What’s Next For StarCraft II?

Some players were disappointed when they first learned that StarCraft II would play out across three distinct games, and particularly that the Protoss and Zerg would play a smaller role in the initial release. Now that the first installment is out, it’s hard to argue with the high quality offering that Blizzard has put before its players. A fun story, varied missions, and the polished multiplayer everyone has come to expect from the company have helped to make the game a huge success after only a few weeks. Even so, two-thirds of the Starcraft II game experience is yet to appear.

Wings of Liberty told the story of disillusioned rebel leader Jim Raynor, but it hints at the larger tale that lies beyond. Wings of Liberty is the foundation of a larger experience that will be rolling out over the coming years. Here, we’ll delve into elements we’d like to see Blizzard explore in the upcoming sequels – first in the Zerg-focused Heart of the Swarm, and later in the Protoss-centered Legacy of the Void. As such, be warned: SPOILERS LIE AHEAD.

First up: Big changes in the story

Story Goes Bigger And Better

It’s no secret that the next installment of StarCraft II will focus on the Zerg, and the final third installment will deal with the Protoss. But where will the story take us along the way?

Wings of Liberty concludes with a potentially galaxy-altering event. Jim Raynor succeeds at the one thing he’s dreamt of for years: he saves Sarah Kerrigan, cleansing her of the Zerg infestation that transformed her into the Queen of Blades. Or so we’re led to believe – her hair retains its segmented insect-like appearance, so she is almost certainly not fully human. It’s likely that’s just the beginning of a wider plot thread surrounding everyone’s favorite former Ghost.

If Raynor was the main character of the first installment, Kerrigan is the ideal candidate for lead duties in part two. Her transformation back into some semblance of humanity makes her an easy character to identify with, but she has a history of power and influence with the Zerg that players can get excited about.

With Kerrigan leading the way, Heart of the Swarm could focus on her rise to a new kind of power within the Zerg hierarchy. Turned from the dark path that made her into the Queen of Blades but still tied to the Zerg collective, she will be forced to re-establish her power base with Raynor's help and encouragement. Thanks to the dark Protoss Zeratul's uncovering of an ancient prophecy, former Confederate Marshal Raynor is convinced that Kerrigan is the only one that can save the galaxy from destruction at the hands of the strange dark presence commanding the hybrid Zerg/Protoss. For her part, Kerrigan will have to come to terms with her own dark deeds as a mass murderer when she was the Queen of Blades while simultaneously struggling against her new proclaimed role as savior.

Raynor and his rebellion will join with Mengsk’s son, Valerian, and the Empire will be thrown into a full-fledged civil war, a scenario that will likely play out as a Terran mini-campaign in Heart of the Swarm. Torn between his love of Kerrigan and his duty to bring down Arcturus Mengsk, Raynor will be forced to leave Kerrigan as she ventures back among the Zerg. This time, however, she’ll do so with her individuality and mind intact, gathering the Zerg armies to fight against the coming of the Dark Voice in the Void.

By the time Legacy of the Void begins, Kerrigan will have embraced her new power, having turned the full force of the Zerg against the greater threat presented by the Protoss/Zerg hybrids and their dark master. The final courageous stand of the Protoss depicted through Zeratul’s prophetic missions in Wings of Liberty will have been averted. Kerrigan will have changed the course of events, and a different future will face the Protoss and the wider galaxy. But all is not well.

Since StarCraft’s inception, the mystery of the Xel’Naga, the ancient cosmic race that shepherded the early destinies of the Protoss and the Zerg, has hung over every major event. In StarCraft II’s final installment, we’ll finally find out the secrets behind this ancient people, and the Fallen One that seems to be behind the hybrids. The hero that will lead the way is Zeratul, with significant help from Raynor and Kerrigan. Zeratul will unite the splintered factions of the Protoss into a unified whole – some of these important Protoss leaders were already introduced in the Wings of Liberty mission “In Utter Darkness.” There, we saw various Protoss leaders coming together to confront the hybrids. In Legacy of the Void, Zeratul will bring these leaders together in time to confront the Dark Voice from the Void, and destroy it once and for all.

With Mengsk’s Empire brought low and the Fallen One defeated, a tense peace can fall over the three major races – united as they are by their cooperation to halt the end of all things. But if you want our guess, at least one of these favored heroes won’t survive the final installment, being forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the galaxy.

Next up: Cooperative storylines, increased role-playing, and other changes to gameplay

Campaign Play Spreads Its Wings

It’s not just the storyline that will be seeing some major additions over the coming expansions. Blizzard has never been one to rest on its laurels, so expect some big changes to the actual gameplay within Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void. Here’s what we’re hoping for.

Cooperative missions are a clear direction to pursue. As the story progresses, (particularly if it’s anything like the outline we just presented) there will be three or more central protagonists working together to overcome various enemies, from the imperial forces of Mengsk to the dark zerg/protoss hybrids. Why wouldn’t Blizzard include cooperative story missions along the way?

The framework is already set. There are heroic characters related to each of the playable factions, and there’s evidence that the upcoming story themes circle around the need for the different races to unite to face a greater threat. Meanwhile, non-story cooperative AI missions are already one of the most popular ways to play StarCraft II. Bring the two ideas together, and both upcoming expansions could include separate mini-campaigns to be played by two or more players.

Stepping past the straightforward melees found in the current cooperative AI matches, the cooperative story campaigns would have each player controlling a particular faction with their own unique mission goals. One player controls Raynor and must fortify the entrance to an ancient Xel’Naga ruin, while the second player controls Zeratul and a small squad of Protoss troops as they retrieve the artifact within. In another hypothetical, the first player controls Kerrigan as she prepares and leads an attack force into enemy territory while a second player navigates an elite team of Ghosts led by Nova to sabotage enemy shields in advance of the attack. There are endless possibilities.

The single-player campaign could also see some major feature changes. Wings of Liberty introduced the idea of choice through unique missions that responded to Raynor’s decisions, as well as conversation opportunities on Raynor’s ship. Deeper role-playing opportunities could lie ahead. The presentation of StarCraft II’s conversations echoed Mass Effect's character interaction. We’d love to see Blizzard take the next step and allow the player to make meaningful decisions with other characters and follow conversation trees that deepen the involvement with secondary characters. Players uninterested in these role-playing opportunities can skip right past to more strategic missions. More story-minded players get rewarded through unique character reveals and achievements.

In missions themselves, we’re likely to see some evolution within the individual factions, introducing new unit types that echo the developing story. With a reformed Kerrigan in charge of the Zerg, new units will come into play to answer her new take on leading the Swarm. A similar thing will occur among the Protoss as Zeratul unites them to face the Fallen One. Expect many of these new unit types to be high-powered hero units. It’s hard to forget Tychus’ piloting of the Odin in Wings of Liberty. Though players could later build Thor units, nothing could match the sheer size and power of the Odin. Likewise, new Zerg and Protoss units within the story will be oversized, incredibly powerful, and painfully awesome. Remember the titanic Omegalisk? How about a mission focusing on navigating one of those around the board?

Another awesome addition could be some new mission settings, challenging players to master certain unit types and face some brand new ones. The awesome art showing off the Hyperion between missions sold the concept of outer space encounters – it would be a great break from the normal action to have some ship-to-ship combat while hanging over nebulae and fighting amid ruined ship husks. Alternately, what about new missions that could occur beneath the waves of an ocean planet? There are any number of unique settings that could be tapped to offer a change of pace during the campaign missions that lie ahead. 

Next up: Competitive multiplayer gets some new legs

Multiplayer Finds New Directions

A huge percentage of StarCraft players could care less about the story of Raynor, Kerrigan, and Zeratul. They bought StarCraft II for the multiplayer, and Blizzard knows it. To respond to that audience, we hope that the subsequent expansions to the multiplayer experience features some new elements.

One great new addition could be matchmaking support for mods. Previous titles proved that Blizzard’s fan community was capable of some remarkable work on its own. Crafted content that iterates off the existing framework can form entirely new game experiences, as typified by the wildly popular Defense of the Ancients mod. There’s no reason to believe that Blizzard’s community will not continue the trend with StarCraft II. For subsequent StarCraft II expansions, Blizzard could put its weight behind these dedicated modders, and include ranking and matchmaking support for the best and most popular game types.

It’s certainly possible that we’ll see new unit types appear in multiplayer, including some campaign units that previously could only be found in the campaign like the Terran Medic and Firebat. However, it’s unlikely that Blizzard will want to splinter its fanbase between two (or eventually three) uniquely balanced games. So, we predict that new multiplayer units might not be a big focus for the expansions.

Instead, match types could be the feature that dramatically changes. Blizzard has established a reputation for its peerless 1v1 RTS experience. StarCraft II's multiplayer is built around that style of play, and there’s no reason that focus should or would disappear. But that doesn’t mean Blizzard couldn’t expand their ambitions.

A focus on new match types could offer something fundamentally new to expansion buyers. Special objective-style modes would demand that players complete unique challenges above and beyond “destroy the other guy’s base.” First-person shooters have been iterating and altering traditional multiplayer modes for years now; there’s no reason why Blizzard couldn’t bring the same complexity to the RTS space. Team-based modes could challenge players to retrieve significant resource caches hidden around the board – the only way to build new forces. Or how about a competitive race to rebuild an ancient Xel’Naga artifact before your opponent? There could even be some exciting potential in asymmetrical matches pitting one player as an elite invasion taskforce traveling through a sequence of caves, while the other player hurriedly arranges defenses along the way. These and other ideas aren't entirely new to the world of video games in general or even RTS specifically, but Blizzard’s design acumen could make them great.

Undoubtedly, our ideas are only a hint of potential directions that the Starcraft franchise could head next. Now, all that remains is the interminably long wait that lies ahead for the second and third acts of Blizzard’s latest masterpiece. While we collectively wait, share your best ideas for the upcoming expansions in the comments below.