Topic: I beat Heart of the Swarm last night

[GuyStarwind]

Anyone play this or heck even beat it? I'm just going to say a few things...

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I'm not much of a fan of the Zerg but to each their own. Overall I enjoyed it but I thought a lot of important died in it. Now I figured they would at some point but I was thinking it would happen in the last game. I'm mostly upset that Warfield dies, I thought he was cool. I really hope Sarah changes back into a human again at the end of Legacy of the Void. Call me girly but I secretly want the romance with her and Jim to work out. Knowing Blizzard Jim Raynor will die though.

[Gunlord]

I've heard about the plot, though I haven't played the game, and it struck me as ridiculous.

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All that work to de-Zerg kerrigan in WoL and it's all for nothing? Bad storytelling, blizz.

[GuyStarwind]

That how I pretty much feel about it.

[Phoenix7786]

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Well as we see Mensk started to torture Kerrigan with the device and for just a moment we see her eyes turn back. Once this is all said and done, they'll re-cleanse Kerrigan and she will give up the Swarm to Zagara--she's even stated as such that chances are Zagara WILL lead the Swarm someday.  As for now Kerrigan is grooming her through Abathur.
And we've seen that although Kerrigan is re-"Zergified", she has NOT lost her humanity like before. She's still the same mentally. Hell she even said the same thing to Raynor after she rescued him. She even put his gun to her forehead and asked him to murder her if he even had the slightest shadow of doubt.

[GuyStarwind]

You make a very good point. In fact I feel better about it now.

[A-Yty]

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Even if the "new" Queen of Blades Kerrigan isn't like before, it's still very lazy storytelling. The climax of WoL was turning Kerrigan back to human. It should be a big deal. Instead it's just reversed for the sake of convenience. They should've thought things through before the whole thing in WoL.

I didn't like the story much at all. WoL's was superior. And this is coming from someone who pretty much always plays zerg. This is turning more and more like Warcraft in space; resurrecting "a god" and really stretchy power levels. I mean, since when did Kerrigan have telekinesis, force lightnings and the ability to fly? Or being able to make viruses and bombs out of nothing? Shit is getting more science fantasy than science fiction.

Like, for example, uh..Stukov is alive? What was in his casket? The last time I saw him he was literally shred to pieces. I love the way they introduce him like it isn't a big thing. It's like Kojima is writing this shit now. And when was Mengsk the one breeding hybrids? How the hell would he know how to do that when even the Zerg seem incapable of infesting the Protoss? The last time I checked it was Duran or that Dark Voice dude who was making them. BTW, Narud = Duran. Get the joke?

Stukov wasn't even that big of a deal in Brood War and now he's brought back..for..what exactly? Why turn him into a significant plot device? If we're gonna bring back characters from the dead, bring back someone who matters. Like Fenix. Then again, I suspect he and Tassadar are gonna be some sort of helping ghosts in Legacy of the Void, seeing as how Zeratul already met Tassadar in WoL.

I think they've kind of ruined the zerg. Their chain of command is now like a cross between the Orcs and the Protoss, perhaps with a bit of those guys the commandos fight in Little Soldiers. It started to go downhill when the Overmind was revealed as reluctant to be the god of Zerg. They'e been turned more humanoid than insectoid.  I mean, in SC it was an eyeball and giant worms talking, not the likes of "Iszha" or "Zagara". Zagara looks more like a protoss than zerg and Iszha looks more like.. a not-so-weird Silent Hill creature. And isn't it a bit of a retcon that these "primal zerg" are more like dinosaurs than insectoids? I think it was said earlier that cerebrates look like the very first zerg, only in giant size.

And then there's Blizzard compulsions to repeat their storylines and the inability to keep it together as the story goes on. Now it's three main races against this super baddie instead of good ol' fashioned never ending conflict between distinctly different factions whose individual abilities balance the gameplay. Amon seems incredibly lame when compared to the Overmind, for example. They just had to pull some super bad guy from their butt to save the trouble of creating more races.

So yeah, the story has gotten worse. But the gameplay was pretty enjoyable. I doubt I'll have the time or the energy to adapt to all the stuff you can do to win games. I can definitely see them trying to appeal to the casual players. Most of the missions were hardly about worrying about expansion and offense. They have managed to lessen the need to micromanage, which is good. But all in all, this is going towards the direction of Warcraft III with hero units and whatnot.

I wouldn't be surprised if that all means they're setting things up for "World of Starcraft" or something.

[GuyStarwind]

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Even if the "new" Queen of Blades Kerrigan isn't like before, it's still very lazy storytelling. The climax of WoL was turning Kerrigan back to human. It should be a big deal. Instead it's just reversed for the sake of convenience. They should've thought things through before the whole thing in WoL.

I didn't like the story much at all. WoL's was superior. And this is coming from someone who pretty much always plays zerg. This is turning more and more like Warcraft in space; resurrecting "a god" and really stretchy power levels. I mean, since when did Kerrigan have telekinesis, force lightnings and the ability to fly? Or being able to make viruses and bombs out of nothing? Shit is getting more science fantasy than science fiction.

Like, for example, uh..Stukov is alive? What was in his casket? The last time I saw him he was literally shred to pieces. I love the way they introduce him like it isn't a big thing. It's like Kojima is writing this shit now. And when was Mengsk the one breeding hybrids? How the hell would he know how to do that when even the Zerg seem incapable of infesting the Protoss? The last time I checked it was Duran or that Dark Voice dude who was making them. BTW, Narud = Duran. Get the joke?

Stukov wasn't even that big of a deal in Brood War and now he's brought back..for..what exactly? Why turn him into a significant plot device? If we're gonna bring back characters from the dead, bring back someone who matters. Like Fenix. Then again, I suspect he and Tassadar are gonna be some sort of helping ghosts in Legacy of the Void, seeing as how Zeratul already met Tassadar in WoL.

I think they've kind of ruined the zerg. Their chain of command is now like a cross between the Orcs and the Protoss, perhaps with a bit of those guys the commandos fight in Little Soldiers. It started to go downhill when the Overmind was revealed as reluctant to be the god of Zerg. They'e been turned more humanoid than insectoid.  I mean, in SC it was an eyeball and giant worms talking, not the likes of "Iszha" or "Zagara". Zagara looks more like a protoss than zerg and Iszha looks more like.. a not-so-weird Silent Hill creature. And isn't it a bit of a retcon that these "primal zerg" are more like dinosaurs than insectoids? I think it was said earlier that cerebrates look like the very first zerg, only in giant size.

And then there's Blizzard compulsions to repeat their storylines and the inability to keep it together as the story goes on. Now it's three main races against this super baddie instead of good ol' fashioned never ending conflict between distinctly different factions whose individual abilities balance the gameplay. Amon seems incredibly lame when compared to the Overmind, for example. They just had to pull some super bad guy from their butt to save the trouble of creating more races.

So yeah, the story has gotten worse. But the gameplay was pretty enjoyable. I doubt I'll have the time or the energy to adapt to all the stuff you can do to win games. I can definitely see them trying to appeal to the casual players. Most of the missions were hardly about worrying about expansion and offense. They have managed to lessen the need to micromanage, which is good. But all in all, this is going towards the direction of Warcraft III with hero units and whatnot.

I wouldn't be surprised if that all means they're setting things up for "World of Starcraft" or something.

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The Stukov thing wasn't a big shock to me. He comes back in some dlc or extra map or something that Blizzard came out with http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Alexei_Stukov. Moreover, if you select him enough he explains how he's still alive.

I could see them making Amon and those guys so they won't have to choose a victor out of the three main races. I mean I'm a Terran guy so I want them to win but everyone isn't me. I think they might be trying to please everyone. I also felt Iszha voice wasn't quit Zergish either.

I enjoyed it well enough but I did like WoL better.

[A-Yty]

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Yeah, I "annoy-clicked" Stukov. He says funny stuff, but it doesn't change the fact that how he comments on his backstory is completely on the money, so I suppose the joke backfires a bit.

The Stukov thing is an example one of Blizzard's quirks when it comes to storytelling; they have a tendency to leave rather important details in materials usually considered complimentary. Like how in StarCraft: Uprising it's told that years ago, Kerrigan was involved in the death of Mengsk's family. The game's story pretty much simply paints him as a power hungry dictator who fed Kerrigan to the zerg because she started questioning his decisions. He's still pretty bad, but the fact that Kerrigan was part of the Ghost group that killed his father, mother and sister makes the whole personal feud less black and white. Also, Kerrigan has less of a reason to want his blood, seeing as how the xel'naga magic stone reversed what Mengsk's betrayal caused. Furthermore, Overmind already had a plan for Kerrigan. She would have been trapped by the zerg regardless of what anyone did.

Speaking of Mengsk, I kind of wish they kept him alive. The cunning old bastard always had an ace up his sleeve, so it would've fit the picture. He's one of Blizzard's most interesting, and most of all, realistic villains. Now that he's dead, it all boils down to a generic epic battle against Sargeras and The Burning Legi--I mean, Amon and the Hybrids.