Everything is timed just right, from holding out against an enemy invasion to navigating a hostile area. Blizzard deserves credit for providing a range of mission goals, but the single player campaign is tactically more single-unit focused than what’s expected.Īs a result, you’ll employ a fairly limited range of tactics to solve a puzzle or defeat an enemy. As it turns out, Kerrigan is simply too powerful and many missions are just a matter of moving her towards the goal and killing/destroying everything in the way.
Base and army management are largely secondary. While Wings of Liberty’s missions focused on management and careful deployment of large forces, Blizzard took a cue from WarCraft III (or heck, Defense of the Ancients) and made the Heart of the Swarm’s 20-something missions almost entirely focused tactically on the (anti)hero, Kerrigan. This makes for a single player campaign filled with units and abilities that surprise and amuse even the most seasoned StarCraft player. Meanwhile, Kerrigan accesses new healing and attack powers, as well as passive abilities like automated Vespene Gas gathering. Standard units like Zerglings become deadly cliff-hopping grasshoppers of death, or Hydralisks transform into long-range attackers.
#Starcraft 2 swarm queen upgrade
Every major unit type has an upgrade that can be changed in the Evolution Pit, the Zerg version of an armory. As the middle story in an expected three part arc, Heart of Swarm has an intimate, troubled, and hammy narrative, but still manages to possess its own strange beauty.Īs Kerrigan unites the Zerg swarm factions, her abilities and army are upgraded. Building on 15 years of success creates a unique challenge for Blizzard: How do you improve a well-balanced game with three iconic races and a dedicated, fervent community that scrutinizes every update? Blizzard struggles to answer the question in Heart of the Swarm, which is uneven and at times maddening, but still manages to raise the standard for real-time strategy games. Still, there are sure to be a few people disappointed by Heart of the Swarm.
#Starcraft 2 swarm queen series
The good news: With series antihero Sarah Kerrigan as its star, this expansion pack to 2010’s Wings of Liberty makes the original game better, improves the multiplayer, and progresses the story in new and interesting ways. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm doesn’t just upgrade and expand the exceptional StarCraft formula-it also hacks, cuts, and refines the core gameplay. Just as the Zerg are always evolving, so too is Blizzard’s iconic real-time strategy series.