StarCraft 2 Beta - 3 March '10

As indicated on my list of games I've played, I'm currently in the StarCraft II beta test.

So far, it's proven to be a very challenging experience.

Teamliquid posted a very interesting article which discusses the transition from Brood War to StarCraft II. Incidentally, I came to similar conclusions the day before that article was published.

In a nutshell, I feel that despite worries that StarCraft II will become very micro-oriented (given the supposed 'ease' of macro in SC2) StarCraft II is still an incredibly macro-oriented game.

It definitely doesn't have as much emphasis on micro than WarCraft 3; and in some ways, I feel as though there's less emphasis on micro than Brood War. This is partly attributed to the fact that many units counter other units extremely hard. Seemingly more so than the way units interacted in Brood War.

Because of this, microing one's army in battle isn't as rewarding - raw unit composition and numbers seems to be more of a deciding factor. All three races (Terran, Protoss, and Zerg) feel capable of mixing their armies up in the midgame to keep each other on their toes.

Perhaps it is just because the game is still new and it's still too early for 'standard' build orders to exist, but scouting feels even more important than ever, since it's so easy to lose simply by being caught off-guard by unexpected technology from an opponent.

Of course, all this isn't to say that StarCraft II is a bad game - far from it. I get a slight Age of Empires vibe just from how macro-oriented the game is as well as from the new system of unit counters. However, the similarities end there. StarCraft II is a much faster-paced game and small setbacks can quickly snowball into a huge loss.


A Zerg vs Zerg (ZvZ) match I just played. Zerg Roaches are incredibly powerful in a ZvZ, but their short attack range means that once you reach a certain point, you will want to supplement them with Hydralisks, which have a longer attack range.


I appreciate StarCraft II for what it is, but the question is: will the wider audience? Part of what made Brood War so entertaining to watch was all the micro which players would do in a fight. Even though macro is more important, micro in Brood War is rewarded enough to make it worth doing, creating some spectacular plays.

There is no question of StarCraft II being a skillful and beautifully refined game, but the emphasis on macro may mean that the game won't be entertaining enough to garner a large audience who would be willing to view televised matches. However, we are still in the very early stages of the beta, and the metagame may yet shift to favour more micro in a fight.

Just because I can't say it enough, I'm going to go ahead and say that StarCraft II has met my expectations. Especially in the department of macro depth, which pleases me greatly :]. This was an area of the gameplay which so many fans were concerned about, and it's fantastic that Blizzard has managed to make macro a very involving and rewarding aspect of StarCraft II.