StarCraft II: Terrans interview reveals single player changes and more

8 January 2009

Posted by:Josh

StarCraft 2 is the highly anticipated real-time strategy follow-up from Blizzard Entertainment. As you likely already know if you’ve been following the title(s), the game has been split into three parts; One for each of the game’s three factions: Terran, Zerg and Protoss with each game having it’s own subtitle: Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void respectively. In each game you will follow that races story through each game. Each of three titles will release over a year or so after each other.

These games are wholly separate from each other as far as the single-player campaign is concerned, but will each maintain a multiplayer mode that will allow you to play as any of the one factions. Each campaign will feature over 30 unique missions in each of the games, which amounts to over 60 missions total which amounts to double the amount of content spread over the three titles.

In a recent interview about the game with lead designer Dustin Browder, he discussed the single-player campaign in more detail. Here are some choice quotes:

GameSpy: Can you describe in a bit more detail the structure of the single player campaign? If there are 26-30 missions is that in a linear chain and how does your structure enhance replayability?

Dustin Browder: Actually our campaigns will be structured in such a way that players can choose the path they take — it’s not a linear path. Our goal with StarCraft II’s campaign is to give players the ability to make meaningful choices in the missions they take and the technologies they unlock, so as to customize their single-player experience. The choices you make can impact how different subplots unfold, or how soon you unlock certain units and technologies.

There will still be a single, overarching story we’re trying to tell, so it’s not as if there will be alternate endings to the primary plot line. But in certain subplots, players could affect the fate of specific characters or even worlds depending on the choices they make, while the ability to choose your technology upgrades lets you customize your army for your own playing style.

We can even introduce units and technology in the campaign that are unique to the single-player game and won’t appear in multiplayer games. As an example, one technology you can choose would be to upgrade your bunkers to fit six infantry instead of four. If you’re the type of player that likes to turtle-in, then that’s probably an attractive upgrade for you. Another player who’s more aggressive would probably choose to spend credits on a different unit or technology upgrade. By introducing flexibility in mission choices, and an array of exciting, single-player –only technologies, we not only enhance replayability, but give the campaign a much different flavor than the multiplayer aspect.

To see the single player game in action, check out our StarCraft 2 Walkthrough.

For much more on the game be sure to read the entire interview over at GameSpy.