SCII News!!

"The Wings of Liberty Experience" by Webnet
Blizzard
has always put a huge focus on the story line for their games. With a
Blizzard title such as Starcraft or Warcraft the story is an
introduction to the multiplayer. Their objective is that when you play
the game you're not just playing a game. You're getting involved with
the characters, similar to when you read a book, you get caught up in
the story and feel like you've been sucked into the universe and are
fighting for your own survival.

Wings of Liberty is definitely no exception and as it takes you deep
into the Starcraft universe on Battlecruiser Hyperion. In between
missions you'll be on board Hyperion which is known to the developers
as “story mode”. Here you can have conversations with anyone you pass
to learn more about what's going on throughout the universe. There are
several areas to this ship you'll get to know quite well.

The Armory is where you can
purchase new units or upgrades to strengthen your army. In the below
screenshot there are a lot of empty squares. The development team plans
to have this completely full of a broad range of upgrades that add a
lot more flexibility and customization that would never be balanced in
a multiplayer setting. For instance, if you're a big fan of the Medic,
you can increase the amount they heal, or upgrade their heals to have
an area of effect.

Image: http://www.starcraft-source.com/media/s .. hot/view/?id=314

The Canteena is where the
mercenaries hang out, like a bar. You can hire up to 4 mercenaries to
assist you on your next mission. They are elite units, not heroes. So
you there's no leveling them up or anything, and if you lose them, it
doesn't effect the status of the mission. You'll also notice a TV
screen, the TV screen shows news throughout the Starcraft universe that
will show how what you've done is effecting everything else. This is
yet another way for you to get more into the lore and story line of
Starcraft.

Image: http://www.starcraft-source.com/media/s .. hot/view/?id=320
Image: http://www.starcraft-source.com/media/s .. hot/view/?id=319

You can really get a good look at the time Blizzard has put into the
campaign. The Canteena has that rugged mercenary feel to it from the
dancing girl hologram on the left side and old school arcade machine to
the left (idea what the game name is?), to the “Don't shoot screen”
note attached to the TV screen and the Zerg tusks over the exit.

The Lab is still under
construction more than any other parts of the Hyperion. What fun would
research be if you just pressed a button and bam, you had the upgrade.
The Lab acts as a quest log. Throughout the campaign there are side
missions and things where you'll look for alien organisms and Protoss
relics, take them back to the lab and study them. When you collect
enough of them you'll unlock an upgrade. Who knows what Blizzard will
put here, Dustin said “... upgrades like +1 weapon damage to infantry
is boring, we're wanting to expand with some crazy new technologies
that really spice things up.”

Image: http://www.starcraft-source.com/media/s .. hot/view/?id=317

The Bridge is where you'll be
spending a good amount of time. This is where you select your missions.
There are around 30 missions available, 20 or so are known as 'critical
path' that you must complete in order to progress. You can choose
whatever missions you want to take. For the most part, missions are not
locked down, you can come back and do any missions later that you
didn't do the first time around. For example, if you choose to do
mission A instead of mission B, you can still come back and do mission
B later, but it won't be worth as much to you because as you progress,
the missions rewards get bigger and bigger (in terms of Credits to
spend). There are about 3 or 4 missions where you have to choose one or
the other.

Because each mission offers unique challenges, the available technology
for that mission will fluctuate. For example if you've been granted
Firebats on mission 4, then they will likely be extremely useful for
that particular mission.

Image: http://www.starcraft-source.com/media/s .. hot/view/?id=316

Is it possible that we'd have more of a single player preview at
Blizzcon in just a few days? I'm not sure, but I can't wait to find out!

Have any ideas for upgrades that could go in the Lab? Post them in a comment. Who knows, maybe they'll end up in the game.