Well when I played the first game I really clicked with the story and the characters, even though I was only like ten. Playing through it now I still feel the same way. Imo there's just a difference between a story that's told in a non-linear form compared to a linear format.
It's like, I feel like playing a non-linear game is like watching a movie, except at certain parts the movie pauses and asks you to decide wither the main character should go straight to location A or stop off at location B first and screw his girlfriend. That would kind of take you out of the moment. This is a terrible example to use, but, w/e. I'm not trying to argue a point so much as state how I feel about it lol.
I think the problem is that they're stretching the narrative of Starcraft 2 much too thin, because they want to release it as 3 games instead of one. It's causing the story to feel unfocused and lacking immediacy - most missions kinda feel irrelevant to the grand scheme of things, like side missions. I've got about 5 missions left and really it just now feels like it's starting to get on the right track. Telling a complete story in 80 missions has caused them to lose focus, where as doing the complete story in 30 missions forces them to make each mission feel important and the story much tighter.
That said, the missions themselves are great fun. Some of the best I've played in an RTS. Each one feels fresh and original despite many sharing a basic premise (base defense mission, destroy the enemy base mission, so on) they each have a unique addition that makes them each fun on their own. Just wish the storyline could keep up with the large number of missions in the game.
I agree with Ush, though, I don't think taking away the moments of choice would make the story better.
The early parts of the story also seem exactly the same as in Starcraft 1. Raynor is a rebel; the Zerg turn up slowly, the Protoss hover in the background... the thematic span of events is a carbon copy.
I'll see if it hooks me, but other than the good atmosphere they create with the between mission stuff, the story side of things doesn't look that great.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
The early parts of the story also seem exactly the same as in Starcraft 1. Raynor is a rebel; the Zerg turn up slowly, the Protoss hover in the background... the thematic span of events is a carbon copy.I'll see if it hooks me, but other than the good atmosphere they create with the between mission stuff, the story side of things doesn't look that great.
Well the first few missions are deliberately carbon copies of the missions in the first game, even down to the objectives. Inspiring the locals to rebel against the confederacy = inspiring antiga prime to rebel in SC1. Hold out for 20-30 minutes until evac arrives = the same hold out mission from SC1, etc. I guess that's their way of showing some familiarity to older players? Dunno. The missions do become more original later, though.
Originally posted by BackFire
I think the problem is that they're stretching the narrative of Starcraft 2 much too thin, because they want to release it as 3 games instead of one. It's causing the story to feel unfocused and lacking immediacy - most missions kinda feel irrelevant to the grand scheme of things, like side missions. I've got about 5 missions left and really it just now feels like it's starting to get on the right track. Telling a complete story in 80 missions has caused them to lose focus, where as doing the complete story in 30 missions forces them to make each mission feel important and the story much tighter.That said, the missions themselves are great fun. Some of the best I've played in an RTS. Each one feels fresh and original despite many sharing a basic premise (base defense mission, destroy the enemy base mission, so on) they each have a unique addition that makes them each fun on their own. Just wish the storyline could keep up with the large number of missions in the game.
I agree with Ush, though, I don't think taking away the moments of choice would make the story better.
I think you're right, maybe that explains the feeling I've got about it. I've only gotten up to the point where I
Spoiler:, so hopefully the gameplay of the missions themselves makes up for the numb storyline experience. It would also probably help if I didn't play on hard difficulty... I spend more time just trying to win and less time enjoying the map. 😛
just rescued that chick scientist's colony
It's a totally different game than WoW or KOTOR, you shouldn't use those as the benchmark of enjoyment for this game. Do you have any familiarity with RTS style games - Command and Conquer, the original Starcraft, and what not? If you've never played an RTS before then it's pretty much impossible to say whether you'll like it or not. The closest non-RTS comparison I can think of is to chess. It has smiliarities to that, certain units counter other units, and each unit has its own abilities and what not. Also there's a very heavy emphasis on base building.
Also it's worth noting that the game is extremely taxing to master. It's complex and there's a lot to remember. This only really applies if you are planning on playing it competitively online at all, if you're just in it for the single player campaign or to mess around with friends this statement is pointless.
You might wanna go on youtube and watch some gameplay videos or something.
Well, it certainly scores over DoW2 in mission variety- as Backfire says, they seemed to find a schtick for every mission you do.
In many ways the RP progression is better too. Although the research and armoury sections are pretty basic, they do their job of providing some persistence without the weird loot-finding DoW had, where some random Tyrannid boss happens to be carrying the Black Sword of Futureangst, or whatever.
I'm debating getting it. I played the first Starcraft a lot and enjoyed it pretty well, but...I'm really not convinced I'll get too into this one again (since when it comes to strategy games, I tend to prefer things like Civ over SC or DoW).
That, and I doubt I'd actually play much before my brother, who is a much bigger SC fan, just goes "mine!". Not to mention the fact that it's more expensive than most PC games and I'm not sure I want to spend that much money...
Argh. Looks good, looks fun, I'm just not sure about it.
What similarities does it have with DoW2, btw? Because I played the demo of that and didn't really care for it...