StarCraft Expansion: Brood War

Summary

Genre: Strategy
Number of players: 1-8

Review

As you'll no doubt have gathered from our StarCraft review, we rather like Blizzard's sci-fi strategy game. And so did a lot of people. So much so that Blizzard went on to release Brood War - an expansion set for the original StarCraft. Brood War enhances the StarCraft package by providing not only dozens more multiplayer maps, but also three new single-player campaigns, and three new campaign editor tilesets. Even more importantly, there are seven brand new units to play with, and each one has the potential to have a huge impact on gameplay.

Since you are required to have the original game before you can play Brood War, is the expansion worth buying? Read on, and you might find out.


Gameplay: The gameplay in the original StarCraft was excellent, and you'll be pleased to hear that Brood War doesn't change this. Essentially, it's more of the same, but given the strategic nature of the game, and the sheer number of different tactical possibilities on each map, this isn't a problem at all.

One important change is the effect each of the new units have on the gameplay - which is actually quite large. The Terrans now have both the supremely effective anti-air unit: the Valkyrie: and a very useful ground unit: the medic, who can heal any biological unit to full health almost instantly, as well as removing many afflictions and being able to blind enemies. The Zerg have the Lurker - a unit that attacks by burrowing underground and firing a line of spikes at oncoming ground units - and the Devourer, an anti-air unit that affects nearby enemy air units as well. The Protoss have the cloaked ground warriors, the Dark Templar; plus the Dark Archon, which can freeze enemy units and even capture them; and the Corsair, a flying unit that can affect a small area with a 'disruption web' that prevents any ground units from attacking while beneath it. All of these units are really handy, and the best news is that they improve the gameplay, not destroy its balance. The gameplay is different enough from the original to make its purchase worthwhile.


Challenge: The three new campaigns are undoubtedly more difficult than the three in StarCraft - as you'd expect, since they assume that you've already completed the StarCraft campaigns and are ready for even more of a challenge. By the way, the campaigns continue the story from the original game, introducing more characters, but keeping all of the old ones, so if you didn't finish the first game, it may take a while to pick up the story. In any event, the first two campaigns (Protoss and Terran) contain eight missions each, and the third campaign (Zerg) has ten missions - plus one secret mission. There are no training or introductory missions, and you pretty much get all of the units from the first mission, unlike StarCraft, where each successive mission introduced a new unit or two. But this is just as well, since it would be pretty boring to go back to just using marines when you know what a Battle Cruiser can do.

The missions are tough, but there is also a lot of variety in them as well. Apart from the end few missions of the final campaign, where the innovation seems to have paled a little and it's just basic battles, there are some very interesting deviations from the usual style. For instance, the second Terran level introduces the Medic unit by pitting you against a series of challenges, with the key to each being the use of the Medic's techniques. The fifth Protoss mission places you and a number of units on a giant space station, challenging you to knock out several power generators, using your units' special attacks. These kind of missions provide original challenges, and they're no pushover.

All-in-all, Brood War is definitely a challenging game, and the new units will take quite a while to master before you'll be able to use them properly to win multiplayer matches. Even those players who breezed through StarCraft will find Brood War quite tricky. Even I did. Heh.


Graphics: The graphics are basically unchanged from StarCraft, and that means they aren't bad at all. By no means are they mind-blowing, but they do the job more than competently, and the cut-scenes (of which there are considerably fewer than there were in the first game) are as good as ever. The three new tilesets - iceworld, desert, and twilight - do add a lot of variety, yet are unmistakably from the same 'mould' as the existing tilesets. Overall, fine graphics, but not stunning.


Sounds: The sounds, again, haven't changed much. There are a few new music tunes; the old tunes are still there, and the music has always been appropriate and fitting, but the new tunes are equally good. The new units all have their own voices and attacking noises - again, these fit into the game as if they'd always been a part of it. Once more, the variety is great, and the sounds have no real flaws.


Multiplayer: Playing online with other people was always a great part of playing StarCraft, and it's just as good with Brood War. In fact, the new units and tilesets add to the experience considerably, and there's nothing like decimating an entire line of infantry with a few Lurkers, or stealing a group of Carriers with a Dark Archon. At least, until your enemies do unto you what you have done unto them. But of course that's part of the fun, and the new units make multiplayer a more enjoyable experience. The new tilesets add variety, too.


Summing up: Well, it's StarCraft, first and foremost, so if you're expecting a totally new experience, you'd better look elsewhere. But, that said, it's only an expansion set - just an unusually good one. If you really enjoyed the first game, then you'll love this, plus you'll find all the changes very welcome. If you hated StarCraft, then there's no reason at all to get Brood War.


Gamesmark: 96%


Reviewer: Maverik