"Blizzard keeps on going, and going, and going....."

BLIZZARD DELIVERS AGAIN
Blizzard wowed us with their impressive strategy game StarCraft and now they've done it again by bringing us further into the game with more features.

THE CRADLE THAT ROCKS THE WORLD
The game's intro movie tells that two Terran leaders by the name of Alexei Stukov and his buddy Gerrard Dugall have been testing the awesome power of the Zerg and now they have plans to manipulate and control them for purposes of world domination.
Meanwhile, prior to the destruction of the Overmind, remaining Zerg forces on Aiur have gone rampant without any control over them, forcing surviving Protoss troops to flee to the Dark Templar's homeworld Shakuras. The rest of the story builds afterwards, mainly focusing on fighting over the control over the Zerg race.

NEW TREATS
One of the biggest things about Brood War is the introduction of new units for each race. For the Protoss, you have a modified Dark Templar with arranged stats, the Corsair with its attack-numbing Disruptor Web, and a Dark Archon with a set of manipulative abilities. The Terrans get the Medic for healing, the missile-spitting Valkyrie, and a missile upgrade for Goliaths. Last but not least, the Zerg gets more evolutions and upgrades as Hydralisks can now morph into Lurkers and Mutalisks can now morph into Devourers.

Another addition to the mix is the set of new characters. Just as the characters were before, the script is superb and the voice acting is impressive. Each one's personality is portrayed in detail and you'll find that characters constantly develop as the story advances. Some characters such as Lt. Duran and Alexei Stukov are fully usable while others remain as part of the story but are unaccessible without the use of advanced editorial programs such as StarDraft. They're pretty good but Stukov (Terran Ghost) could really more than the borrowed voices from the basic Terran Ghost dialogues. Other than that, it's all good.

A minor addition to the game is the new set of environments. You now have the Shakuras Twilight-style setting, the desert setting, and a snow setting. Of course, white players would have an edge on snow maps by easily blending troops into the snow so they've replaced it with green for snow maps.

STORYLINE 10/10
Just as before the story is constantly moving and gets more interesting. You won't have a problem there. Though you should see how everything develops into the ending movie of Episode VI; let's just say the most innocent ones don't always have good intentions.

GRAPHICS 9/10
The graphics are about the same as before. Just as the old units functioned, the new units also move smoothly and their attacks are impressive. The new environments are a plus to the current list of different environments, especially the twilight setting, which looks like something out of a moon kingdom in ruins (think Sailor Moon). The snow is very peaceful and is also enjoyable but there's something hot and dirt-deep about the desert and the different little disturbing accessories that can be added to the map (e.g. Command Centers and Tank mutilated and buried in sand). Who knows? Maybe it's just me.
Just as before, a major problem was sometimes the lack of workspace required and some would agree that the bottom interface needs to be shortened somehow. It's not a major bother but it's still a hassle to have to do it.

SOUNDS 10/10
Just as before, the voice acting is excellent. Blizzard's actors have done a great job and they definitely deserve an applause. They made the story interesting and it adds to the emotion that is brought out by the story. As for sound effects, they're all the same as before and still as clear. Unit voices and sounds aren't bad.
The music has been altered to fit the new situations seen in Brood War. For example, the entire theme of Russian high-class officers has been fitted with a patriotic Terran theme music. The Protoss got another mystical sci-fi tune that seems to add a tone of retribution to their campaign. Finally, the Zerg got a nice one: the Radio Free Zerg remix featuring the Zerg Overmind's morale speech. To activate it, just press ENTER to bring up the chat and type in ''radio free zerg'' and press ENTER again to activate the song.

GAMEPLAY 9/10
The gameplay is about the same as before. Maps are professionally done so that there's a way to win but you just need to find it. The new units add to the fun and causes changes in strategies. A major difference between the original and this expansion is the enhanced A.I. Computers now play more strategically and will quickly adapt to your style of play, discouraging certain mindless strategies such as the classic massive zergling rushes. The only problem that I have with it is that computers seem too persistent at times and will seem almost impossible to deal with. The first few missions from each of the new campaigns seem easy enough to handle but the next bunch require some severe brainpower.
There are some elements in the game that be bothersome. While the new units do add to the balance and strategy in the game, some fine points of balance may have been thrown off. For example, whenever the computer rushes a Zerg computer with a group of Marines and Medics, a good pack of Zerglings don't seem to do anything. Hydralisks can assist but once the gunners use their Stim Packs, your bugs are swiss cheese. Updated patches will often fix the problem but you can see how certain strategies can easily leak out of control.

OVERALL 9/10
Brood War adds three more episodes to the story and it faithfully advances the storyline without failure. New units, advanced A.I., new characters, new environments, and a powerful story all add up to one fun expansion. It has its minor flaws here and there but it's still a great game.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS
I recommend the WarCraft series for the medieval guys, especially WarCraft III if there's any word on it. Modern-day warfare guys can go for Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Never mind the classic ones. As for those who like to take the Star Wars way and start with Episode IV, try out the first three episodes on the original game, which you're suppose to own in order to have Brood War.

FINAL COMMENTS
For those who believe that Brood War is not a sequel, it's technically not but rather a continuation of the StarCraft saga. If you're going to take off points from the fact that BW is not a sequel, then don't bother making a review at all.