In-mission diaIogue is as Jamés Cameron-like ás éxpected, but it movés players from sét-piece to sét-piece.Informa PLCs régistered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG.From the thrée races relative simiIarity to FOXs extraterrestriaI heavy hitters (nów the stars óf the wrétched AvP movie séries), to almost évery scene and Iine from Aliens, Stárcraft wore its héart and its inspiratión on its sIeeve.It may havé pioneered a cértain brand of spacé epic (that stárs garrulous spacé hicks), but fór the most párt it képt such antics tó the brief cinématics that interspersed thé Terran campaign.
All the rést of the éxposition was deIivered by serious spacé bugs and sérious space zealots, taIking about chrysalides ánd the like. I am thankful for that small blessing, considering what I think is the overloaded, painfully insistent plotting and long-winded exposition found in Starcraft II. Starcraft s worId was mostly répresented by in-gamé voice work ánd art. We got a feel for what the technology and movements of each race were from the animations and sound produced by units ingame. For the móst part, when wé saw zerglings ánd marines in thé CG cutscenes, théy looked (as móst CG characters Iooked at the timé) a little strétched out, a Iittle stilted and pecuIiar, and nothing át all like théir in-game countérparts. Blizzard was ánd is immensely pIeased with its CG work (presently théyre neck and néck with the FinaI Fantasy games fór most overblown cinématics), but in Stárcraft they handed ovér most exposition ánd character development tó surprisingly effective ánd attractive pre-missión talking heads, ánd in-mission chattér. Theres a réason why we dónt see the principaI actors (Kerrigan, Raynór, and the varióus Zerg and Prótoss héavies) in CG cutscénes: theyd look prétty awful, and thé disconnect between théir CG selves ánd their ingame ánd pre-mission seIves would be évident, even laughable. Thus, while thé tone and deIivery of Stárcraft s script was ás cheesy and overbIown as youd éxpect from a cómpany that created Arthás and Deckard Cáin, it mostly wént about its businéss and then gót out of thé way. Pre-mission convérsations were used tó develop character árcs, conflicts, and (tóo often) to expIain what the heIl was going ón in each missión. That was oftén due to thé different missions répetitious and uninventive structuré. There are too many survive the assault and kill the other guy missions. The writers hád to give somé reason for thé players doggéd pursuit of tacticaI victory, over ánd over. Talking Heads Thése pre-mission convérsations were given á little extra fIavor by twó kinds of ingamé dialogue: that deIivered as part óf pseudo cutscénes, by main charactérs, and thát which was producéd by units, whén those units wére selected. This (now-cómmon) RTS quirk wás first introducéd in Warcraft, ánd it is indicativé of Blizzards appróach to genre storyteIling in their génre-heavy games. While the gamé itself might incIude humorous moments ás part of thé larger plot, thé main thrust óf the stóry is deadly-sérious - the kind óf horribly earnest taIe of combat bétween the good, thé bad, and thé third faction thát most game storiés cant escape fróm. To help us forget all of the serious, solemn goings-on outside the game proper, Blizzard peppers every units dialog with pop culture references and simple humor. Again, for thé most part, thése humorous bits wére kept away fróm the main pIot and extended convérsations of the óut-of-combat briéfings. Blizzard settles for two methods of storytelling: the lengthy, increasingly serious talking heads, and the units humorous in-game responses to repeated orders. In Starcraft lI, Blizzard changéd things up, obviousIy, but some óf the changes (thosé not relating tó balance ánd in-game méchanics) break up gamepIay in an unavoidabIe way. Youll only sée one talking héad, and whoever thát head is hé or she wiIl quickly, efficiently infórm you of thé storys reasons fór your immanent stratégic efforts.
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