Reviewed by: Mike Brinkman
Review Date: 4.29.99
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
MSRP: $49.95
Related Review: StarCraft: Brood War
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft. On one
hand, I was looking forward to playing it, but on the other hand, I was afraid I
would simply be looking at "WarCraft: Orcs In Space."
After playing the StarCraft
demo, I thought to myself "more of the same-old same-old." The graphics
and sound were excellent, and there seemed to be something of a good plot developing,
but there was nothing groundbreaking here. [A word of warning to those of you who
might have played the demo and written off StarCraft: Don't let the demo fool you!]
StarCraft does combine many elements 
of Blizzard’s popular WarCraft games, but it also goes far
beyond it in many ways. In StarCraft you get to play one of three different races,
the plotting Terrans, the collectivist Zerg or the enigmatic Protoss, each with their
own 10 level episode. Unlike WarCraft, there isn’t a one-for one correspondence to
abilities between the races. Each race has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages.
Basically what you end up with here is a classical three-way cage match, where sometimes
you’re teaming up with one of your opponents because the other one offers the greater
threat.
The Terrans were mostly political prisoners who were slated for execution, but then
exiled from Earth. These exiles are now part of a tyrannical Confederacy, which operates
under the principle "might makes right." This of course leaves itself open
to the many plot twists that happen along the way.
The Terran episode is probably the one most like WarCraft. Your peasants are replaced
by SCV’s, farms are replaced by Supply Depots, etc. However, there is a lot more
diversity of units in StarCraft. Due to their nomadic existence, most Terran buildings
are actually their own mobile space vehicles, which can lift off and land should
hostile conditions arise (and you know they will). Terrans also have the most devastating
of all weapons, small scale nuclear warheads, which can lay waste to any units and
buildings in it’s blast radius.
Then come the Zerg. Every Zerg unit is merely a physical extension of a collective conscience known as the "Overmind." The Overmind has generals known as Cerebrates, which help the Overmind maintain control over his hoard. Playing the Zerg will take a little getting used to, because there are certain limitations on their play.
First and foremost, you have a hatchery, which produced larvae. You will have
between one and three larvae at any given time. These larvae can "morph"
into other units, depending upon what types of buildings you have created. Oh, and
get this—you don’t actually build buildings. You morph your larvae into drones, which
then mutate into living organic buildings. Some Zerg structures create a thick, purple
jelly called the "Creep," which expands to cover more territory. With the
exception of a new hatchery or extractor, all buildings must be built on the creep.
Despite this limitation, the Zerg also have one great advantage: They (units and
structures) heal over time, so even a Zerg reduced to 1 unit of health can fully
recover.
Last but not least, is the Protoss, a highly advanced race of psionic warriors. Once
again, they differ greatly from both the Terrans and the Zerg. 
The Protoss bases operate on the
energy from a central building known as the Nexus. The Nexus then provides a field
of energy to crystal pylons which energize Protoss structures. One of the cool things
about the Protoss is that they don’t build their structures. They come pre-made and
get "warped in" from their home planet.
Just as the Zerg had a unique advantage, so do the Protoss. Every Protoss unit and
structure is protected by a psionic force field, which regenerate over time. These
force fields must be diminished before the Protoss can take any damage. However,
any damage that they receive does not heal.
Perhaps the thing that sets StarCraft apart from WarCraft and 95% of all other games
out there is the excellent plot development. StarCraft integrates a well-written
manual, cinematic cut-scenes, dramatic mission briefings and well scripted in-scenario
events that make you want to continue playing, just to see what’s going to happen
next.
Game Play
There are some good things to be said about StarCraft’s game play, and then there
were many things that left room for improvement. One thing to beware of is the long
amount of time some of the missions can take. While I got through most of the missions
on my first or second try, the scenarios took anywhere between a half-hour to nearly
two hours to complete. I couldn’t count this as a pro or con, since this is probably
a personal preference issue.
Pros
On the good side, for Terran and Protoss was the ability to have a production "queue,"
which allows you to plan production of up to 5 units at a time. Also very good were
the diverse amount of unit types and their unique abilities, plus the way that lighting
and translucency enhanced 
game play. And probably of most importance to many gamers was how well
StarCraft holds up on older machines. I played this game using a StarMax Motorola
with a 250 MHz 603e processor, and it played great.
Cons
On the down side, many times your production units could get stuck behind something
they had just built (a problem carrying over from WarCraft), rendering them useless.
Also, you are limited to directing 12 units at a time, which puts you at a distinct
disadvantage against the computer. And another MAJOR problem I found in StarCraft
was path finding. Sometimes without absolutely micro-managing your units, they would
stray off into hostile territory, bringing forth a flood of invaders you weren’t
prepared for.
Bottom Line:
First I have a confession to make. I really wanted to give StarCraft a bad review.
I wanted to find every little flaw and fault and tear it to shreds. Why? Because
I was extremely angry at Blizzard for treating Mac gamers as second class citizens,
releasing what could be the 1998 game of the year to us in 1999. Unfortunately, I
liked StarCraft too much to do any such thing.
StarCraft is a must-have for anybody who enjoys real-time strategy games. If you
are looking for an extremely entertaining (and time consuming) game, then go and
buy StarCraft immediately! But please, remember to fill out your registration card
and comment that you want future Mac versions released at the same time.
Score: 9 out of 10
System Requirements:
Mac OS 7.6 or later
2X CD ROM Drive (4X recommended)
Monitor capable of displaying 256 Colors at 640 x 480 resolution