Starcraft: Brood War

"New missions, great multiplayer and more make this a great buy for Starcraft fans"

I usually don't play PC games. I tend to stick to consoles, but when a game as great as Starcraft is
out, I can't wait years for the lesser Nintendo 64 version to come out. So I bought Starcraft, and it
was one of the best experiences I had ever had. The only thing I disliked about the game that it was
somewhat difficult to beat. Little did I know the expansion would be ten times harder.

Brood War is a much more difficult version of Starcraft. Blizzard has included some nice little extras, although not a huge amount. Each race can now use 2 new units. Terrans can use Valkyries and Medics, Zerg get Lurkers and Devourers, and the Protoss acquire the use of Corsairs and Dark Archons. These units all have unique and usually very different abilities. Also, each race gets little bonuses, too. Terran and Zerg get additional upgrades while the Protoss can now manufacture Dark Templar. There are also new terrains to battle in, including Desert, Ice, and Twilight.

Even better, Brood War had 27 new missions and continues the story of the previous Starcraft. Most of these missions are the basic ''build up enough resources until you can destroy the opponent'' type, but some are different. You may have to protect a temple or hijack vehicles. What I really would've like is to see some cool new missions, like protecting a city from destruction or escorting a cargo ship through a dangerous sector of space. These missions are much tougher and players who aren't good at the game will get annoyed easily.

GRAPHICS: 9.0/10
Although not incredibly mind-blowing, the graphics of Brood War are quite nice. There are few graphical changes from the previous game, but then again, this is an expansion. Everything is quite clear and it is rather quick to load. However, I was a little disappointed that there were only
cinematics at the end of each races campaigns, as opposed to having several cinematics in each campaign of the original Starcraft. These were the ''rewards'' for completing a mission, and now, when the missions are tougher, you get no ''reward''. This is a minor complaint, however.

STORY: 9.5/10
The original Starcraft presented a great story and the expansion does the same. The plot developing, different sides taking the lead, and familiar characters meeting their deaths are all events that take place between and during missions. The plot twists and tricks you, and it's very fun to see it progress between (and sometimes during) missions. This is one of the main reasons to keep you playing.

PLAY CONTROL: 8.5/10
Just as in the original Starcraft, it's awkward to do some commands. Some of the hotkeys will help, but not solve this problem. Players who didn't figure out the hotkeys in the original should definitely try to discover them (especially if they play multiplayer). Missions may depend on your speed, and in a difficult game like this you can't afford to mess up.

REPLAY VALUE: 9.5/10
After playing through the missions and discovering the story, there isn't a whole lot of fun in doing it all again. I'd say you would play through this game one or two times. It's fun the first time, but going through all the trouble again isn't really worth it once you know the story and have seen the cinematics. There are sometimes different ways to complete a mission, but this doesn't add much fun. However, this game gets the very high rating it does because of it's excellent multiplayer mode. The players there are generally skilled and provide a lot of challenge and fun. You can also play with your friends, wherever they are, so long as you all have connection to the internet. The multiplayer supports up to eight players, human or computer, and the experience differs every time.

SOUND: 7.5/10
While the sound isn't bad, it's far from being great. It won't annoy you and you generally won't even notice it. (although sometimes it gets louder than a character speaking,but you can easily adjust the music and SFX levels). Some of the music seems to come from the original, while other parts are new (it's all one loooong piece of music). The sound effects are good, much like the original.

INNOVATION: 7.0/10
If this were the original Starcraft, the Innovation would definitely get a higher rating. However, not much has changed and nothing astonishing has been added to Brood War. A few new units, some with interesting abilities, and some new terrains are about it. There are some cool new mission types, however, but aren't different enough to make this game feel more unique. Unlike the original Starcraft, sometimes what you do in one mission will affect the next one. This isn't anything major though, it just minor outcomes.

LENGTH: 9.0/10
There are less missions in Brood War than in Starcraft (27 compared to 30 - not a huge difference), but they are much, much harder. This game provides a heck of a lot of challenge, and will take you a while to get through, perhaps even longer than the original Starcraft.

FUN: 9.0/10
While being very fun, sometimes the difficulty makes you frustrated, lowering the fun. But then again, when you complete a mission you feel all the more victorious and happy that you completed it. Sometimes you may even just want to give up (and many players actually do). However, the Battle.net and other multiplayer modes make this game worth the money spent. To get the full multiplayer experience, having all the units and terrains is essential. Plus, you can't play a friend who owns Brood War with an original Starcraft game.

OVERALL: 9/10
(Precise Score: 8.65384)
This game is incredibly fun and will get you back into Starcraft all over again. If you loved the original Starcraft, buy it. If you thought the original was OK, you can play multiplayer if you find the missions to be too hard. If you didn't like the original, stay away. The basic gameplay is still the same. This game's single player is for the expert Starcraft player, while anybody can play multiplayer with other players of their level. Multiplayer is one of the most fun aspects of the game, even without friends to play with, because hundreds of games are waiting for players every minute. Many creative players have made unique spin-offs on the game, so you don't have to play the same game there either. Unfortunately, there are also some complaints to be had. Some races are clearly better than others. One thing that makes the Zerg campaign more difficult is that the Zerg are somewhat worse than other races. However, an experienced player can overcome this. I would have also liked to see more new units and upgrades, and perhaps some new features to make the gameplay a little different from the original. Despite these problems, Brood War is a great expansion and will bring joy to most Starcraft fans (especially multiplayer fans). For only $20-$40, this game is well worth the money spent.

En Taro Adun!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/29/00, Updated 03/29/00