Nova Covert Ops available for Pre-purchase now

How much will each mission pack cost?

Each mission pack will be $7.49 USD, but you can pre-purchase all three now for $14.99 USD.

On December 02 2015 18:51 Biolunar wrote:
Fucking preorder bonuses. Fuck you marketing department.
This is the first time a Starcraft title has content locked behind a preorder pay wall and you guys are celbrating that? To quote some Star Wars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1FFVWEQnSM
Preordering is the stupidest shit in the gaming industry right now. Why would you even do that? Since there will be no boxed copy you have NO argument that preordering has benefits. Just buy it the day you want to play it, you have it immediately available. That’s why they lock that portrait and the skin behind the preorder wall so we have a reason to buy it before we even know if it’s any good. Come on that’s bullshit.

On December 02 2015 19:13 pure.Wasted wrote:
Skin isn't locked, you get it for buying all three mission packs.

I'm sure you don't think that you're overreacting because you're standing up for the principle of it all... but... seriously. It's just a profile pic. There are more abhorrent practices in the world than rewarding blind loyalty and fandom with a profile pic.

On December 02 2015 18:51 Biolunar wrote:
Fucking preorder bonuses. Fuck you marketing department.
This is the first time a Starcraft title has content locked behind a preorder pay wall and you guys are celbrating that? To quote some Star Wars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1FFVWEQnSM
Preordering is the stupidest shit in the gaming industry right now. Why would you even do that? Since there will be no boxed copy you have NO argument that preordering has benefits. Just buy it the day you want to play it, you have it immediately available. That’s why they lock that portrait and the skin behind the preorder wall so we have a reason to buy it before we even know if it’s any good. Come on that’s bullshit.

On December 02 2015 18:59 Endymion wrote:

except the skin is worth 15 dollars on its own, regardless of the quality of the campaign missions...

First Nova mission pack is expected to release on or before June 19, 2016.
All three Nova mission packs are expected to release on or before December 1, 2016.

Pre-purchase Nova: Covert Ops and you'll receive a special in-game portrait. You’ll also receive a ghost unit skin for StarCraft II when you purchase the entire Nova bundle!

On December 02 2015 19:25 Biolunar wrote:
It is locked. Source: http://eu.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/19976124/ “The Nova portrait is limited to the pre-purchase bundle, and will be gone once the first series of missions launch.”

On December 02 2015 19:25 Biolunar wrote:
I’m telling you: this is just the beginning. Just look at other games in the industry. Some lock playable content behind a preorder wall. .

On December 02 2015 22:11 -Archangel- wrote:
This is hilarious. I just recently bought a 20+ hour newly released game that cost less than 15e. And looks as nice as SC2. And this pack will have like 3-4 hours of gameplay.
Blizzard is funny. I guess my choice of not giving them anymore money after they tricked me with DIII was good. Fool me once and all that...

On December 02 2015 09:46 ETisME wrote:
The trailer cutscene was really well done, gonna grab it soon. Though they really can improve on the production speed.

On December 02 2015 22:15 Shivatron wrote:


How's the voice-over work or the cinematics in that game?

On December 02 2015 22:44 -Archangel- wrote:

I don't care for that. Blizzard stories after Sc1, D2 and maybe Wc3 are cheesy and stupid anyways.

On December 02 2015 22:51 kudlaty_true wrote:I'll leave you all with a thought: I know this is Blizzard we're talking about here, but D3 wasn't exactly a successor to the franchise at first, right? SC2 lore-wise isn't a gem either. Just saying.

On December 03 2015 00:36 DifuntO wrote:
The only thing that sucks is that it's gonna take a while for all the missions to be released and I was hoping it was gonna cost 5 euros for each mission pack without pre-ordering.

It looks like I'm gonna have to pre-order and hope it's worth the money.

On December 03 2015 00:30 Cricketer12 wrote:

You seriously want to defend a blizzard story that came after that? Please go ahead so i can tear you to pieces.

On December 03 2015 04:59 GGzerG wrote:
I think this is ridiculous, and I can't believe Blizzard is making extra $$ of of StarCraft like this, it totally goes against what SC is about, but I guess if others enjoy it, it is a good thing. Haha ill shut up and go in my corner =p

On December 03 2015 04:55 Cricketer12 wrote:

What is there to enjoy? They are all stories geared toward 12 year olds. Its pathetic and insulting.

On December 03 2015 04:55 Cricketer12 wrote:

What is there to enjoy? They are all stories geared toward 12 year olds. Its pathetic and insulting.

On December 03 2015 04:55 Cricketer12 wrote:

What is there to enjoy? They are all stories geared toward 12 year olds. Its pathetic and insulting.

On December 03 2015 06:29 lestye wrote:
It's 33% cheaper if I preorder it, that's reason enough.

On December 03 2015 06:17 Caihead wrote:

Never stopped nintendo or platinum games.

On December 04 2015 00:56 JimmyJRaynor wrote:
video game storylines generally suck balls.

On December 04 2015 05:04 ChristianS wrote:
I'll be a little disappointed if they don't take the opportunity to add new Co-op content

On December 04 2015 02:32 MyrionSC wrote:
A chance to support SC2 further AND singleplayer content? Sign me up!

On December 03 2015 00:30 Cricketer12 wrote:

You seriously want to defend a blizzard story that came after that? Please go ahead so i can tear you to pieces.

On December 05 2015 02:09 lestye wrote:
SC1, D2, and WC3 are full of the same cheesy moments like SC2 is. I have no idea what Cricketer12 is talking about, like, these type of games, are kinda remembered for "badass moments" rather than actual story depth. We have games like Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, Chrono Trigger, those games actually have excellent story lines with tons of depth. Blizzard games don't hold a candle to that, but I still enjoy them for what they are.

On December 06 2015 03:27 HellNino wrote:
Meanwhile EU getting fucked again...
1$ != 1€

On December 06 2015 03:27 HellNino wrote:
Meanwhile EU getting fucked again...
1$ != 1€

On December 04 2015 01:24 Phaenoman wrote:


I cannot share this exp. I really like a lot of stories that games have. And the fact that games have been picked up by the movie industry shows that they don't have to "generally suck balls". If they are doing a good job is another story.

On December 07 2015 02:40 FFW_Rude wrote:
15€ ? Well.. NOPE



Final Fantasy says hi.

On December 07 2015 04:17 JimmyJRaynor wrote:


again i can name 100 novels with better stories.
conrad's heart of darkness.. and its movie analog apocalypse now ... are 1 book and 1 movie with better character development, theme and plot than any video game story. and like i said .. i'm not a fiction reader. i'm sure a dedicated novel reader can rhyme off 1000 books.

the most recognized video game character for north americans is pacman. try and build a story around that character.
game play design trumps story every time.

On December 07 2015 04:17 JimmyJRaynor wrote:


again i can name 100 novels with better stories.
conrad's heart of darkness.. and its movie analog apocalypse now ... are 1 book and 1 movie with better character development, theme and plot than any video game story. and like i said .. i'm not a fiction reader. i'm sure a dedicated novel reader can rhyme off 1000 books.

the most recognized video game character for north americans is pacman. try and build a story around that character.
game play design trumps story every time.

On December 07 2015 04:17 JimmyJRaynor wrote:


again i can name 100 novels with better stories.
conrad's heart of darkness.. and its movie analog apocalypse now ... are 1 book and 1 movie with better character development, theme and plot than any video game story. and like i said .. i'm not a fiction reader. i'm sure a dedicated novel reader can rhyme off 1000 books.

the most recognized video game character for north americans is pacman. try and build a story around that character.
game play design trumps story every time.

On December 07 2015 04:17 JimmyJRaynor wrote:


again i can name 100 novels with better stories.
conrad's heart of darkness.. and its movie analog apocalypse now ... are 1 book and 1 movie with better character development, theme and plot than any video game story.

On December 07 2015 04:55 Endymion wrote:


every medium has its strengths and weaknesses, that doesn't mean video games are inherently inferior to books... while books may be able to tell large stories with multiple character archs, plays inject the personality and ego of actors into each performance, and movies are like plays except the director has an infinite amount of time to perfect each scene.. video games are unique, however, in that they can actually involve the player in the narrative.. games are just a pretty new medium, give people some time to get their bearings.. however, that doesnt mean sc2 gets a pass, since an 11 year old kid could have written a more compelling narrative

On March 23 2016 03:26 Musicus wrote:
More info about mission pack 1.

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/20063101/patch-32-preview-nova-covert-ops-mission-pack-1-3-22-2016

They really like flying tanks, now without medivacs .

On March 24 2016 09:55 [UoN]Sentinel wrote:

The shape of her tits in that armor looks uncomfortable.

On March 30 2016 08:00 klimuszko wrote:
How about achievements? How many for the first 3 missions? I mean, I'm still waiting in EU for that god damn DLC.

On March 30 2016 08:49 DrSeRRoD wrote:


3 Mission Pack achievements, and then 3 achievements per mission (do X in Normal, do Y in Normal, do Z on Hard).

On March 30 2016 14:01 Alventenie wrote:



There seem to be more achievements as well similar to feats of strength. They aren't listed in the mission briefing, but rather in the achievement screen.

Most of them are just harder versions of the ones listed in mission log though + Show Spoiler +

On March 31 2016 03:40 lastride wrote:
Damnit, why cant nova in sc2 look like nova in heroes?

On March 31 2016 16:09 RaiZ wrote:
Can someone explain me the point of this game ? Apart from new cinematics, everything was dull. I mean, how hard is it make new missions when you already have the engine to make it for you ? Waste a big waste of time and money seriously.

On April 01 2016 00:46 lestye wrote:

The engine doesnt MAKE maps, you have to actually sit down to make them...



I think the epiosodic format is good for this type of stuff, I get a little bit to chew on every few months, and they can use fan feedback when making the other installments.

The alternative is that I pay 15 dollars and have to wait an entire year for that content.

And a lot of people WANTED skins as a way to support SC2 because they would have incentive to add content and features onto the game. The alternative is that "Oh hey, SC2 is done, alright lets work on the next game. Cya guys in 5 years" while SC2 gets little to no updates.

If I consider the Blizzard prizes in those games, I think we get incredible value here.

On April 01 2016 02:43 Ganseng wrote:
I didn't get just one thing after this pack

Why didn't Valerian phone Zagara and asked her to look after those Zergies? =)

Other than that nice stuff, liked it

The mastery achievement in the 1st mission (for not being hit at all by the oversized plane (warhawk?)) was kinda annoying, I had to try, save&load a ton of times

And one more thing: Stone (the Ghost from Nova's team) is a villain. Guaranteed :D

On April 01 2016 01:33 Tresher wrote:
It just bugs me a little bit that they charge money for the skin the people asked the most for. Im sorry but it just smells like money making a bit for me.

On April 01 2016 01:33 Tresher wrote:
And the Episodic format IS bad. Paying for something you don´t get immediately or fully is (in most cases) a bad idea.

On April 01 2016 00:22 Tresher wrote:

The bolded part is the answer to your question.

I was worried anyways that even Blizzard releases DLCs now. Didn´t bought it because my old machine can´t even handle LotV (which I didn´t bought either) properly. Im heavily against episodic formats and don´t know why people even pay for something that they won´t even get completely.
Also a lot of people wanted a female ghost skin. Now Blizz uses it against the community to make money with it. Really disappointing.

On April 02 2016 00:34 lestye wrote:

We've already explained this multiple times. So they gradually release content so you're showing interest in the game every 4 months as opposed to every year and never touching it again. If you really enjoy single player content, you're going to have anything for an entire year? That's not good either. That's basically weaning your playerbase off your game.

On April 12 2016 22:35 JimmyJRaynor wrote:
IGN rates stuff a little on the high side. Generally. its a positive and optimistic web site.
Well Nova Covert Ops got a 6.2/10

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2016/04/05/starcraft-2-nova-covert-ops-mission-pack-1-review

Does any one know....
Has Blizzard ever received a rating this low from IGN in any of their games?

On April 01 2016 13:24 Eternal Dalek wrote:
About the episodic content, a lot of players don't play Starcraft 2 full time. Heck, most gamers don't play games full time; they cycle between games and come back to their first game years later. When I tell people that I've been playing DotA for 13+ years and Starcraft for 18 years, I don't mean that I've continuously played since the first versions were released; most of us actually take breaks and come back to the game later.

This style of content is wonderful for the vast majority of Starcraft players. They pay 15 USD now and get to play 3 missions at a time. They play for several hours, several days, maybe even weeks, only to stop playing after they've had their fill. Months later, they come back for more, and the cycle continues.

On April 12 2016 23:11 tokinho wrote:


Lol. Did you listen to the reviewer? I couldn't play it on harder difficulties so i played it on normal. There is too much going on, and i think they shouldn't have base building. I only liked the part where its super simple controlling one unit and doesn't require any attention. Why the fuck is he even playing rts? That reviewer should be fired.

On April 12 2016 23:11 tokinho wrote:


Lol. Did you listen to the reviewer? I couldn't play it on harder difficulties so i played it on normal. There is too much going on, and i think they shouldn't have base building. I only liked the part where its super simple controlling one unit and doesn't require any attention. Why the fuck is he even playing rts? That reviewer should be fired.

On April 12 2016 23:53 The Bottle wrote:


I don't buy this. What you say is true for games without a well defined ending (like multiplayer SC2 or Moba games), maybe even single player games with a really long campaign, like a Final Fantasy. But I highly doubt a significant number of people have ever spent over a month on any of the SC2 campaigns, each of which are over twice as long as the full Covert Ops is going to be. If a casual gamer who got LotV at November was playing the campaign at the rate that you suggest the Covert Ops release is allowing for, they would be at around Ulnar right now (the midway point where you find the home of the Xel Naga) which would be absolutely insane. This isn't a casual gamer who is taking their sweet time with an extremely short single player game, it's someone who got bored of the game and stopped.

I'm on the nay side of this. This is one of the weirdest models I have ever seen for releasing a single player game. If FF7 came out with each of the three disks being released months apart, I would have no desire to buy it before they were all released. And as it is now, I have no desire to buy this until maybe all three packs are released. (Even then it's still less than half the size of any of the individual SC2 campaigns.)

On April 14 2016 17:38 thePunGun wrote:


Well, I'm one of those, who've spent a month or more replaying all 3 campaigns after I played LotV and the epilogue. (I've also read most of the SC books, some of them twice). I'm pretty sure there are quite a few like me, who love the SC universe and its stories. I was pretty disappointed, when they cancelled SC Ghost back in the day, so I really appreciate Blizzard's effort to give Nova a DLC campaign ...And I will definitely play it several times, simply because I enjoy the lore behind the games and I will gladly pay a buck or two for more.

On April 14 2016 23:09 The Bottle wrote:

I have played a ton of campaigns too, I have even got all the achievements. You completely misunderstood what I meant in the bold text. Try and read it again, and understand the context in which I'm saying it, by looking at the argument that I'm responding to.

On April 15 2016 00:10 thePunGun wrote:


I completely understood your argument. However you seem to think, the way they release the mission packs is a new model invented by Blizzard, but it's not. There's plenty of other game developers out there, who release story content in episodes like Telltale's adventure titles or Capcom with the latest Resident Evil series (Revelations). And your FF7 example would also work in a chapter based model like a book (similar to Telltale's approach).