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StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty Collector's Edition Unboxing
Never has a squeal of joy been heard in this office quite like the one that emitted from my lips when a package from Blizzard arrived today. This bulky box contained none other than the collector's edition of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, my most anticipated game of the year. I decided to share my joy with everyone by chronicling my unboxing of this huge special edition. Check it out.
Step 1: Here's the big box itself, which looks beautiful.
And the back, which lists the huge number of things inside.
Time to take a look inside for myself.
Bonus item #1: A behind-the-scenes DVD. I'm told by others that this DVD contains all of the game's cinematics, including the ending. That means I won't be touching this sucker until after I've put the single-player campaign to bed in a week or two.
Bonus item #2: A soundtrack, complete with reflection of me taking a picture, because I am a pro at photography.
The inside of the soundtrack contains some nice flavor text about the plot of the series and how it connects to the music. I'm looking forward to listening to this all day while I wait to actually play the game tonight.
Bonus item #3: Issue #0 of the StarCraft comic from WildStorm. I've read a bit of this, and it seems pretty fun. The art is also better than I've come to expect from video game comic book tie-ins. The issue even comes with its own bag and board for the true comic collectors in the audience.
Bonus item #4: An incredibly classy hardcover Art of StarCraft II book. Here's an image from a random page I opened up to. Spoiler: It's beautiful.
Bonus item #5: My personal favorite -- a dogtag carrying the name of StarCraft II protagonist Jim Raynor. This piece of identification also functions as a USB stick which contains copies of the original StarCraft and its Brood Wars expansion pack for anyone who hasn't played them yet.
The last of the "bonus" items is more of a bonus for Blizzard. They've included two handy Guest Passes to invite a friend to check out StarCraft II. According to the pass, it will allow someone to play the game for free for the first seven hours (up to 14 days from activation). Then they'll have to pony up money for the full version. First hit is free!
Oh, and it comes in World of Warcraft flavor too. The Collector's Edition also comes with two 10-day passes for Blizzard's popular MMO. And finally...
There's the reason everyone is so excited in the first place: the game itself!
Personally, this is easily one of the best Collector's Edition packages I've ever seen, even with the hefty $99.99 price tag. Sure, that's coming from a hardcore StarCraft fanboy, but what is a Collector's Edition for if not fan service? All of this cool bonus material just has me more psyched to finally play StarCraft II tonight, and with the DVD, art book, and soundtrack, I know I'll be able to keep experiencing aspects of the game for a long time to come.
Stay tuned to Game Informer this week for more news and impressions of StarCraft II as folks around the office begin digging into the game.
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