StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is a science fiction real-time strategy video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released worldwide in July 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A sequel to the 1998 video game StarCraft and the Brood War expansion pack, the game is best known as the original installment of StarCraft II which was later followed by a number of expansion packs. Wings of Liberty has been free-to-play since November 2017.
Like its predecessor, the game revolves around three species: the Terrans (humans), the Zerg (a super-species of assimilated life forms), and the Protoss (a technologically advanced species with vast psionic powers). Wings of Liberty focuses on the Terrans, while the expansions, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void, would focus on the Zerg and Protoss, respectively. The game is set four years after the events of 1998's Brood War, and follows the exploits of Jim Raynor as he leads an insurgent group against the autocratic Terran Dominion. The game includes new and returning characters and locations from the original game.
The game was met with critical acclaim, receiving an aggregated score of 93% from Metacritic, and it has been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made. Similar to its predecessor, StarCraft II was praised for its engaging gameplay, as well as its introduction of new features and improved storytelling. The game was criticized for lacking features that existed in the original StarCraft game including LAN play and the ability to switch between multiplayer regions. At the time of its release, StarCraft II became the fastest-selling real-time strategy game, with over three million copies sold worldwide in the first month.
Gameplay
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty features the return of the three species from the original game: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. In the Terran campaign, the original StarCraft briefing room is replaced with an interactive version of the battlecruiser Hyperion, with Jim Raynor, a bitter and hard-drinking mercenary captain, as the central character. In a departure from previous Blizzard games, the campaign is non-linear, with Raynor taking jobs for money and using that money to buy additional units and upgrades. Although each playthrough will vary, the result remains consistent, keeping the storyline linear. Blizzard's Vice President Rob Pardo stressed that each campaign will function very differently. The Terran campaign, Wings of Liberty, places players in a mercenary-style campaign, as Terran rebel group Raynor's Raiders raise funds by taking assignments from outside groups. The second release, Heart of the Swarm, is Zerg-focused and has role-playing elements. Sarah Kerrigan is the focus of the campaign, and the story revolves around the possibility of her redemption. The Protoss-themed Legacy of the Void is the third expansion, with the Protoss Artanis attempting to reunite the Protoss tribes in order to stop the resurrection of Amon, a fallen Xel'Naga.
Wings of Liberty has 29 playable campaign missions; 26 are playable in a single playthrough, three missions are choice-related alternates, and one hidden secret mission.
The Wings of Liberty campaign contains several missions with unique features, such as lava that floods the battlefield every five minutes, forcing the player to move their units to high ground before they are destroyed. In another mission, enemy units attack the player only at night, forcing the player into a form of siege warfare. In one mission, the player must use a single unit to influence the tide of an AI-controlled battle. Between missions, players can choose units, buildings, and upgrades that are not available in the multiplayer missions.
Wings of Liberty features approximately the same number of units as the original StarCraft. Some units from the original game have returned, some featuring new upgrades and abilities. For example, the Protoss Zealot, a melee unit from the original game, has the researchable ability to dash forward and quickly reach nearby enemies as a refinement of its speed upgrade from the original. Other units have been replaced or removed. Other changes to unit design have been inspired by story events in StarCraft and its expansion StarCraft: Brood War, replacing old units with new or renamed versions which sport different attributes and abilities. Units in StarCraft II have new abilities, compared to the original, that encourage more complex interaction with the game environment. Among these are the inclusion of units that can traverse varying levels of terrain, or have the ability to teleport short distances. Some Protoss units can be warped into pylon-powered areas using the Warp Gate, a slight modification of an existing building called the Gateway. StarCraft IIs campaign has units that are only playable in the campaign and not in the regular multiplayer mode, though they are available for custom maps. These mostly consist of units that have been scrapped from development such as the Terran Diamondback as well as various returning units from the original StarCraft such as the Terran Wraith and Goliath. The campaign features hirable mercenaries, modified versions of certain units with enhanced attributes such as health or damage that become available for hire once the standard unit is unlocked.
Editor The StarCraft II Editor is a campaign, map, and mod editor. It is the first editor by Blizzard to feature built-in mod creation and usage support. Updated art and data from the original StarCraft that were not used, along with models and data that were scrapped during the development process (including those made as April Fools jokes) will be available in the editor. Unlike previous editors made by Blizzard, it is the first to have Internet connectivity features such as map publishing, retrieval, and online activation of the editor client. Lead producer Chris Sigaty has stated that the editor gives players the ability to create role-playing, Hero-type units and structures resembling those from Warcraft III. At BlizzCon 2009, Blizzard demonstrated a build of the StarCraft II Editor showcasing its capabilities, such as the ability to customize the user interface. The final build includes a third-person style perspective for missions.
The editor was available for the first time during the phase 1 beta testing of StarCraft II, when it came with a patch. With the start of phase 2, the editor was updated. There is a map-making community using the editor, creating first-person shooter games, role-playing video games, tower defense, and multiplayer online battle arena-type games. The map database is updated as more map makers create mods for the community. The editor changes the way maps are distributed: rather than hosting games using local map files, users create and join games using maps that have been published to Battle.net. Map or mod uploads are limited to a total of 50 MB of storage, divided between ten files at most, with no file being larger than 10 MB. Although the StarCraft II Editor offers more features than the original StarCraft Editor in terms of game customization, there are concerns that the publishing limitations of Battle.net will not allow for large-scale custom maps or extensive map availability unless there is an external map publishing tool.
The StarCraft II Arcade is a major addition to the map-making community, where high quality maps may be sold for a small fee as "premium maps" over Battle.net. As a part of the arcade feature, a custom map called "Blizzard DOTA", which eventually became a standalone game named Heroes of the Storm, was announced alongside several other mods of Blizzard Entertainment at BlizzCon 2010. At that time, the map was developed to showcase the modding abilities that were to be added to StarCraft II.
LAN play StarCraft II does not offer the ability to play directly over a local area network (LAN), as is possible with StarCraft; all network games are routed through the Internet via Blizzard's gaming servers. The latency delay between commands issued and game response when played online is greatly reduced when playing over a LAN and this allows for much finer control over in-game units; there were concerns that a professional scene would not develop as a result. Over 250,000 fans signed a petition asking Blizzard to add LAN play to StarCraft II, before the game's release. Currently, Blizzard has no plans to support LAN play. Although it does not change the routing of the game through Blizzard's servers, a 'Players Near You' feature was added in StarCraft II patch 2.0.4, to help with organizing games with other players on the same local network.
Synopsis
Background
The campaign storyline of StarCraft II takes place four years after StarCraft: Brood War, and features the return of Zeratul, Arcturus Mengsk, Artanis, Sarah Kerrigan, and Jim Raynor. It also features new characters such as Rory Swann and Tychus Findlay. In StarCraft II, players revisit familiar worlds, like Char, Mar Sara, and Tarsonis, as well as new locations, such as the jungle planet Bel'Shir and New Folsom. The Xel'Naga, an ancient space-faring race responsible for creating the Protoss and the Zerg, also play a major role in the story.
At the conclusion of Brood War, Kerrigan and her Zerg forces became the dominant faction in the Koprulu Sector, having annihilated the United Earth Directorate's Expeditionary Force, defeated the Terran Dominion, and invaded the Protoss homeworld of Aiur. However, after the conclusion of Brood War, Kerrigan retreats to Char, despite having more than enough power to crush all remaining resistance in the Koprulu Sector. In the four years leading up to the events of StarCraft II, she has not been seen or heard from by any of the other characters.
Arcturus Mengsk has been left to rebuild the Dominion, and is consolidating his power while fending off harassment from rival Terran groups. Mengsk has become power-hungry, declaring Jim Raynor an outlaw and showing little desire to protect or aid the colonies under his jurisdiction. Valerian Mengsk, a character introduced in the novel Firstborn, will play an important role in Dominion politics, due to his position as heir apparent to the throne. Meanwhile, Jim Raynor, whose role in the events of StarCraft and Brood War has been marginalized by the media under the Dominion's control, has become a mercenary who spends his free time drinking in Joeyray's Bar. Chris Metzen, Vice President of Creative Development at Blizzard, has emphasized that by the events of StarCraft II, Raynor has become jaded and embittered by the way he was used and betrayed by Arcturus Mengsk. Other new characters to the series include Tychus Findlay, an ex-convict and marine who becomes a member of Raynor's crew, and Matt Horner, Raynor's second in command, a character originally featured in the novel Queen of Blades.
Following the fall of Aiur and the death of the Dark Templar matriarch Raszagal, the Protoss have retreated to the Dark Templar homeworld of Shakuras. There, Artanis, a former student of Tassadar, is trying to unify the Khalai Protoss and the Dark Templar, who have nearly separated into warring tribes as a result of centuries of distrust. Zeratul, tormented over the murder of his matriarch, has disappeared to search for clues to the meaning of Samir Duran's cryptic statements regarding the Protoss/Zerg hybrids in Brood War's secret mission "Dark Origin".
Plot