and two alien races appeared. SC2 felt like watching a stupid hollywood ripoff of space marines standing around comparing the size of their guns, fighting aliens that reminded more of the Starship troopers alines than of my dear old Zergs. Bah.
Also this. Very well put.
|
The actual plot felt like a badly written fan fiction. It's something you'd find on Angelfire or Geocities from 2001.
The presentation was spotty at best. There is some decent exposition, but it's usually ruined by a terrible one-liner given by any of the characters. Finally, the game does not take itself seriously; there are far too many inside jokes and references. There's at least one in every mission/briefing room. It's like if George Lucas released the Family Guy version of Star Wars back in the '70s.
|
Anyone else notice how many times they did the big, epic drum-beat thing that suddenly ends and goes to a black screen (I'm sure there's a technical term for it)? How many godamned times do you need to pull the same movie-esque tension builder?
|
United States1654 Posts
I loved the way they developed each mission to be unique, so playing through the campaign was really fresh and fun. Going to the armory and laboratory and watching the hilarious news reports were all a nice touch.
But while the campaign gameplay was great, I feel the story was really dumbed down when compared to its predecessor. The entire story was pretty much just about Raynor being lead to find some artifact which just happened to also conveniently have the ability to de-infest Kerrigan. A lot of the characters were introduced and then forgotten about, and a lot of the missions seemed to be just padding without a purpose in grander scheme of the overall plot.
|
I felt that there were some good missions, but as has been mentioned before, the beginning and end were the strongest points of the campaign-- the middle was ughhh.
When I have side missions to do, I tend to do a handful of them before moving on to the next primary mission. Doing this in SCII leads to a kind of schizophrenic relationship amongst the characters after Jim becomes a hardass. One minute everything's cool, then they're fighting in the bar and talking about abandoning Raynor.
The 'choices' seemed really gimmicky because they were completely inconsequential. A few research points here or there, and maybe one different unit.
|
|
|
|