The galaxy is saved! Kind of. Having completed the single-player campaign in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, I have marshaled my thoughts (sans spoilers) for deployment to you all.
Let’s get one thing out of the way right off the bat: This is a complete game. If your nerdrage is engaged over this release only telling the Terran story, consider that 15-20 hours of top-notch, highly replayable campaign missions is more than you get out of most real-time strategy titles. I understand that some people are bummed that they’re not getting the entire arc out of a single purchase, but Wings of Liberty has a satisfying conclusion unto itself. I’m shocked that Blizzard walked the fine line between having a solid ending and leaving me wanting more so well.
The defining feature of Wings of Liberty’s campaign is how uniquely each mission plays out. Every single one (past the extended tutorial on Mar Sara) has a twist of some kind that shakes up the basic gameplay. Most missions put some kind of pressure on you to move out of your comfort zone. One makes you move your base methodically across hostile-occupied territory to outrun an advancing wall of fire. Another has you rescuing friendly troops being dropped behind entrenched enemy lines. Each presents its own challenges, and most have any number of solutions in terms of what sorts of units and tactics you can use to overcome them.
They may be intangible nerd points, but the achievement system is a fantastic motivation for players to bust even further out of their comfort zones. Going for “Army of Darkness”, for instance, completely changes how the Outbreak mission plays out. This scenario has massive enemy forces besieging you overnight, and retreating during the day. Instead of bunkering up in your base during the scenario’s night cycle, unlocking the "Army of Darkness" achievement requires you to go on the offensive in darkness. Not only does it make the mission harder -- and achievements at their core are all about bragging rights -- but it creates a different dynamic. Roughly half of the missions have similar gameplay-twisting achievements associated with them. Most of the rest are performance-based (i.e. don’t lose any buildings, or don’t let a story character drop below 80% health).
The research and armory upgrades add even more replayability. The research tracks explicitly lock you out of alternate paths as you proceed down them, while the armory forces choices just as effectively by requiring far more money to unlock everything than you could possibly earn. I focused on infantry, goliaths, and base upgrades for this playthrough. I can take an air, vehicle, or special ops focus next time around and have a significantly different experience. And I know I’m going to play through the campaign multiple times.
The story itself is pure awesome for StarCraft fans. New players shouldn’t be terribly confused -- Lost this is not. Most of it is a by-the-numbers revenge/save-the-galaxy tale, but it’s executed skillfully enough to keep players engaged. Its biggest payoffs are in the moments that Blizzard does best: epic acts of heroism that leave your jaw on the floor at the sheer hubris and badassery on display. There were a few moments where the writers had to contrive transparent justifications for mission setups, and one particularly head-scratching cinematic, but I’ll still take StarCraft’s competency and popcorn entertainment over Halo’s convoluted-to-the-point-of-absurdity narrative.
I have no qualms about anointing Wings of Liberty the best RTS single-player experience I’ve had to date. I’ve completed the storyline and watched all of the bonus material available by clicking around the Wing Commander-like hubs between missions, and I have a lot more to do yet. And I look forward to it -- the only thing I want to do after beating the game is start over and do it all again.
Look for a spoiler discussion to follow, as well as more commentary on the game’s various multiplayer and challenge modes. This week’s podcast has a half hour of Phil, Dan, Sean, and myself jabbering away about the game as well. I may even publish a formal review at some point! I’ve got a fair amount of game to go before I’m ready to do that, though.