StarCraft Review - Believe The Hype

StarCraft

rating:5

Game's with this much hype invariably never live up to expectations. That is the sort of ominous shadow that casts itself over any attempt to review Starcraft, so it's key to remember that some reviews will be naturally tempered by the spectre of anticipation. But if that is the case, then Starcraft might well be the greatest game ever released, because even with the mega hype, it is a very well crafted game, and almost certainly the best real-time strategy to hit shelves since the genre burst onto the market. The game comes with 30 single player missions in the campaign - ten for each race - and is packaged with a gripping enough story to convince that playing all three campaigns is a good idea. There's also enough diversity in the mission types, and indeed in the difficulty levels to keep the player focused, plus Blizzard have thrown in enough innovative designs to mix things up too. Multiplayer is equally good, and diverse: there's head-to-head and up to eight-player battles over LAN or the Internet, with a good selection of game types and lots of new maps to download. If there's one criticism, it's one that blights both single player and multiplayer, and that's the tendency for rushing tactics to be favoured - whether because the AI player can see all of your tactical decisions and plan accordingly (in single) or because it's just plain more effective (in multiplayer.) It would perhaps have been nicer to have more tactical control. But that's a minor quibble. Starcraft looks great, and it's packed with personality, as well as some incredible and engaging art design. Very few RTS games look this good, or play this irresistibly. I have every faith that StarCraft will go on to sell in mega-numbers, not just this year, but every year until someone manages to better it. And that, my friends, won't be happening for quite some time. StarCraft is available to buy for PC now. Buy it.
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