StarCraft 2 :Wings of liberty

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed and released by Blizzard Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A sequel to the award-winning 1998 video game StarCraft and its expansion set Brood War, the game was released worldwide on July 27, 2010.^[6] It is split into three installments: the base game with the subtitle Wings of Liberty, an expansion pack Heart of the Swarm, as well as an upcoming stand alone expansion pack Legacy of the Void.^[7]
The game revolves around three species: the Terrans, human exiles from Earth; the Zerg, a super-species of assimilated life forms;^[8] and the Protoss, a technologically advanced species with vast mental powers. Wings of Liberty focuses on the Terrans, while the expansions Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void will focus on the Zerg and Protoss, respectively. The game is set four years after the events of 1998's StarCraft: Brood War, and follows the exploits of Jim Raynor as he leads an insurgent group against the autocratic Terran Dominion. The game includes both new and returning characters and locations from the original game.
The game was met with very positive reviews from critics, receiving an aggregated score of 93% from Metacritic. Similar to its predecessor, StarCraft II was praised for its engaging gameplay, as well as its introduction of new features and improved storytelling. The game was criticized for lacking features that existed in the original StarCraft game including LAN play and the ability to switch between multiplayer regions. At the time of its release, StarCraft II became the fastest selling real-time strategy game of all time, with over three million copies sold worldwide in the first month.^[9]

Gameplay

The new Terran briefing system allows the player to explore the inside of the battlecruiser Hyperion.

StarCraft II features the return of the three species from the original game: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg.^[1] In the Terran campaign, the original StarCraft briefing room is replaced with an interactive version of the battlecruiser Hyperion, with Jim Raynor, now a bitter and hard-drinking mercenary captain, as the central character. In a departure from previous Blizzard games, the campaign is non-linear, with Raynor taking jobs for money and using that money to buy additional units and upgrades. Although each play through will vary, the end result remains consistent, keeping the storyline linear. Vice President Rob Pardo stressed that each campaign will function very differently.^[10] The Terran campaign, Wings of Liberty, places players in a mercenary-style campaign, as Terran rebel group Raynor's Raiders raise funds by taking assignments from outside groups. The second release, Heart of the Swarm, is Zerg-focused and has role-playing elements. Kerrigan is the focus of the campaign, and the story revolves around the possibility of her redemption. The Protoss-themed Legacy of the Void will be the final expansion, with the Protoss Artanis attempting to reunite the Protoss tribes in order to stop Amon.
Wings of Liberty has 29 playable campaign missions, but only 26 of them are playable in a single playthrough since three missions are choice-related alternates. There is one secret mission named "Piercing the Shroud", which can be unlocked on the "Media Blitz" mission, by destroying a Science Facility in a corner of the map. There is also a series of four missions in which the player plays as the Protoss in reliving the memory of Zeratul.^[11][12]
The Wings of Liberty campaign contains several missions with unique features, such as lava that floods the battlefield every five minutes, forcing the player to move their units to high ground before they're destroyed. In another mission, enemy units will only attack the player at night, forcing the player into a form of siege warfare. Finally, in one mission, the player must use a single unit to influence the tide of an AI-controlled battle. The single player missions are highly customizable and are featured in the StarCraft II Community Zone. Between missions, players can choose units, buildings, and upgrades that are not available in the multiplayer missions.^[13] A major new addition to the map-making community will be the StarCraft II Marketplace, where high quality maps will be sold for a small fee as "premium maps" over Battle.net. The mode of payment has not yet been announced. Lead Designer Dustin Browder has mentioned that even maps like player-created Defense of the Ancients in Warcraft III would not meet the quality requirements to be branded as a premium map.^[14]

Wings of Liberty features approximately the same number of units as the original StarCraft.^[15] Some units from the original game have returned, some featuring new upgrades and abilities. For example, the Protoss Zealot, a melee unit from the original game, now has the researchable ability to dash forward and quickly reach nearby enemies as a refinement of its speed upgrade from the original. Other units have been replaced or removed entirely: for example, the Scout, a Protoss fighter craft present in the original, has been replaced by the Phoenix.^[16][17] Other changes to unit design have been inspired by story events in StarCraft and its expansion, StarCraft: Brood War, replacing old units with new or renamed versions which sport different attributes and abilities.^[16] Units in StarCraft II have new abilities, compared to the original, that encourage more complex interaction with the game environment. Among these are the inclusion of units that can traverse varying levels of terrain,^[18] or have the ability to teleport short distances.^[16] Some Protoss units can be warped into pylon-powered areas using the Warp Gate, a slight modification of an existing building called the Gateway.^[16][19] StarCraft II‍  '​s campaign also has exclusive units which are only playable in the campaign and not in the regular multiplayer mode, though they are available for custom maps. These mostly consist of units which have been scrapped from development such as the Terran Diamondback as well as various returning units from the original StarCraft such as the Terran Wraith and Goliath. The campaign also features hirable mercenaries, modified versions of certain units with enhanced attributes such as health or damage that become available for hire once the standard unit is unlocked.^[20]