he Starcraft II panel at BlizzCon started with a roar, as a Terran force lumbered into view. On the stage’s screens, we saw the Command Center land and deploy, beginning a rapid-fire point-by-point showcase of the Terran units, as they stand today.

From the outset, Blizzard went out of its ways to show the new aspects to the Terran units. The barracks can be upgraded to have two queues producing units simultaneously. A sensor tower can be upgraded to a radar tower, which can detect incoming units—even through the fog of war. This was graphically illustrated as an onslaught of enemies appeared as red blips in the darkness, eventually emerging before getting cut down.

To illustrate the Battlecruiser’s effectiveness, one of its plasma torpedoes fired upon a cluster of 20 or so hapless marines—obliterating them almost instantly. While the Battlecruiser may be menacing to ground forces, the sleek new Viking fighter chewed it up. Well, 16 of them did. Once the smoke cleared, Blizzard showed off one of the Viking’s cool tricks—it also transforms into a mech-shaped ground unit.

Of course, that kind of power has to have its drawbacks, and the enemy’s siege tanks were happy to show them off. It seems the Viking is no match for dedicated ground-based attackers, demonstrated by the five tanks clearing the majority of the Vikings.

A new gunship, the Banshee, was shown flying across a canyon. Starcraft II’s new 3D engine really looked great here, with the ships dipping slightly and the camera adjusting accordingly. On the other side of the canyon was a group of marines--perfect for a Banshee attack. After getting their attention, the fleet of Banshees used their special cloaking ability, which confused the marines so much that they clustered together in a nice target-sized zone. Don’t they ever learn? As luck would have it, the Banshee is also equipped with a nice area-of-effect attack that can clear out marines lickity split.

The new Reaper units were then highlighted, which were basically even larger marines with jet packs. We saw them bound over a cliff wall and into an unguarded base. The Reapers are equipped with explosive charges that take a while to detonate. Mobile units will have more than enough time to get out of the way, but they’re a great way to take out structures. Of course, it’s not always so easy. The Command Post suddenly took on a life of its own, sprouting a huge turret that cleared out the Reapers. Easy come, easy go.

Thor was the next unit we saw. Basically, Thor is a gigantic mech so big it needs to be built outside of a factory. Once assembled, it’s a walking nightmare. Of course, keeping with that classic Blizzard balance, the Cobra hovertank—while not equipped with the same devastating power—can move faster than the Thor’s turning ability. Also, the Cobra has a railgun that can be fired while moving. You can imagine how this ends.

Finally, we got a quick look at the Ghost units. In addition to the cloaking and sniping abilities—which are enough to give ground forces nightmares—they can also summon squads of infantry onto the battlefield.

After watching lots of things blow up real good, Blizzard showed off some all-new solo campaign stuff. The presentation began with a look at mission evolution throughout Blizzard’s history, beginning with Warcraft II. From those simple missions, the company has tried to incorporate story more and more within actual gameplay, eventually becoming the sophisticated system we saw in Warcraft III.

The Terran solo-player demo started off on the bridge of a battlecruiser. Players take control of Jim Raynor, from the first game. The events of the Brood War have left him a bitter and jaded man, and now he works as a mercenary trying to scrape together money by performing the odd mission. Along with Raynor, Tychus, the marine shown in the Starcraft II trailers is aboard, with Matt Horner. Clicking on Tychus revealed a dialogue tree, where players will be able to learn more things and get information by selecting various options. The character models and lip synchronization were stunning, even at this admittedly early stage of development.