Support NeoGAF

[farnham]

is there any hint of what happened to the United Earth Directorate ?

All the terran story seems to be only about the dominion

 

[Deadly]

is there any hint of what happened to the United Earth Directorate ?

All the terran story seems to be only about the dominion

Didn't they get owned by the end of Brood War? Probably dissolved or something.
Someone had mentioned a possibility for Stukov to come back, where was this alluded to in the cutscenes? On wikipedia, it actually says he was revived in Starcraft 64.

 

[farnham]

Didn't they get owned by the end of Brood War? Probably dissolved or something.

the remaining forces of dugalle did get pwned

but not earth itself which means that the united earth directorate still exists

 

[Atomic]

Some bits of Kerrigan fighting Zeratual at the end of this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELhtXtnV3pg don't seem to be in the game cinematics??

 

[Olivero]

So is there anywhere out there that gives a detailed summary of the campaign?

 

[thefil]

Finished the game in a marathon session yesterday.

I've got to say, I expected a bit more from the story. It basically followed the normal Starcraft arc of [pointless missions] -> [mcguffin] -> [climactic battle in which one faction is destroyed only to likely surface later with no apparent weakness].

I mean, Kerrigan is human[ish] again, but for all we know that doesn't mean anything (after all, the next game stars the swarm, which has obviously survived). Ultimately the "rebellion" storyline came to nothing at all as well - the Dominion is still there (amazing how they survived destruction in the previous games!). The only real plot advancement that I could see is the Protoss/Zerg hybrid showing up and probably being the Xel'naga. But even that was skimmed over pretty quickly.

Basically I'm disappointed that they put a plot that would have been packed into the ten-mission Terran campaign of SC or BW and stretched it over 30 missions.

*edit* also, does anyone else think that although Kerrigan can now presumably control herself, she still retains her power over the Zerg? That is my interpretation; the next two chapters will be Terran + Zerg + Protoss united against the hybrids/Xel Naga.

 

[Automatisch]

I'm pretty annoyed with the campaign of this game and how it turned out. None of the new characters were very interesting, the relationships between most older characters seems entirely different compared to where we left them at Brood War, and most of the missions themselves felt really bland and stretched out to pad a $60 game. Very few of the cut scenes were actually very interesting either, especially when you look at how engaging the stuff in Warcraft 3 was. At the end of the day nothing changed from the last time except Kerrigan is "good" now.

Not really sure why other than for financial reasons this game was split up into 3 parts.

So is there anywhere out there that gives a detailed summary of the campaign?

Check out regular 'ol Wikipedia. There's a decent summary.

 

[Infinite Justice]

Finished the game in a marathon session yesterday.

*edit* also, does anyone else think that although Kerrigan can now presumably control herself, she still retains her power over the Zerg? That is my interpretation; the next two chapters will be Terran + Zerg + Protoss united against the hybrids/Xel Naga.

given the snippet on how the next expansion is supposed to play and the fact she doesn't look 100% imo, i say she still does just not at full power.


from the starcraft wikia about Heart of the swarm.

The campaign is focused on Infested Kerrigan[8] and the development of a zerg empire.[9] The campaign operates similarly to an RPG, in which Kerrigan is focused on increasing her personal power through mutations. Zerg armies protect her as she garners this power.[10] The greater her power, the more zerg she's able to control.[11] Like Wings of Liberty, the player will be presented with choices as to which missions to carry out and which units to get, but such choices won't be based on cash.[12] Both the missions and their objectives are intended to be quite different from the ones featured in Wings of Liberty.[13]

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

I just got up to the part where they "revealed" the hybrid. Are you fucking shitting me? That's the big unveiling? A shitty unit model pops up on the screen and we're treated to Zeratul saying "A Protoss/Zerg hybrid, how horrible! Who could have done this?" as though he hasn't known since the Brood War secret mission.

So far I'm seriously disappointed with the storytelling in this game.

Didn't they get owned by the end of Brood War? Probably dissolved or something.

lol no. The fleet that was destroyed in Brood War was just a small vanguard and a fraction of the power of the UED and it still managed to overwhelm the Dominion, enslave the Swarm, and beat the Protoss. The UED at the time of Brood War was the most powerful entity in the known galaxy.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

My biggest gripe: I do *not* remember Raynor building such a huge relationship with Kerrigan when she was a humie. They knew each other for like what, 4 missions? 3? Yet this guy has been staring at some picture of her posted on his tackboard for half a decade and is acting like they were fucking engaged or something.

Also Queen of Blades is a lame name. It being a proper name makes it even lamer.

Also everything else about the campaign's story sucked. It didn't have an ounce of the gravity Starcraft did. There was never a feeling of what you are doing actually mattering. SC/BW presented the ebb and flow of a galactic war. This was just... it was a couple of weeks of Jim Raynor's life. Not much else.

Also also I can't believe they brought out the tired ass "Unknowable entity from beyond forces quarreling races to unite" card. Fuck. That.

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

My biggest gripe: I do *not* remember Raynor building such a huge relationship with Kerrigan when she was a humie. They knew each other for like what, 4 missions? 3? Yet this guy has been staring at some picture of her posted on his tackboard for half a decade and is acting like they were fucking engaged or something.

Also Queen of Blades is a lame name. It being a proper name makes it even lamer.

Also everything else about the campaign's story sucked. It didn't have an ounce of the gravity Starcraft did. There was never a feeling of what you are doing actually mattering. SC/BW presented the ebb and flow of a galactic war. This was just... it was a couple of weeks of Jim Raynor's life. Not much else.

Also also I can't believe they brought out the tired ass "Unknowable entity from beyond forces quarreling races to unite" card. Fuck. That.

Chris Metzen only knows how to write one story, over and over.

And he's getting worse at it all the time.

 

[SleazyC]

Just finished off the game in two marathon sittings. Not sure if I can put my thoughts into words as I just minutes ago finished off the game.

I think the campaign is pretty solid, but that's about it. I felt like the missions for the most part did not really flow together smoothly so what you got were these bit-sized storylines that you vaguely had an idea of where they were going until you got to the Zeratul missions and then they sort of just hit you in the face with it. Hybrid Zerg-Protoss? Xel'naga coming back to kill everything? Why does this story feel straight out of Mass Effect 2?

After feeling pretty much no sense of buildup in the campaign the ending fit well, it was short and didn't really answer many questions (who did Tychus really work for? why did they want Kerrigan dead) but thats expected given that two more games are coming out. In the course of the game we almost learn nothing new about any of the old characters (Zeratul, Kerrigan, Raynor, Mengsk). I guess I was hoping for a bit more but maybe its just me being spoiled by the glut of highly cinematic third-person or first person games that have come out over the past months.

Either way I enjoyed the game but I am left wanting more.

 

[SenorDingDong]

Just finished the campaign. I too was a little disappointed with the story, hopefully it will pick back up in the following chapters. Judging by that Wiki description it could get interesting.

With that said I quite enjoyed the variety of mission types rather than just playing skirmish with voice overs. I'm probably going to have another run through on a harder difficulty, make different choices etc. I should probably give multipayer a go at some stage too.

 

[Infinite Justice]

Just finished off the game in two marathon sittings. Not sure if I can put my thoughts into words as I just minutes ago finished off the game.

I think the campaign is pretty solid, but that's about it. I felt like the missions for the most part did not really flow together smoothly so what you got were these bit-sized storylines that you vaguely had an idea of where they were going until you got to the Zeratul missions and then they sort of just hit you in the face with it. Hybrid Zerg-Protoss? Xel'naga coming back to kill everything? Why does this story feel straight out of Mass Effect 2?

After feeling pretty much no sense of buildup in the campaign the ending fit well, it was short and didn't really answer many questions (who did Tychus really work for? why did they want Kerrigan dead)

isn't this Mensk? Sounds just like him and he's the only guy i see that can give Tychus what he wanted as the Leader of the dominion.


plus the hybrid was known in the first game its just finally in action i guess.

 

[ArjanN]

Just finished the campaign. I too was a little disappointed with the story, hopefully it will pick back up in the following chapters. Judging by that Wiki description it could get interesting.

To be honest the story in most Blizzard games only gets good in the expansion.

 

[WYWY]

Story and characters are very cliche, embarrassingly so actually. Bald-muscular-space-marines stereotypical personalities and story telling - except these guys have more hair.

Trilogy-wise this will likely follow Starwars Ep 4-6. This is 'A New Hope', followed by 'The Zerg strikes back' and ending with 'Return of the Protoss'.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

isn't this Mensk? Sounds just like him and he's the only guy i see that can give Tychus what he wanted as the Leader of the dominion.

Plus, you know, Mengsk is actually talking to him as he gets plugged into his armor during the intro cinematic. And then that goes away for the entire game and at the end surprise, his mission was to kill Kerrigan? Huhwhowhathowwhywhat. What. Definitely What.

 

[SleazyC]

Plus, you know, Mengsk is actually talking to him as he gets plugged into his armor during the intro cinematic. And then that goes away for the entire game and at the end surprise, his mission was to kill Kerrigan? Huhwhowhathowwhywhat. What. Definitely What.

How did Mengsk know that they were going to transform Kerrigan into a human-ish form? Did he know what Velarian was doing all along? I guess I am expecting these questions answered when they might be answered in the next two installments.

 

[Tylahedras]

I just watched that ending cinematic and all I can say is...

wat?

Maybe later they can double date with Sonic and his princess.

 

[BlueWord]

Chris Metzen only knows how to write one story, over and over.

And he's getting worse at it all the time.

I really do wonder how the guy got so much control in the goings-on at Blizzard. It must be something that you can't really see, motivation or personality - something - because, as far as I can tell, he really doesn't seem to add much to Blizzard's games outside of the occasional VA role. Most of his other talents - art, story, whatever - seem pretty shitty, frankly.

 

[Cels]

I really do wonder how the guy got so much control in the goings-on at Blizzard. It must be something that you can't really see, motivation or personality - something - because, as far as I can tell, he really doesn't seem to add much to Blizzard's games outside of the occasional VA role. Most of his other talents - art, story, whatever - seem pretty shitty, frankly.

I think based in a vacuum yea his storytelling sucks, but the games he has done the story work for have sold boatloads so I guess don't fix what's broke? Worked on Warcraft 2, Diablo 1 and 2 Starcraft, Warcraft 3, World of Warcraft, and now Starcraft 2...

I hoped for better but I feel I got my money's worth for SC2, no complaints for me regarding that

And I'm close to finishing the game - I just finished the mission I got after choosing to eliminate Nydus Worms instead of Mutas and BLords.

 

[Basileus777]

My main complaint with the story is how poor the writing is. 90% of the dialogue is composed of awful one-liners. Even for a video game, it gets pretty bad. I actually felt bad for the voice actors at times.

 

[LowParry]

Beat the game. A little...odd. Not enough Sarah. Not enough Nova (just one mission?). Tosh deserved to die. Dipshit. Night Elf and her /dance. Weird. Ending...really? Chances are Sarah will continue to control the Zerg with the next expansion we play. From there who knows. The Xel'naga are damn cool. I see Tassadar resurrecting back for some reason. What a strange experience all around.

 

[BlueWord]

Well, given previous statements about how Kerrigan will be used to control the Zerg in the Heart of the Swarm campaign, and how the fact that she's "redeemed" allows the story to stay focused on Raynor and his allies, I'd say that we're going to see a Zerg/Human alliance of some kind.

 

[kiryogi]

My biggest gripe: I do *not* remember Raynor building such a huge relationship with Kerrigan when she was a humie. They knew each other for like what, 4 missions? 3? Yet this guy has been staring at some picture of her posted on his tackboard for half a decade and is acting like they were fucking engaged or something.

Also Queen of Blades is a lame name. It being a proper name makes it even lamer.

Also everything else about the campaign's story sucked. It didn't have an ounce of the gravity Starcraft did. There was never a feeling of what you are doing actually mattering. SC/BW presented the ebb and flow of a galactic war. This was just... it was a couple of weeks of Jim Raynor's life. Not much else.

Also also I can't believe they brought out the tired ass "Unknowable entity from beyond forces quarreling races to unite" card. Fuck. That.

That was the odd thing, but if you read the summary of the events of SC1 in the manual. It looks like they retconned a bit. It states that Raynor only realized he was falling in love with her after she "died". And then at the very end of the summary, it states that one part of him won't rests until she's dead.... But the other part of him refuses to let go of her. Overall it 'was a pretty good summary despite changing some things. IE I don't ever recall Kerrigan telling Mengsk in BW that her actions were revenge for her suffering. And really, was she suffering. XD She was like the most ultimate power trip.

Also the Xel'naga things been known since SC1. In particular the very end of BW. They just finally shed some major light on it.

Well, given previous statements about how Kerrigan will be used to control the Zerg in the Heart of the Swarm campaign, and how the fact that she's "redeemed" allows the story to stay focused on Raynor and his allies, I'd say that we're going to see a Zerg/Human alliance of some kind.

More like all 3 races united to face the Xel'naga threat. I am really curious to see how Kerrigan will be in the 1st expansion. Will she actually have human ethnics and morals again?

 

[Cels]

I want to see where they go with Heart of the Swarm in terms of the analogue to the Mar Sara Bar/Hyperion/Char surface between-Mission interface stuff

Is it going to be some gooey icky Zerg Evolution Chamber or something where you pick and choose upgrades?

 

[DieH@rd]

Weird experience. I enjoyed the game a lot, but story was... just solid. Nothing awesome happened, no character progression, no new enemies [hybrids meeeh]... Ending was weird and porly executed. They hinted Tychus betrayal entire game, and *gasp* he did betray them. They hinted that Kerrigan will save them all, and *gasp* she became almost human.

:-/

With all that said, i cant wait to play the Zerg campaign. Hopefully it will be better storywize.
Tech wize = perfect
gameplay wize =perfect
presentation = perfect

 

[Tacitus_]

The single most confusing thing in the whole story was Tassadar. Why did he plop up floating in an ethereal form over the Overmind stating that he'll never taste death and praising the Overminds bravery.

I literally said "wat" out loud at that part.

 

[farnham]

The single most confusing thing in the whole story was Tassadar. Why did he plop up floating in an ethereal form over the Overmind stating that he'll never taste death and praising the Overminds bravery.

I literally said "wat" out loud at that part.

that will probably be revealed in the protoss or zerg campaign

protoss comming back from the dead isnt anything special or new though (fenix)

 

[Tacitus_]

that will probably be revealed in the protoss or zerg campaign

protoss comming back from the dead isnt anything special or new though (fenix)

Fenix was ambushed by a hydralisk, much easier to retcon into being crippled. Tassadar crashed his ship into the Overmind in a spectacular explosion and now he says he never died and never will.

Something's fishy.

 

[Mumei]

I think some of the more confusing aspects of characters are because Blizzard made some adjustments or even outright retcons on character stuff -- Kerrigan's backstory, the extent of Raynor and Kerrigan's relationship, the existence of the Dark Voice, the point of the Protoss / Zerg being created, etc. - through the novelizations.

I read through a lot of the StarCraft wiki entries when StarCraft II was released, and none of this is really surprising given what they were saying.

Fenix was ambushed by a hydralisk, much easier to retcon into being crippled.

I don't even think that was a proper retcon - it occurred within the same game, a few missions later.

 

[Tacitus_]

I think some of the more confusing aspects of characters are because Blizzard made some adjustments or even outright retcons on character stuff -- Kerrigan's backstory, the extent of Raynor and Kerrigan's relationship, the existence of the Dark Voice, the point of the Protoss / Zerg being created, etc. - through the novelizations.

I read through a lot of the StarCraft wiki entries when StarCraft II was released, and none of this is really surprising given what they were saying.


I don't even think that was a proper retcon - it occurred within the same game, a few missions later.

The Overmind told us how the Xel'Naga created them and how it wanted to absorb the Protoss to become "perfect". Agreed on the other points.

Well he was reported dead for a few missions. Maybe retcon was the wrong word to use.

But speaking of the Dark Voice - is the thing behind the hybrids the Dark Voice or an agent of the Xel'Naga?

 

[kiryogi]

The Overmind told us how the Xel'Naga created them and how it wanted to absorb the Protoss to become "perfect". Agreed on the other points.

Well he was reported dead for a few missions. Maybe retcon was the wrong word to use.

But speaking of the Dark Voice - is the thing behind the hybrids the Dark Voice or an agent of the Xel'Naga?

Dr. "Narud" and the fallen one. Or maybe they're one in the same. Hint. Look closely at Narud's name.

 

[farnham]

Dr. "Narud" and the fallen one. Or maybe they're one in the same. Hint. Look closely at Narud's name.

rimas :lol


oh shit that is a detail i missed

 

[Tacitus_]

Dr. "Narud" and the fallen one. Or maybe they're one in the same. Hint. Look closely at Narud's name.

Oh dear, they even have the ze same beard type! I wondered a bit about how Narud knew so much about the Xel'Naga but never did the connection before .-.

OOOOOOHHHHHH and the fricking secret mission. I'm such an idiot.

 

[Flambe]

They hinted Tychus betrayal entire game, and *gasp* he did betray them.

It was so obvious I was sure it couldn't have been him and thought it would be someone like Matt who could do some damage with the Hyperion or something.

 

[farnham]

Id like the backstory of Matt and Mira Horner

and why Matt seems to be so afraid of her :lol :lol

 

[delirium]

I feel the same about SC2 as most people here. The gameplay and presentation were perfect. The story/dialog was a bust. It tries way to hard to hammer the Kerrigan will save us all shtick way too hard. The dialog in the 4th Protoss mission was laughable especially the line from Artanis.

 

[Emonk]

Aeris dies.

Yeah but I heard there's a code to bring her back on disc three.

 

[farnham]

I feel the same about SC2 as most people here. The gameplay and presentation were perfect. The story/dialog was a bust. It tries way to hard to hammer the Kerrigan will save us all shtick way too hard. The dialog in the 4th Protoss mission was laughable especially the line from Artanis.

i thought the twist at the end was pretty good

if findlays mission was to kill kerrigan and not raynor and Dr. Narud of Moebius is Duran that means that the Terran Dominion is going to team up with the Xel Naga. I predict that the Dominion under Arcturus Mengsk will play a major antagonistic role in the upcomming story.

 

[BananaBomb]

The completely unceremonious way they killed Tychus was strange. Did Tychus want Jim to kill him, taking his sweet time painting a target on Kerrigan's forehead? What the fuck was the point of Tychus, anyway? Was it to give the final cinematic a cute little pointless twist?

 

[Son of Godzilla]

The completely unceremonious way they killed Tychus was strange. Did Tychus want Jim to kill him, taking his sweet time painting a target on Kerrigan's forehead? What the fuck was the point of Tychus, anyway? Was it to give the final cinematic a cute little pointless twist?

Introduce a new character to make merch for.

 

[Home]

I wish Swann and Egon were used in the actual missions, always love quirky hero units. I enjoyed Tychus for what he was, and while I assumed he would try and kill Kerrigan, I did not know Mengsk was in on the whole thing, spying from the start.

Interesting how the terran biolab had a reaver in it as well, I wonder if that will mean anything with the dominion in the next game.

I wish there was more Kerrigan - Raynor interaction then the potshots they'd take at each other during missions and the ending, but I'd assume that's in the next game as well. :lol

 

[Deadly]

Dr. "Narud" and the fallen one. Or maybe they're one in the same. Hint. Look closely at Narud's name.

Ohhh shiiiit. But who was Dr. Narud in the game again?

 

[BananaBomb]

I wish Swann and Egon were used in the actual missions, always love quirky hero units. I enjoyed Tychus for what he was, and while I assumed he would try and kill Kerrigan, I did not know Mengsk was in on the whole thing, spying from the start.

Interesting how the terran biolab had a reaver in it as well, I wonder if that will mean anything with the dominion in the next game.

I wish there was more Kerrigan - Raynor interaction then the potshots they'd take at each other during missions and the ending, but I'd assume that's in the next game as well. :lol

Wasn't that the whole point of the opening cinematic? Mengsk is talking to Tychus, telling him he gets to go free but you know there's something he's letting him go for.

edit: ^^ and about Narud I think it might have been the dude with the French accent and the white beard, but I could be wrong.

 

[ZealousD]

I was not expecting the way this story has panned out so far. And it's probably not how I would have done it. It seems like they're closing a lot of doors, as if they aren't planning for a StarCraft 3.

But we obviously don't have the context of the full arc at this point, so I'm hesitant to criticize too hard.

TIE I don't ever recall Kerrigan telling Mengsk in BW that her actions were revenge for her suffering.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UNJwoMwg98#t=6m30s

I wish Swann and Egon were used in the actual missions, always love quirky hero units.

Uh, I take it you took out the flyers and didn't go take out the Nydus network?

 

[kiryogi]

I was not expecting the way this story has panned out so far. And it's probably not how I would have done it. It seems like they're closing a lot of doors, as if they aren't planning for a StarCraft 3.

But we obviously don't have the context of the full arc at this point, so I'm hesitant to criticize too hard.






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UNJwoMwg98#t=6m30s



Uh, I take it you took out the flyers and didn't go take out the Nydus network?

Hah thanks. Again I still don't think she really was suffering :lol

 

[Cels]

The completely unceremonious way they killed Tychus was strange. Did Tychus want Jim to kill him, taking his sweet time painting a target on Kerrigan's forehead? What the fuck was the point of Tychus, anyway? Was it to give the final cinematic a cute little pointless twist?

Totally agree

 

[Atomic]

So generally, The overmind created kerrigan to gain eventual free will.
Kerrigan turning more human at the end of this campaign was destined and is part of this end goal.

Her story will be about regaining her power over the swarm, perhaps with evil intentions at first?

 

[yanhero]

I wish Swann and Egon were used in the actual missions

You can, if you choose to kill the nydus networks in the 2nd last mission.

The completely unceremonious way they killed Tychus was strange. Did Tychus want Jim to kill him, taking his sweet time painting a target on Kerrigan's forehead? What the fuck was the point of Tychus, anyway? Was it to give the final cinematic a cute little pointless twist?

I have a feeling Raynor conveniently forgets to bring Tychus' body with him, and so Tychus will become infested.