When I entered StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void, I was rather excited to experience the final chapter within the trilogy. As I was going through the story, there were moments that definitely caught me awestruck with amazement upon improvements that previous StarCraft campaigns most certainly lacked. When it comes to the multiplayer, it definitely offers new modes that new players and old will find to bring a sense of excitement as players battle in competitive and cooperative environments across the galaxies.
Impending Doom
Legacy of the Void’s story takes place where Artanis, the hierarch of the Protoss, initially takes charge in an attempt to seize Aiur, the Protoss home world, from the Zerg. Soon to be revealed to the player in the game’s initial stage, Artanis fails with the invasion. He is forced to leave Aiur in an attempt to strategize a solution to defeat Amon, the dark god who takes control of Terran, Zerg and Protoss forces.
If you have played Wings of Liberty or Heart of the Swarm, then the campaign’s formula should be familiar. In Legacy of the Void, the mission design is beautifully constructed in offering a variety of objectives to complete that are rarely repeated. Each mission offers a new unit for use in the game, while special upgrades for your base and units are for your choosing outside of the missions.
There are passive powers such as automatic assimilators and building repair; also, there are active powers that permit the player to call down missile strikes and place free pylons as well. All upgrades are unlocked for your race over time; however, if you desire to get better powers, you must complete missions and bonus objectives within each mission to obtain Solarite, which is the energy commodity in the game. For example, within one of the missions, I needed to move my base from platform to platform to earn resources and destroy bases. In the same mission, there were additional constructs that needed to be destroyed to obtain Solarite. The only disadvantage to these powers is that there are no hotkeys for them, which definitely slows the gameplay down for the player.
The well-done mission design actually feels like you are making unique strategies to accomplish each mission, and the powers that you unlock only compliment the gameplay. The powers that are unlocked by the player are rewarding in a sense to where as you progress through the campaign, you start to feel like an actual tactician, rather than a specialist in survival like in Wings of Liberty.
Through meeting characters that are both new and old to the series, the game offers a fresh perspective of Protoss lore that can only be offered within the character dialogue between missions among the Spear of Adun. It was a pleasant surprise to see some characters return along with the addition of new characters. The biggest improvement that I just about drooled over was how the cutscenes between missions have been drastically improved by offering visually-satisfying action rather than simple sit down and chat screenings. Lastly, the soundtrack is phenomenal, and truthfully adds the cherry on top for the last expansion in the trilogy.
A Destructive Duo
In this expansion, Blizzard has brought something new to StarCraft that is very appealing to newcomers. This is the new co-op mode, where you can choose between one out of six heroes, two from each race, that have been presented within the campaign, and tag along with a friend or stranger to complete heavily campaign-influenced missions that definitely have a challenging aspect.
Each hero, whether you’re playing as Jim Raynor, Kerrigan, Artanis, Swann, Zagara, or even Vorazun, has a separate playstyle that offers variety when approaching these missions. Each hero also has a level up reward system that peaks at 15 to offer better functionality within each playstyle. These missions are absurdly fun, but teamwork is required. A teammate who is sluggish with contributing offensive units or defensive structures will cripple the experience.
The only negative portion to this mode is that there are only five missions to partake in. Blizzard hasn’t stated if they’ll add more, but it would create less of a repetitive feeling after participating in more than a few matches.
Still a Pro’s Game
In terms of Legacy of the Void’s multiplayer, it hasn’t strayed away too far from its origins. However, the multiplayer has changed to bring a much fresher feel. For one, the number of workers in the start of the game has doubled. There are a total of 12 starting workers with very limited additional supply in each match’s initial stage. This addition speeds up the game significantly to where building your first supply depot, pylon or overlord is nearly immediate.
The in-game timer has also been changed to real time in any speed of the game, rather than it adjusting based off the speed in which the match runs. New units have been created as well as the return of the Zerg Lurker unit from Brood War. The competitive multiplayer is indeed challenging for those who are new to the series due to the consistent need for quick multitasking. Considering that the beginning worker count has doubled, it will be difficult for newcomers. Although this speed offers a steep learning curve, these changes provide something brand new to the multiplayer that has not been done before and create desire to adapt to this evolution.
Since StarCraft’s debut, the flow of the game has always started with this small worker count, and considering that this count has increased, it gives the allowance to build armies rapidly, especially for the Zerg considering a player can pop out two Zerglings for 50 minerals. With this speed, it creates the tension between players far quicker, and doesn’t as long of silent gathering of resources and building in a competitive match’s initial stage.
On an unfortunate note, Archon Mode, the brand new competitive team game where two players control a single race, was unavailable to me when playing. When I went to the competitive multiplayer menu, I saw the various modes that included 1v1, Archon, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 in both ranked and unranked play. Archon mode was clearly visible, but unavailable to play for unknown reasons.
TL;DR
Between the campaign, the co-op and the multiplayer, Legacy of the Void offers innovative ideas to the franchise, and is by far the best within the StarCraft 2 trilogy. If you have not played StarCraft 2 yet, now is the best time to pick it up.
+ Uniquely designed campaign missions
+ Great lore and cutscenes
+ Absurdly fun co-op missions
+ Faster multiplayer offers redefined gameplay
- No hotkeys for powers
- Archon Mode not available yet
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