StarCraft 2

[SimsHsia]

We are the swarm. We burned a path of annihilation across the stars and then we vanished. Four years ago, we faded into the shadows. We've thrived, we've evolved. Now, the time has come for us to step back into the light. Now, worlds will tremble once again, empires will fall, alliances will shatter.

We are the swarm, but we are becoming much, much more. For the final metamorphosis has only just begun.
— The Queen of Blades

Yeah, almost a week late, but the Zerg are looking mighty fierce since Sarah Kerrigan became leader of the swarm. In case you're not caught up with the story, or have gotten rusty at the history of the StarCraft universe, I recommend reading The Story So Far -- since last playing it during my middle school years, the story did clear up what the meanings of the intro video of the original StarCraft game, the commentary during the missions, and the end scenes of campaigns. The Brood Wars part is coming soon, and I'm looking forward to reading it. Sure, I could reload SC and SC:BW and play all the missions again for 12 hours straight for several days, but reading the story is better in my opinion. Believe me, I've tried last summer, and barely got through the fourth mission when I decided I would do something else than play the campaigns for the fifth time.

Now, I've been a little late with keeping up to date with SC2, but then again, it allows me to read up on a heck of a lot of information in one fell swoop than coming back every day to see if there's a new update. However, it certainly is nice that in those four years, the military (or rather the designers of the game) have upgraded a couple of units. The long successful (and often troublesome for the opponent) AAV-5 Arclite siege tank has been replaced by the new Crucio siege tank. However, one of the weaknesses of the Arclite was the need to escort it out into the battlefield due to its low hitpoint, hopefully the Crucio will be able to withstand a bit longer in battle (if we only knew the stats!).

The Command Center with an option for a mounted turret gun to protect itself and the resource gatherers (SCVs) is a nice addition. Gone is the Wraith as it has been succeeded by the AH/G-24 Banshee, however it is an air-to-ground attacking unit only -- versus the Wraith's dual attack ability. Yet, the Viking replaces the Goliath and partially replaces the Wraith with its air- and ground-modes to attack either air or ground targets.

I could go into great lengths of new units, buildings, and upgrades coming to StarCraft II -- for that you can discover them on your own, but until then, when is SC2 coming out Blizzard? I sense a nuclear launch detected soon in my social life.