I resisted and resisted but finally had to cave and get starcraft II and have been glued to the computer screen ever since. Its good, maybe not EVERYTHING, I hoped it would be, but it's been good so far and I've really only just begun so I'm hoping there will be much more to explore.
My brother played the original warcraft back in the day when it was new and I picked it up from watching him. I always enjoyed the premise, like simcity only with more carnage. I was so young at the time that it was all I could do to keep up with each level, much less master the strategy of the game. I think this is why the original starcraft game was perfect for me because it came out right when I was like 14 or 15 and had gotten the hang of the gameplay from the previous two warcraft games. Oh the days I spent out there on Wadmalaw fighting for the universe.
I got the new warcraft that they did a few years ago and was not impressed. They moved away from the simcity strategy aspect of the game and more towards the rpg character building style where you had primary units to control and keep track of. This requires a little too much thinking for my tastes. I also feel like my intelligence when it comes to video games plateaued somewhere around my early 20's and I can already feel it slipping away. I mean, it took me about 5 hours to figure out how to register this new game online before I could even start playing it. So though I played the last warcraft I didn't really enjoy it terribly.
And don't even get me started on the World of Warcraft. I tried to play that once and got so annoyed with running around aimlessly in a glitchy jumpy world that I quit and never looked back. Until now.
They've really done a good job with this new starcraft of bringing in elements from other games that players like. The addition of challenges that award you points and money that you can use for upgrades is awesome and adds to the replay value of the game. They've also turned the gameplay in to a more 'choose your own adventure' style where the decisions you make as you play affect the progress you make, either by opening up new levels to play or taking away levels that were available to you previously. And I can't say enough how nice it is that games are now allowing you the option to skip the movies where you learn all about the fake history behind the make believe races that are fighting for the imaginary universe in the future.
My only complaints so far are that the graphics are so fancy that they end up not working very well at all. I've had to change the settings to low quality graphics just to get the gameplay to appear smooth and uninterrupted. Maybe I would prefer less random flora and fauna roaming around the landscape complicating things in lieu of smoother overall gameplay. And my other complaint is just that so far they've gone really heavy on the levels with time limits. Either I am waiting for rescue or I am having to get somewhere before somebody else does, or I'm having to stop countless bullet trains. I think I've only had once classic level where I'm just building up my base and figuring out the best way to attack the enemy. I prefer those levels, especially when it's late at night and I don't have the concentration for bullet trains. Speaking of which, any time there is written word in the game it's basically a lost cause for me. I guess my eyes just aren't what they used to be.
So other than this game making me feel like I'm 800 years old it's really fun! Can you guess what I'm going to go do now?
No comments:
Post a Comment