Since the SC2 beta NDA has been lifted, there will probably be a lot of talk about what’s going on in the beta. Here are my opinions:
After downloading and launching the game, I was prompted to create a character. It was interesting because it made it feel like a RPG. The first.last naming scheme was weird though and I didn’t really understand the concept. It said the second part of the name is used to identify the user in the event that the first part of the name is the same as another user. That’s a good idea, but the first couple of times when I was trying to come up with the first part of my name, it said it was already taken. So I don’t understand what the second part is for. Maybe it’s a bug.
After creating my character and logging in, I was surprised by how different the Battle.net interface looked. I’ve seen some screenshots of it at BlizzCon 2009, but didn’t remember much of it after they finally started SC2 beta. The interface looked a lot better than the old Battle.net. The space theme is awesome, and it almost felt like I was already playing a game even though it was only Battle.net. When I first saw the Starcraft 2 website, I loved how it was almost all Flash. So it was cool to see how Battle.net looked similar to that.
Another cool thing about the new Battle.net is the background. It isn’t just a static background like the old Battle.net. There is a rotating planet, with stars in the background, and sometimes a battlecruiser would pass by. The concept is like the splash screen for Wrath of the Lich King, but in space. The graphics of that space background looks as good as a cinematic.
One of the complaints so far is that there aren’t any chat channels like in the old Battle.net. After logging in, you kind of feel alone and are playing a single-player game. You basically only have your friends list to see who’s online. I’m sure this will change as the beta progresses toward its final stages because they redesigned Battle.net entirely to be a social network.
So I finally get around to creating a game. I usually don’t like playing against other players, so I only played against the AI so far. I selected a map, clicked create, and it started downloading the map. This was neat because I was expecting all the maps to be included with the client. The cool thing about this is that we can download maps in the game directly without having someone with the map to host a game just so someone can download the map. Although all the maps available so far are official Blizzard maps, I imagine that they will also have something similar for user created maps. I remember how annoying it was to play custom maps with the old Battle.net. Some people would say that you’d have to have the map already downloaded to join. Other times, someone would join and download the map, the game would start with the countdown running, and then the person would leave, resulting in an unbalanced match. Sometimes it took several recreates of the map just to be able to play it. So I’m hoping Blizzard did something about that.
After downloading the map, it would take me to the lobby where I could either make it public or add some AI players. I added an AI to go against and clicked the button to start the game. The countdown is little buggy but really minor since everything else seemed to be working really well for a beta.
After going into the game itself, I was surprised to see how similar to Starcraft 1 it was. I felt like I already knew how to play. They made a lot of changes, but the actual gameplay felt familiar. I don’t remember exactly how the graphics looked in SC 1, but the graphics here are great. For the sound, I personally like the sound effects from SC 1 better. I haven’t played SC 1 in years, but I’m surprised I still remember what it sounds like. The music, however, is better in SC 2, though I feel there needs to be more tracks.
After playing against the AI some, I got bored because the only difficulty level available so far is Very Easy. I could literally take a few units to the enemy base and win. Though this is probably done in the early part of beta to encourage more human vs. human, I wish they would have at least put it up to Normal difficulty.
It seems they also took out a lot of tech and upgrades. I’m hoping that for the release of the game there will be more. If not, that just means more room for the expansions.
The thing I enjoy most about Starcraft is the single-player campaigns. So since the SC 2 beta is aimed mostly at the multi-player aspects of the game, I understand why I’m not enjoying it as much as I thought I would. The game itself has a lot of potential, and Blizzard has yet to fail at creating a game I enjoyed. From the first looks at the single-player at BlizzCon, it looks like something I’m really going to enjoy. By the time SC 2 is officially released, I’m sure they would have made a lot of changes, especially to the balance of the races. It will be interesting to see Battle.net and SC 2 at its full potential. I also look forward to seeing what custom maps will be made because I spent a lot of time playing those in SC 1. Surprisingly, the beta is really smooth with minimal bugs. It almost feels like a release rather than a beta.
i barely cant wait to play starcraft2! =O