"StarCraft: A game that is out of this world!!!!"

When you think of StarCraft, what do you think of? What usually pops in my mind first is exploding stars, battleships waging a furious battle in amidst space, buildings that can float, weird aliens, guns that can create explosions beyond your wildest imaginations and dream, machines that can wreck havoc. I thought of all of that, and I was right.

Gameplay: Your main objective is this game is to, what else, completely eliminate your enemy from the surface of space. To do that, you must work your way up the ladder, gathering resources first, building an army, and finally, plan strategic or head on attacks that will crush your opponents.
There are three species you can play as, the Zerg, the Protoss, and the humans, otherwise known as the Terran in this game. Each species have their advantages and disadvantages. The Zerg relies on mass numbers to win battles, their units are cheap but not as strong as that of their enemies. They can only build their buildings on territory that is theirs, and must construct Overlords in order to create more units. The disadvantage of the Zergs is that whenever they construct a building, they must sacrifice one of their units in order to do so. The Zergs has many disadvantages, but are the species that are the most complicated to learn, since they possess such a wide array of units and special abilities. The Protoss relies on quality to win, their soldiers are expensive but are seemingly stronger and has more endurance than that of the Zerg and Terran. They can build anywhere, as long as they have a special building there. That building is also the building that allows them to construct units. The Protoss does not have any major weaknesses, but they do not have any major advantages over their adversaries either. The Terrain relies on both quality and quantity to win, they can build anywhere, but must build special buildings in order to create more units. The Terran is greatly limited to a rather small array of units and buildings, but they can still keep up with their counterparts, in the hand of a skilled player. The Terran is recommended for newbies, because it takes the least time to learn, since their buildings are much similar to ours, and so are their units.
You start off with four resources gatherers. With these four, you must build an army. Sounds hard, huh? Well, it isn’t, much. You must then gather the minerals from the nearby mineral field. When you have enough minerals, you must then create even more resources gatherer. The more you create, the faster the resources will pour in. The problem? They cost money, so you have two choices, either not waste any money and keep the original four, or actually putting aside money to create more. No one, and I mean no one, except maybe newbies, will keep the four resources gatherer. In fact, the recommend least amount of those are about 10.
The minerals will run out sooner or later, and you’re going to have to find a new batch. The problem? Your enemy is going to want some, too, and you are going to battle sooner or later for the riches. This is where a good army comes in.
There are many different types of units that you can create, including regular soldiers that use guns or flamethrowers, to special Stealth units, to tanks that can do a whole lot of damage. The cost varies from unit to unit, so it’s good idea to have a mix army, they all have their advantages and disadvantages.
Don’t forget the buildings, there are offensive, defensive, technology, and economic buildings. It’s a good idea to have at least one of each type. Take the Terran for example, a necessity of their somehow limited array of units is the Bunker. Bunkers allow you to store your soldiers in there, allowing them to fire freely without actually taking damage until the bunker collapses. You can only store 4 soldiers in there at the same time. The offensive buildings are the missiles, they attack incoming planes and reveal invisible, cloaked ships. The technology are a must, quality of your troops are very important. You might outnumber your enemies, but if they have better units, you are still going to lose.
Deciding where to build things are a problem. You will probably want to sprinkle some Bunkers throughout your base to protect it from your enemies. It depends on your terrain, whether you are on high ground or not. Placing a couple of tanks on high ground so they can pick at enemies that are passing by is a good idea, it also warns you of incoming danger. Make sure you fortify them with defensive units, however. As powerful as tanks are, they cannot attack air units, so it is very easy for a cloaked plane to hide there and whittle away at your tank until it is destroyed, and you might not even notice it.
StarCraft is a game of strategy, it is a game of brains over brawns. You won’t win if you rely on brute force alone, you must slip some cunning into your tactics or surely your enemies will overrun you.

Rating: 9/10

Sound: The sounds are spectacular. You can hear almost everything, including the responses from units as you select and move them, the “Red Alert” signal warning you of an enemy attacks, the sounds of the resources gatherers chipping away at the minerals, to the certain gas mask breathing of that stealth unit you are sending into enemy terrain to plant a nuke.

Rating: 9/10

Graphics: The graphics are quite good, the units drawn to a fine point, the background heavily detailed, and the scenery so real that you will think you are there yourself. What do you expect? It’s a game of fighting, of blowing people up, so naturally the battles are realistic, with blood when your troops die, with a boom when that tank you’ve been carefully preserving for so long explode to a nuke. The graphics are great, and it’s going to be hard to beat.

Rating: 9/10

Replay: Why not? It’s not like you’re going to get bored of StarCraft anytime soon. There are special campaigns that you can play, a special set for each of the three species. The levels you can play over and over again, without getting bored, because your enemy can and will attack you a different way each time. StarCraft won’t get boring anytime soon, that I guarantee.

Overall, StarCraft is definitely a buy for the PC system. It’s a game that is very carefully designed and developed, and worth every single cent. Gamers that aim for action and strategy should add this game to their library, it’s a game that will burn itself a place into your mind and suck you into its powerful vortex of addictiveness.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/05/03, Updated 04/05/03