The 'Zerg' Are Kinda Like The Taliban, Ever Notice That?

Note: Don't expect pages of explanation (filler) on the question posed in my title; it's called "humor".

I was never too keen on multiplayer online games before playing Blizzard's Starcraft. Sour experiences with Diablo 2 and Everquest disenchanted me on that type of game, so I put off playing Starcraft for quite some time following a few hardly entertaining rounds against a friend two years back. Around August though, during my first ever RPG burnout, I picked SC up again to answer the call of a friend's challenge. Little did I know that the SC community had evolved by leaps and bounds, providing what I think is the best multiplayer experience out there.

Premise

SC's story is divided up into three sub-plots about three wholely unique (yet strangely similar) races - the Terran, Protoss, and Zerg, to be exact. The Zerg are a very primitive (but powerful in packs) race that are strong on land, but weak in air, whereas the Terran are weak on land, but strong in the air. Protoss are a powerful entity in both the air and land, but have utterly horrible defenses (photon cannons suck). Altogether, the races are balanced and each have a myriad of unique tactics depending on what the enemy's defense is.

Gameplay

Starcraft gives you two basic modes and a map editor (which I find too confusing and unrewarding). The two modes are Single Player/Quest, and Multiplayer. Obviously, I've spent the majority of my time with this game playing the Multiplayer mode, but I have half-completed both the Terran and Protoss quests and I can say that they kick ass. The Terran race has the best story, but the Protoss is good as well (though the Zerg plot could have used a bit more creativity).

In one-player, Starcraft pits you against a series of missions with each race. Battling clans of other races, the missions center center around 'find the object, protect the unit, offense, defense etc.". There's alot of variety here, that's for sure... no two missions are the same. Though if there is one constant prevalent among all the missions, it would have to be that they're all very entertaining and allow you to delve into the gameplay. SC is worth it for the one player mode alone.

The multiplayer mode, however, is the main draw of this title. SC has several well-made multiplayer gameplay styles, not to mention the endless possibilities with the UMS setting. The UMS basically allows fans to create specific maps that, through the use of map triggers, can be anything from a very entertaining (beats Madden) game of SCV Football, to a Starcraft version of Chrono Trigger. The most popular styles of games are 3 vs 3 Shared Bases (128 by 128 map, 3 players take the bottom and 3 take the top), Ladder (as the name implies, a ladder ranking for every Starcraft player is assigned and whoever's is the highest number rank, is at the top), 1 vs 1 / 2 vs 2 / free-for-all on SD Money (by far the best map in Starcraft), computer games (certain number of people face a certain number of CPU-players that all play like pathetic newbies) and a few other less-popular styles.

The main draw of playing online is how good other players are. Even after 1000+ games of SC (not exaggerating), I still find the competition to be teeming with difficulty. Some players can fashion a huge force within ten minutes and storm an opponents base while they're still in the process of making defense, something I've had happen to me several times. I won't discuss tactics, but I will say that the multiplayer mode, as a result of the high level of competition, has endless replay value. Some days I spent 20 hours straight just playing Starcraft, then slept for two hours and came back for another 10 at least. I haven't tried Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 yet, but as of now this is the most addictive and time-consuming multiplayer mode ever in a game.

As for how the actual gameplay works, it's simple. Your main objective is to gain minerals and Vespene Gas, which are used to create buildings. All three races have different building styles, like the Protoss with Pylons and the Zerg's Creep. Certain buildings have to be built / spawned before others can, and each building creation costs minerals and/or vespene gas. There are a few different types of structures - Upgrade/Magic, Add-Ons (such as the Machine Shop on the Terran Factory), buildings or units that extend the unit limit, Unit-creation buildings (such as the Protoss Stargate), and the central structure to each base; a Nexus, Command Center, or Hatchery. On any competitive map, you are given a certain portion of the map that has both a Vesepene Geyser(s) and several mineral clusters. There are usually one or two entrances to any given base, but some maps have more. Defense isn't mandatory, but when you do set up a defense there are two types - land and air. All races except Protoss have different land and air defenses, but again in exchange for that the single main defense of the Protoss (Photon Cannon) is significantly weaker/slower than a Terran Missile Turret or Zerg Spore Colony. There are several different building styles, and depending on how you set up your defense and unit-creation facilities, the game can go any way. Some people tend to use a more spaced-out style of building, so as to null the effect of a Terran Nuclear strike, while others simply make a field of Stargates or something and just hope that the enemy didn't slip a ghost into their base (that is, if the enemy is Terran, if not then it's much different). I could spend pages discussing the different race-setups and tactics, but I'm writing a review not an FAQ (something I wish more people would realize on this site).

The one serious flaw in Starcraft is the poor unit control. You can only select 12 units at once, and some of them (especially the Tanks and Dragoons) stumble around uncontrollably and can't seem to get into position. Sometimes they even go farther then you ask them to, running straight into an enemy's defense, thus alerting them. There's also an incomprehensible attack-range for some units. Knowing how far to position a fleet of Guardians from the enemy's air defense is aggrivating, as it's about a millimeter's distance away from the attack range of said air defense. Same thing with Tanks, though they're a little less problematic.

There is also a very cheap tactic with the Zerg known as the Zerg Rush. A Spawning pool can be made about twenty-five seconds into the game if all the drones mine right from the start, and after that the production of Zerglings takes about twenty seconds. If your enemy is lucky (or is hacking and can see the whole map), they'll kill you before you can get defense. Six Zerglings can easily kill one cannon or a single marine in a bunker. That slight inbalance is one of Starcraft's minor inconsistencies - it isn't anything major, but still is annoying.

Despite any flaws one can register concerning SC, It is still the most fun I've ever had playing an online multiplayer PC game. The myriad of tactics kept me playing it for months without stopping, averaging about twenty games per day. Again, I don't know about Red Alert 2, but I'm sure that Starcraft is at least equally as addictive as that game.

Sound

I find myself humming the Terran tune almost every day - just as much the FF9 battle music, several themes from Lunar 2 and the FFVI world map battle theme. The music is excellent in Starcraft, all around. Zerg have that rock-themed sound, Protoss are more Opera-styled, and Terran are just easy to listen to and appreciate. The music for each race fits the race perfectly, becoming in essence the perfect aural representation of that race's visual style.

The voice-overs in Single player are well done, but that's a given, I think. I find that most American-made games have excellent voice-overs anyway, so this is nothing unusual. Other sound effects are good also. The sound of units attacking and carriers sending hordes of Interceptors out are classic, even if Carriers aren't that great.

Graphics

Despite the miniature size of some units, I still found the in-game modelling to be colorful and well-detailed. Some units actually look better in their down-sized, real-time form than their close-up artistic renditions. Most maps are great, but a few look a bit tame and indifferent from others. There is a slew of maps that all look the same (I'm talking maps that come with the game, not fan-created), but those maps are also the best in terms of strategy so you're forced to play on them especially in Ladder. Most structures look well-designed, but thanks to some tiny details that blur together with other small 'touches', some buildings' designs become a mess (Gateway, to be specific). The cutscenes interspersed throughout the one-player mode are high quality also. Despite a few minor nitpicks I have, SC looks top notch.

In the end...

Starcraft is my virtual crack. I've never been addicted to a game more than SC, which is saying something as I own two Raiden Fighters cabinets. Blizzard's masterpiece makes my list of the top ten best games ever made, and I do have standards!

Overall Score: 9.8 / 10