StarCraft 2: Invasion of the Single Player News

So, Blizzard has this title coming out in the not too distant future. It's called StarCraft 2 and I hear it is supposed to be fairly popular. I mean, it is only the very (very, very, very) long awaited sequel to one of the most successful games of all time.

Not too long ago, word emerged from Blizzard HQ that SC2 would have no LAN play; the only multiplayer option would be via the New and Improved Battle.Net. This resulted in much internet weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Today, Blizzard may have dried some of those tears. No, they haven't relented and instituted LAN play. And since we don't even know what the new Battle.Net will look like or how it will work, there really isn't much call to worry over that one yet. Instead, Blizzard has provided us with some decent insights into the single-player campaign.

Last year it was announced that StarCraft 2 would ship in three installments. The given reason was to allow time to really make the single player campaigns something amazing. Then a few weeks ago, the Blizzard-Activision stock price dropped on the news that SC2 would be delayed until 2010. Knowing Blizzard, that simply means they needed more time to up the awesome, and would take the stock hit to get it. The future status of Blizzard-Activision's bank account not withstanding, it does appear that when Blizzard said they wanted to make the StarCraft 2 single player something special, they weren't kidding.

Several members of the gaming press were recently invited to Blizzard HQ to see the SC2 singleplayer campaign. Despite writing for this fine establishment and living just down the road from Blizzard, I was not among the fortunate few. So, rather than simply rehash what those who did get to make that trip have reported, I'll just link you to their words.

There is alot of good stuff coming in StarCraft 2. So far, it looks like it will be well worth the wait until 2010 (for the first installment). These writeups are all excellent reads; I highly recommend you scan through all of them. Enjoy.

StarCraft 2 write ups brought to you by:
Ars Technica - did not actually see the game first hand, but a good read none-the-less.
ShackNews
IGN
Kotaku
Destructoid - has been loading slowly today. Be patient with this one.
And GameSpy promises to have a preview up in the near future.

Nightmare: Redneck Blizzard

There are some things I just do not want to contemplate. Some things are just too... jarring... to be considered. Imagine a Veggietales script written by Stephen King. Or a movie version of Wheel of Time starring Elmo as Rand. Head hurt yet? Better grab some pain killers; this next one could be painful.

Last month, Blizzard Entertainment purchased the trademark rights for the Redneck Rampage series. Remember those games? Couple of random Arkansas hillbillies chasing aliens through trailer parks to rescue their pig? And of course you're familiar with Blizzard, the Midas-like studio that produces nothing but best selling, standard setting titles... at the pace of about one ever three years or so. Blizzard owns the rights to Redneck Rampage?

Now I'm not saying that Blizzard could not make a fantastic game to continue that series. Just the opposite. I'm frightened they would make a fantastic game. Consider this: Diablo 2 is still high on the sales charts ten years after it came out. And no, thats not a result of Diablo 3. Diablo 2 never left the upper altitude of the sales charts. Nor has Starcraft. So imagine now it is the year 2025. Imagine seeing a headline "Blizzard's Redneck Rampage Still Tops Sales, Now Ten Years Old." Gamers by and large already suffer from rampant stereotyping. We are all basement dwellers, all play World of Warcraft, all use Grand Theft Auto to train for lives of crime, and do other assorted unlikely things to grant Jack Thompson a purpose in life. I do not think a fantastically successful Redneck Rampage would help that situation much.

On the other hand, Blizzard and Activision are now one. It could be that Activision is the one that wants Redneck Rampage. Maybe there's a 'Guitar Hero: Truckers and Aliens' in the works? I hope so. I'm not saying that I wouldn't enjoy a Blizzard built game centered on pickup trucks, shotguns, and pig swiping Martians. I would probably love it. I'm just saying the possibility is one of those things I do not want to contemplate.