Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty - PC

Also known as: Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty Collector's Edition

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Also for: Mac
Viewed: 3D Combination Genre:
Strategy: Combat
Space
Media: DVD Arcade origin:No
Developer: Blizzard Soft. Co.: Blizzard
Publishers: Blizzard (US/GB/GB/XX)
Released: 27 Jul 2010 (US/GB)
Unknown (XX)
Ratings: PEGI 16+
Accessories: Mouse, Keyboard

Summary

At last, Starcraft returns with this highly-anticipated sequel! Continuing the epic saga of the Protoss, Terran and Zerg species, you can expect an even bigger and more fantastic intergalactic war than before.

Blizzard has remained faithful to the gameplay of the first iteration, with the key to the title still being in your resource management. Get the right balance between gathering and production and you will do well. Get it wrong and you will find yourself being overrun before you can get a decent defence in place.

Just like the first game, it's the race you choose to play as that will dictate the strategies you are going to have to use, as well as combating the traits of the race your opponent has chosen. The Terran forces are still very much the all-rounders, a wise choice for newcomers to the game and anyone who hasn't played the original in some time. The Zerg are still masters of the swarm, with the ability to build an attack force at an alarming rate if not kept in check at all times. The Protoss are masters of warp technology and aerial combat, with a large array of air units at their disposal.

The game has a very effective 'quick match' system, allowing you to simply choose the mode (1v1, 2v2, FFA), the race and then click 'Find Match'. After a few preliminary placement matches, you will be placed in a league with other players, based on the skill you've shown.

When you log into the game you seamlessly log into BattleNet at the same time. The interface looks great, everything is simple to understand and it's all easily accessible. One of the most important things you can access from this view is your player profile. Anything you could want to know about your account is here, from achievements (which were disabled at this stage of beta) to match history and even your win/loss statistics.

Selecting a previous match from the history will present you with the final overview of that match. You will be shown a bunch of interesting details, such as your average resource collection rate, unit production and even an overview of your build order. This is all very useful information for the future, allowing you to determine exactly how and why you lost or won a match.