Starcraft II Beta, part 1

About half an hour ago I finally laid my hands on the SC II [I insist on calling it 'II' rather than '2'] Beta for the first time (as I was sick, I couldn't go on the good computer due to it being dad's work machine as well).

I fired it up, went through the bizarre character creation process, and was set loose into the Mass Effect 2 style Welcome screen.
The first thing I noticed was the 'Single Player' button was unclickable. Bugger, I thought, I have to actually play with other people.

They don't make this obvious, but to play against an AI you need to create a multiplayer game and simply add an AI enemy. No problem.

10.
9.
8. Why the hell do I need a countdown against an AI enemy?
7.
6. There's no good bloody reason for it.
5.
4. I guess it builds drama.
3. I suppose.
2.
1.
Loading map...


Thrust into the game world, the first thing I noticed were the amazing graphics. Blizzard put a lot of effort and money into their new graphics engine. It still has a cartoon-y feel to it, but I don't think they wanted super realistic graphics. It looks damn good as it is.

The second thing I noticed was the soundtrack. There's a browncoat in Blizzard somewhere because one of the Terran tracks is very reminiscent of Firefly and Serenity. For me, it gave them a bit of a space cowboy feel.

After sending my SCVs out to mine crystals and bring back what look like enormous beer steins of vespene gas from my recently built refinery, I got one of them to make me a Supply Depot.

The problem with the Supply Depots in the original Starcraft is they were a waste of space. You needed them, but you didn't want them. Starcraft II gave them a well needed improvement.
Say you wanted to send your units around to the back of your base, but you stupidly blocked it off with Supply Depots. Never fear, because now they can be shoved into the ground with a click of a button, giving you a smooth surface to move over.
These can also be used to make traps for particularly thick zerglings or a wall with inbuilt gates.

Another cool thing that I noticed was right after I finished researching an upgrade for my marines.
The upgrade was essentially a riot shield. Once finished, a riot shield appeared on the marine's shoulder.
In retrospect, I probably should have seen it coming, but at the time it was a pleasant surprise. The only other game I remember ever doing something like that was the spectacularly disappointing C&C3.

The units in Starcraft II seem to have a bit more personality than other games I've played. Marines are a little rougher this time round, but Marauders are huge black guys that kinda sound like Chef from South Park.

Although, the game isn't a flawless diamond with the power to cure all the world's diseases.

They claim the Reapers, the Terran jump pack armed troops, are from the nastiest prisons for psychotic murderers. You know, at their worst they're the kind of people who run around shooting kittens for fun and laughing with child-like glee.
So you can forgive me for being a bit surprised when they came out sounding very much sane. After clicking them a few times, they still sounded un-psychotic.

And I'm a little pissed off that there isn't even a tutorial and first mission or so of the campaign. At least that'll give everyone something to amuse themselves if they aren't interested in multiplayer.

Well, I need to get back to it and play some more. So far I've only clocked about half an hour, and I haven't even won my first match yet.