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Starcraft 2 trilogy announced, Starcraft fans change pants simultaneously photo

Today at BlizzCon, Blizzard dropped the proverbial bombshell. The highly anticipated RTS Starcraft 2 will be split into three distinct stand-alone titles, each featuring a different race in order to keep the “epic” scale of Starcraft 2’s storyline intact. It’s a trilogy, except the middle to this one won’t suck as bad as The Matrix: Reloaded did.

The first title to hit stands is called Terran: Wings of Liberty. Following that will be Zerg: Heart of Swarm, and Protoss: Legend of the Void. Details on pricing, dates, and inclusion of multiplayer are unknown at this time. What is known is that each title will feature 26-30 single-player missions without a cliffhanger in sight.

If handled appropriately, I can see how this might be pretty hip. I only hope that all three of these titles don’t hit within months of each other. We'll keep our ears to the ground for more information as BlizzCon unfolds. In the meanwhile, are you happy with this announcement Starcraft fans?

[via 1UP]


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57 comments | showing # 1 to 50

nerpin's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 20:33
nerpin
Everywhere else this news has been posted...the news has been pretty much met with outrage at being forced to purchase three separate games.

Prepare for bitter fan comments starting...now!
lowercaseluke's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 20:37
lowercaseluke
Hah! Serves you right for caring.
MrSadistic's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 20:38
MrSadistic
LAME
Aertyr's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 20:39
Aertyr
If this is handled well it will be kick ass. But it really does seem like a cashowhore move to me.
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 20:51
Dexter345
I'm with Aertyr. If the games on their own are big enough to justify the price, then it shouldn't really be an issue. And as long as you can play as all three races in multiplayer after only buying one of them, then really, people need to shut up.
SilverDragon1979's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 20:54
SilverDragon1979
It all depends on all Blizzard handles the pricing, and how large each single player campaign is. If each campaign is around 10-20 hours a piece they can probably get away with charging $20-$30 a game, but anymore then that and people will probably be very angry.

In either case people will buy this game, it's as simple as that. It's Starcraft for the love of God. They could charge $100 and people would buy it.
killias2's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 20:56
killias2
"It all depends on all Blizzard handles the pricing, and how large each single player campaign is. If each campaign is around 10-20 hours a piece they can probably get away with charging $20-$30 a game, but anymore then that and people will probably be very angry. "

QFT

If I feel the single-player for one release is equivalent to the single-player for SC Vanilla, I won't feel cheated. Otherwise.. I might get angry with Blizzard for the first time. Ever.
lowercaseluke's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:06
lowercaseluke
I'm sure each game will be a great title, worthy of the Starcraft name and will stand up in it's own right.

Why are you laughing?
sicPOS's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:14
sicPOS
It doesn't bother me at all. The more Starcraft I get the better. This just means we will be getting games that are more fleshed out. Hopefully this will make the release come a bit sooner.

but paying for the game 3 times does suck
Fantus's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:20
Fantus
It's bullshit. Plain and simple.
monosylabik's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:23
monosylabik
I won't be paying full price for something that should just be one cohesive package...I want to play as the protoss now not later.
killias2's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:26
killias2
"It's bullshit. Plain and simple."

"I won't be paying full price for something that should just be one cohesive package...I want to play as the protoss now not later."

I tend to agree with both of you.. but I'm willing to give this a shot. With branching missions, bonus missions, new singleplayer game elements, and 30-some main missions.., one campaign just might be equivalent in game-time as all of vanilla SC. However, if the content is really weak, or if the prices of the latter two games is too expensive.. count me out.

I never thought I could say count me out about Starcraft 2.
bluexy's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:28
bluexy
I like hamburgers.
king3vbo's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:36
king3vbo
My love for Blizzard, clashing with my hatred for this...

OH THE HUMANITY
yaisuah's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:36
yaisuah
What's strange is everyones complaining about this, yet no one seems to remember that THQ did the EXACT same thing with W40k and its expansions. Blizzard just thinks they can get away with the same thing.
sicPOS's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:37
sicPOS
People are to quick to bitch. The 3 games (2 of which will be expansions) are just different sides of the story. You will have multiplayer from the start and can play as any race you want. The split just gets the game to us faster. If they kept it as a single game we either wouldn't see it for 5-6 years or they would've cut a ton from the campaigns.

I, for one, am glad they did this.
Rusty Ghia's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:44
Rusty Ghia
Awesome, you mean that we get to pay $150 for one complete game?

Fuck that shit.

If I get this, I'll wait for the inevitable Starcraft 2 Battlechest and get the full game for less than the price of one. Sure, it won't be out for a few years, but I'm a patient lad.
Wexx's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:46
Wexx
My only beef with this is: what will the price point be? Will each segment in the trilogy be a full-retail game, or will it be a-la Half-Life 2 episode?
Sharpless's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:48
Sharpless
LOL. I'm sure that each individual package will be fully functional as a stand-alone. I don't think they're trying to screw you, here. Buy, then judge.
Dusty Gozongas's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:51
Dusty Gozongas
It was easier to swallow with warhammer 40k because most of us were never under the presumption that all of the races would have fleshed out campaigns, but blizzard already set that precedent for themselves with starcraft 1. And even if each campaign is as long as the original starcraft, what's wrong with releasing a single, really long and awesome game?
It sounds like theyve already completed a lot of the campaign content, but at some point during development, some wise guy was thinking aloud at a board meeting that they would totally make a titload more money if they cleverly split the meat of the game into three pieces.
Dusty Gozongas's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:54
Dusty Gozongas
Jk on them being almost done with the campaign, I just read the other post about them only being a third of the way done with it. But seriously, they should just charge full price for the first game and release the rest as downloadable content with the stated intent of releasing the game sooner.
MechaMonkey's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:56
MechaMonkey
*waits for pricing*
Dan CiTi's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:57
Dan CiTi
It still won't touch the epicness of Halo.
ThunderHeartXI's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 21:57
ThunderHeartXI
It seems to me that Blizzard is suffering from a bit of Activision cash-whore fever here. World of Warcraft seems to have turned them into monsters. :(

But honestly? It's probably going to come out to $250 Canadian if the dollar keeps shitting itself. I love Blizzard, but I don't $250 love them.
cainball's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 22:05
cainball
@ThuderheartXI
I "$250 love" your mum.
I hear you about the dollar- bloody Aussie dollar is all screwed up, and it's because of the American market.
Rucksack's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 22:05
Rucksack
@ThunderheartXI

Dude I don't even $70 love them. If my game purchase doesn't net me the full package, then I'll simply buy a more complete game at full price.
ArrestedDeveloper's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 22:06
ArrestedDeveloper
Come on Blizzard, why don't you take a page from Valve's book and make one mega product that is a huge value to your customers. This just seems like they want to charge more money and have more time to finish the game.
Professor Pew's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 22:29
Professor Pew
Lame. I'm all for more singleplayer content, but this way each campaign will just drag on for ages? And are we supposed to buy all three games for the same multiplayer?

Why not split each of the campaigns in three and then release 3x terran/zerg/toss campaign discs if you absolutely must release 3 of them...
killias2's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 22:35
killias2
"Why not split each of the campaigns in three and then release 3x terran/zerg/toss campaign discs if you absolutely must release 3 of them...'

I think they're trying to deliver more coherent and unique packages for each campaign this time. I've heard rumors that the different campaigns will unfold differently. Trying to accomplish this while cutting each campaign up into pieces.. likely fail.
Also, I'm guessing they're further into the Terran campaign than the others.. by a large margin.

I'm not fantastically happy about this either, but I'm not entirely out of hope about this. This -COULD- be a decent thing
whormongr's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 22:52
whormongr
@Professor Pew... wouldn't that make the three one game and 2 expansions- like they usually do
Furyfire's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 22:59
Furyfire
You forgot to mention the price there - It's been officalized that the games will actually be around 60 bucks a piece.

Yeah... I dont like it either.
Professor Pew's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 23:06
Professor Pew
Well, they did it right with the Warcrafts so it can be done. Seriously, who wants to play 26-30 full levels as the Terrans? The flow between the campaigns has always been around 10 levels per race to keep things varied.

But yeah, it's still Starcraft. I guess it's gonna be 1 multiplayer purchase and a lot of internet bittorrent traffic for a lot of people eh?
Necros's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 23:19
Necros
If it's substantial and enough to carry a full game, I could see enjoying a one-army campaign. However, seems like a bit of a cashgrab to me. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Also, I'm not certain I like the idea of them all having the same ending.

According to one of the devs, supposedly this move is to avoid amazingly long delays and get you the Terran campaign a lot earlier than you'd get all three at once.
Stonethigh's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 23:22
Stonethigh
The debate in the comments has me torn on what to feel. If one of the sole reasons of splitting the game up this way is to actually release it before 2020 then I am for it.

If it has enough content to make it a worthwhile purchase as a stand alone game then I will take the proverbially shaft from Blizzard and fork out the money.
topcow's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/10/2008 23:37
topcow
Deep breaths everyone - read my post and feel better.

Quoted from above - "each title will feature 26-30 single-player missions. That's exactly the same amount as in the original Starcraft (it had 30).

Think of it like they're releasing Starcraft, then Brood War, then another expansion. This is episodic content done correctly.
CAVE's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 00:15
CAVE
I don't like this. I hope they release at the same time, or really close together. Now we have to wait on 3 games to come out? meh...
Knives's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 01:53
Knives
I won't whine until I know more details, I can see it going either way, but honestly I would buy them anyway, call me what you want, but yeah, I would buy 1/3 of a game for a full game price and like it.
10BobMarleys's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 01:58
10BobMarleys
Fuck off, ActiBlizzard. You know that people will pay for a mere third of the game, so that's what you will sell them. Next person to talk about how Blizzard love their fans within my earshot gets punched in the ovaries.
Char Aznable's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 02:13
Char Aznable
I'm kinda put off by having to pay so much, but whatever. I guess I'll wait for the Battle Chest, because my PC sucks ass at the moment anyway.

I trust Blizzard enough to put together a quality game (or games).
Tubatic's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 02:44
Tubatic
I dunno, Isn't this something people should be happy about? I understand nobody actualyl likes to spend money on something they'll enjoy, but I gather what they're saying is that you're getting three Starcraft II titles, instead of just one.

Since this seems to be three distinct, continuous, full length experiences, I think its a pretty excellent move, if you're a Star Craft fan. I'd love it if Suda 51 stepped out and said "Well what we didn't tell you is that we've prepared a trilogy of No More Heroes titles, instead of the one sequel you figured you were getting. Go Nuts"
Mekanikles's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 05:21
Mekanikles
Bullshit, I'll just pirate all of them then and buy the one I liked best for multiplayer.
thunderleg's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 06:10
thunderleg
OMG PC GAMING IS DIYING!!

SHIT LIKE TIS IS KILING PC GAMING!

......

Am I kidding, or not?
jellydoodle's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 06:23
jellydoodle
@mekanikles: you fail.
Zantetsuken's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 07:10
Zantetsuken
If they are priced to reflect the content then I wont be as bothered, but then again I probably wasn't going to buy this.
ShadokatRegn's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 07:38
ShadokatRegn
Good thing I'm patient, and will be able to wait long enough for them to bundle these games - that's about the time I'll have an up-to-date enough computer to play this.
Velt's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 08:36
Velt
as long as the single player experience is there and the multiplayer too then they can have my money.
Cube's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 09:29
Cube
News at a 11

Blizzard makes there own Pokemon .


NExt up starcraft red blue, ruby and sapphire.


and the new slogan.

"Starcraft the only PC game where the fans are dumb enough to buy it 3 times like a pokemon or a console game."
killias2's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 09:30
killias2
If they charge full price point... I won't buy them. Sorry. That's bullshit.

If they charge 30 bucks or so for the new campaigns... then I could see myself doing it.

To compare it to Brood War, Brood War was only 30-40 when it came out. Sure, you needed the original, but Brood War also provided new elements to multiplayer. Essentially, Brood War will be MORE VALUABLE to someone who owns Starcraft than Campaign 2 or 3 would be to someone who owned the Terran campaign.

Basically, RELEASE THEM AS EXPANSIONS, DON'T ACT LIKE THEY"RE FULL GAMES!
iao6's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 09:38
iao6
the pricing really doesn't concern me as much as how it will effect the online experience. each campaign in the original and bw exp worked to teach the player the nuances and tech trees of each race, it was like a sort of boot camp for most strategic scenarios you'd encounter online. if you only get one playable race then it's basically forcing the players to all just jump in online and learn all the intricacies of each race through guess n check, which, in my opinion, will make the zerg and protoss campaigns exceedingly dull when youre forced to learn how to harvest minerals in mission one when youve already gotten to the point where you can muti-ling rush through the entire campaign.
Cuban B's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/11/2008 10:13
Cuban B
I could bitch about this, but what's the point?

I'm going to buy all of them, I'm going to enjoy all of them.
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