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Name: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

Fans across the world have been waiting over ten years for StarCraft II and it's finally here. The classic formula which was a hit back in 1999 hasn't changed all that much, some might even say this isn't really a sequel, more a graphical overhaul with a few tweaks here and there. Nevertheless, StarCraft is a tried and tested concept, one which change could make or break. With this in mind, Blizzard have stuck true to the classic gameplay elements that even after ten years made StarCraft one of the best real-time strategy games available and have crafted it into something truly unique.

First and foremost is our hero Jim Raynor, he's the main character throughout the campaign which follows his attempts to free the people from Emporer Mengsk's tyranny, an Emporer which would rather see the galaxy burn if he wasn't in control. It doesn't just deal with a government to overthrow however, you'll also have to stop the Zerg invasion and his love, Sarah Kerrigan, who has been turned in to the Queen of Blades, lady of all the Zerg forces. The original StarCraft had three separate campaigns which interwove to progress the story, yet StarCraft II only contains one, the Terran's. The Protoss and Zerg don't unfortunately get their own, these have been saved for the two further games which are due to make a trilogy, however, you do get to play a couple of missions as the Protoss half way through the Terran campaign when one of the lead Protoss characters from the original StarCraft makes his return. The inclusion of only one campaign is mildly disappointing, but with the variety on offer and replayability included in the Terran's, it is more than enough to satisfy and leave you wanting more. You also needn't worry about having played the first game because much of the plot is told through StarCraft II's campaign.

Some of the missions on offer include your usual resource gathering, building an army, and eventually going on to destroy the enemy, some are about defending key structures while holding off varying amounts of Zerg, others can be about saving small towns and liberating their people from the evil Emperor. One mission in particular involves a lava map which at certain times floods the ground with hot molten lava that will destroy anything caught in it, this requires you to keep moving your base and performing short skirmishes to attack the enemy before the time runs out and the map gets flooded. Another example is a planet where the nearby sun has just exploded, creating a wall of fire that steadily moves across the map, you have to keep ahead of it to find the artifact and complete the mission. Nearly all of the missions differ in some way, through maps where you'll need to defend against a Zerg invasion, to others where you'll have to deal with the Zerg infestation on an innocent colony. The varying degree of missions make the campaign a pleasure to play through, each varies to bring something new and keep it fresh, even though it's the same game underneath, the missions are far from ever the same.

The campaign itself is set over 29 missions in total, but you won't complete them all at once. You'll eventually come to two points during the campaign where you have to make a decision on which side to take, one of them gives you the decision to side with an enemy and save a colony, the other, side with an old friend and destroy it, both sides have their own agenda and each has its own outcome giving you differing benefits, it's up to you to choose which would be better. Each of the missions are broken up by game rendered cut-scenes, action movie dialogue and bar fights which unfold the continuing effort to find the Queen of Blades, whether it be to destroy or save her. Considering this is an RTS the cutscenes are fantastically well presented, they're gorgeous to look at if your computer can handle the maximum settings, they're so good in fact that it's a shame Blizzard haven't made a game based off of them, perhaps that's what StarCraft: Ghost was, a game we'll never unfortunately see.

When you're not blasting Zerg to kingdom come and liberating people from across the universe your time is spent in a couple of places, mainly the Hyperion Battlecruiser, a ship which contains four locations, the Bridge, the Armoury, the Laboratory and the Cantina. Each part of the ship has its own set of NPC's to interact with, some move around, others sit and drink or conduct experiments, each of them will have something to say, the main characters more than others, and you'll learn a bit more about the characters feelings and what their thoughts are on the mission at hand. It isn't just a pretty site, each location has its own interactable objects, such as the TV and jukebox in the cantina which you can watch the news on or the infamous iPistol advert, also the Viking arcade machine which pays homage to the Lost Vikings, a fully playable arcade machine which has its own set of achievements for you to accomplish.

One man in particular who hangs out in the cantina let's you hire mercenaries to use during missions, these can play an important role since they are essentially more powerful than their standard varients. You'll also be able to upgrade your units and structures in the armoury each of which are bought with cash which you earn from completed missions. Some upgrades will improve the attack of your units, others the defence, some give completely new abilities. Some of the missions will also earn you Zerg or Protoss research points; these are used in the laboratory to research upgrades and special abilities for your buildings, automatic Vespene Gas harvesters or the ability to teleport in units to a rally point for instance. Within each research line are set stages where you choose one upgrade over another, some are beneficial, some aren't, again you'll choose what best suits your style of play. These upgrades aren't available in multiplayer however, they are campaign specific, it's a shame some of them can't be used elsewhere since some are very beneficial, yet they would unfortunately unbalance the game in favour of the Terran quite considerably.

Quite a few units that were in the original game have been taken out of the sequel, some have been replaced, some removed entirely. With the original StarCraft and its expansion Brood War, quite a few units were never used, they were surplus to requirements, they had their uses but weren't really worth the effort, Blizzard have replaced these with units which will be used, depending on your strategy of course. One example is the Reaver, a Protoss unit which looked like a bright yellow maggot, it fired bombs which could decimate infantry, but it was slow and weak, so it was hardly used, instead it has been replaced with the Colossus, a towering technological beast which looks like it has come straight out of War of the Worlds, they even fire lasers, they don't make the classic droning noise however, something which is sadly missed. The Colossus's armour isn't great but the lasers cause wide area damage against infantry and they can walk up mountains, great for base attacks and general harassment. Each of the three races has had its own overhaul, though the main units you may remember are still in, Siege Tanks, Marines, Zealots, Carriers, Zerglings, Hydralisks, and many more.