Starcraft & Starcraft: Brood War

When I was around 13 to 14 years old, I used to play this game a lot. This game is probably the first game I ever played in a cybercafe. We used to go this really dingy and run down one near my primary school called the PC shop. The computers were old and funky and there were only 7 working ones (an odd number lol) but we still had great fun.

So I recently finished this game (again) over the summer holidays, for a lack of a better game to play. Well it sure brought those memories of the good old times flooding back to me. Compared to the 3D graphics you get in most RTS games today, I kind of prefer the style Starcraft incorporates. It just gives me a really retro feeling...

The single player campaign comprises of 6 episodes (2 for each of the 3 races) which detail the coming of the Zerg (Aliens) and the Protoss (Predator?) to the unsuspecting Terran (Human) colonies. The plot is interesting enough to keep you playing from mission to mission, using cinematics and pre-mission briefings to move the story along. The gameplay is pretty decent with a good balance of difficulty. Players new to RTS games won't find it too hard and those who are good at them won't find it too easy. Towards the end though, especially in the expansion when you have access to the whole tech tree, the game becomes a little too easy. There aren't any difficulty settings for one. Also, once you have access to your best unit (like Battlecruisers or Guardians) then all you have to do is defend your base till you have a large army of them and you win.

Its the multiplayer experience that makes this game really shine. Amazingly enough, Blizzard has managed to balance out the strength of the 3 races (with a few patches here and there) so that each race has its own tactical advantage. The Zerg have weaker but cheaper units, the Protoss build powerful but really expensive stuff and the Terrans are the game's Swiss Army Knife; they are suited to handle all kinds of combat situations. Maps are balanced and beautifully constructed with terrain and resource points providing a lot to think about when playing it against a human opponent. The mix of units allow for all kinds of strategies like covert-ops, all-out attacks, sieges, ambushes, etc.

All in all, Starcraft is a beautiful game, even if the graphics may put some people off (not me of course). Which goes to show why after all these years Starcraft is still considered one of the best RTS games of all time (especially by Koreans)