| StarCraft: Brood War Publisher: Blizzard Software Reviewed by: Mike Brinkman Review Date 1.3.00 MSRP: $19.95 Related Review: StarCraft |
 |
StarCraft: Brood War, is the expansion pack for Blizzard's popular StarCraft title. In the new version, Blizzard decided to stick with their proven formula, and once again it pays off. While there have been minor changes to unit production, a few new units have been added and there are additions to the landscape, the game largely remains the same.
The Brood War expansion set is a continuation of the old story line from the original
StarCraft. The key word here is "continuation." 
You'll notice that the first few
levels of Brood War are about as difficult as the final levels for each race in the
original StarCraft. No sissy missions here pal, this is the real deal. In other words:
if you found the final missions in StarCraft difficult, you might want to practice
-- a lot -- before digging into Brood War.
When the story picks up, we find our heroes Zeratul and James Raynor abandoned on Aiur, trying to escape to the Dark Templar world of Shakuras. Of course, in the aftermath of the Overminds' destruction, the Zerg are running rampant. In his zeal to flee, Zeratul doesn't notice that the Zerg follow him back to Shakuras, and chaos ensues.
In order to defeat the Zerg, the Protoss decide that they must team up with the Zerg, namely Kerrigan, the "Queen of Blades." I'm sure you're thinking "Huh?!?" It seems that Kerrigan is in a power struggle with the remaining Cerebrates, and promises that the Zerg will leave the Protoss alone if the Cerebrates can be overthrown. Politics makes for strange bedfellows (and of course, Kerrigan's promises are about as reliable as a politician's)...
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Terrans have their own mess on their hands. It seems that Big Brother Earth has been watching them, and now wants to pay their exiled bretheren a visit. Of course, the Unified Earth Directorate's plan is to capture the Zerg to use them against the Protoss. I know, I know, it makes about as much sense as trying to put out a fire by dousing it with gasoline. I don't want to give away too much more of the plot, but beware, that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" theme is taken to new heights in Brood War.
Once you get past the Protoss episode, things start to lighten up a bit for the Terran mission. Maybe the programmers were getting slap-happy from late nights of programming. The programmers added what looks to be a salute to some of their favorite science fiction movies. On Korhal, the desert planet capital of the Terrans, you'll see a Sarlac Pit (ala "Return of the Jedi"), and the skeleton of a giant worm (ala "Dune"). Even the closing cut scene for the Terrans greatly resembles portions of "Starship Troopers."
The new units are either essential or marginal at best. Of those units that are
essential are the Protoss Corsair with its disruption web--an energy field which
prevents missile silos & Zerg detectors from being able to attack air troops,
and the Dark Archon, 
which can use "mind control" to take away your enemy's strongest
units. Dark templar are cool, but your enemies use far too many detection units to
make their invisibility any real threat.
The Zerg Lurker is alright, and acts somewhat like a portable sunken colony. It's nice, but not essential. I found the Zerg Devourer to be of little value. Likewise of the Terran medic, and Valkyrie. The medic can give your troops up to 250 extra hit points, and the Valkyrie has an air-to-air "splash" attack, sort of like the Zerg Mutalisk. However, due to its lack of ground attack, there's no real reason to prefer the Valkyrie over the Wraith. By and large, I found I was able to finish most levels using the standard fare from the original StarCraft.
Perhaps the highlight of the game were the branching decisions you were faced with. There were a couple of levels for which your decisions would effect the next level. For instance, on one level of Terran episode, you could decide to either assault the Directorates' physics labs or their nuclear arsenals. If you took out the physics labs, you didn't have to worry about any Battle Cruisers on the next level. If you took out the nuclear arsenals, you wouldn't have to worry about nukes on the next level. (It may seem like a no-brainer, but try it both ways to find out!)
The Bottom Line
StarCraft: Brood War sticks to the original recipe, which is a good thing. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The story is intrigueing and engrossing, the sprites are still very nicely drawn. The soundtrack remains the same. Of course, that's why Blizzard calls StarCraft: Brood War an expansion set. The difficulty level may be a turn off for some, but as the saying goes, "War is hell." I definitely recommend this game to anybody who is a fan of the original StarCraft.
Pros:
Low learning curve (plays just like StarCraft), low system requirements, nice sound
and graphics.
Cons:
High difficulty level (plays just like the end of StarCraft), seems a little bit
dated compared to other recent titles for the Mac.
Score: 8.5 out of 10
System Requirements:
OS 7.6 or higher
16 MB of RAM (32 for multiplayer)
105 MB hard disk space
2x CD-ROM (4x for cinematics)
Monitor capable of 256 colors at 640 x 480 resolution
|