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[Ridli]

Looking back now, I really wish they had left the mission progression more linear/restricted. Especially with the Protoss missions. I played those all the way through immediately after getting them, but knowing about the hybrids and Kerrigan's role that early made the other character's reactions more than a little confusing. They could have woven that "save the Kerrigan, save the world" reveal in with the acquisition of the artifacts. So when they finally reveal what the artifact is, Raynor realizes what he's got to do with it.

I appreciate what blizzard was trying to achieve with the multiple story threads, but I think they could have kept it limited to two at a time without feeling constricted as a player. The way the game played out meant there was no real acts to the story. In fact, at one point I had 4 missions up on the star map, each advancing a different thread, and I still could have had a mission left on the crystal.

Still, what I learned was entertaining, and the "Heart of the Swarm" subtitle makes tons more sense now. Kerrigan is going to return to the swarm with a human heart and morality. I'm not certain if I like that, but it makes sense.

 

[IceMarker]

The intro (and debut CG trailer) remains on the of the finest game related scenes ever. Perfectly directed and stunning art.

"Make no mistake, war is coming... in all its glory and all its horror."

I still get chills down my spine.


There are plenty of lines in SCII that are cliche sure, but many lines are very clever or compelling as well.

 

[Hero]

What's interesting is that it could really go both ways. The way the campaign was written, I felt that they tried very hard to communicate the fact that Raynor and Tychus share a special bond that no one else will understand. It is something neither of them can actually explain or say to anyone else, but they both know it. No matter what Tychus does on the ship, Raynor still trusts him and lets him stay on. No matter what Raynor says about him or what Raynor did, Tychus won't sell him out.

There are two ways to read the ending. One way is that Tychus tried everything to prevent Raynor from wanting to spare Kerrigan, so he wouldn't have to betray his friend. The other way is that throughout the campaign, Tychus gave Raynor enough information to read his situation and know exactly what he was going to do, and they planned something which would allow Raynor to have saved both Kerrigan and Tychus, without Mengsk knowing.

I hope Tychus is alive and I'm pretty sure that they deliberately left it open ended for that reason.

 

[luxarific]

I hope Tychus is alive and I'm pretty sure that they deliberately left it open ended for that reason.

But the ending blurb on the campaign screen says he's dead. If he was alive, I think they would have been much more ambiguous in their choice of terms (e.g., "he's gone"). I just don't think it's plausible that they're blatantly lying to their audience about this.

 

[Zerokku]

But the ending blurb on the campaign screen says he's dead. If he was alive, I think they would have been much more ambiguous in their choice of terms (e.g., "he's gone"). I just don't think it's plausible that they're blatantly lying to their audience about this.

First off, he was killed "offscreen". I can count the number of characters from games/movies killed in such a manner that stay dead, on one hand. Secondly some of the comments from the CE dvd make it sound like he may not totally be gone.

 

[LiK]

I bet Tychus ain't dead. it was offscreen and we know how that works in the SC world.

 

[duckroll]

Tychus is dead as far as the player knows based on the FMV. Since we won't be playing as Raynor in the next two campaigns, whatever Raynor really did can be his secret until he chooses to reveal it. If Tychus is not dead, they could be setting up for a scene in the final campaign where Mengsk has Raynor by the balls, and then Tychus walks out and shoots him.

 

[luxarific]

Well part of me hopes you guys are right, since Tychus was my favorite character in this game. But that said, I still think it would be lame if this is a fake death mostly because it lets Raynor have his cake and eat it too. I'm just not a fan of letting the hero win at everything. It makes his victory and the decisions he made getting there a bit meaningless since they didn't cost him anything.

 

[Narag]

Well part of me hopes you guys are right, since Tychus was my favorite character in this game. But that said, I still think it would be lame if this is a fake death mostly because it lets Raynor have his cake and eat it too. I'm just not a fan of letting the hero win at everything. It makes his victory and the decisions he made getting there a bit meaningless since they didn't cost him anything.

I'm fine with it in Raynor's case. He's been haunted by stuff for years, is a shadow of his former self, and while I don't feel he necessarily deserve a happy ending, he does deserve a reprieve. I don't think his role is over yet,

 

[LiK]

Well part of me hopes you guys are right, since Tychus was my favorite character in this game. But that said, I still think it would be lame if this is a fake death mostly because it lets Raynor have his cake and eat it too. I'm just not a fan of letting the hero win at everything. It makes his victory and the decisions he made getting there a bit meaningless since they didn't cost him anything.

Remember that Tychus was being forced to follow Moebius orders to kill Kerrigan. Maybe faking his death would help Raynor figure out how to free him from the suit. That's my theory.

 

[Hylian7]

I just finished the campaign a few days ago, and boy was that last mission a bitch. My strategy ended up being to cover the entire plateau the artifact was on with Perdition Turrets. Very few squares were left uncovered, so when the Nydus Worms came up at the end, they were instantly torched!

As for the story, how exactly is Heart of the Swarm supposed to be a sequel?! It's going to be about Kerrigan, but she's turned back to normal. Now her hair was still all Zerg-ish, so perhaps she's not completely human again, but maybe has control of her own mind now. My best guess would be something about Kerrigan controlling her swarm but fighting for Raynor's side, against what villain you ask? Maybe an infested Tychus?! Perhaps somehow Tychus somehow survived a shot to the face and then was infested. I can just imagine the scene now of "You shoulda listened to me Jimmeh!", as he jumps on the back of an Ultralisk and it rears back it's front legs and charges toward a Terran base.

That was obviously pure speculation, but that's really the only way I can think of that wouldn't completely clusterfuck the storyline. I might be a bit angry if the story is "LOL Zerg captured Kerrigan again"

 

[Ferrio]

Something occurred to me. Why was Kerrigan after the Xel Naga artifact? Was she out to destroy it, or use it?

 

[Vhalyar]

As for the story, how exactly is Heart of the Swarm supposed to be a sequel?!

Pretty obvious that you'll play as Kerrigan trying to rebuild her control of the Zerg swarm in order to save the galaxy. A damn shame too, because now everyone's all gung-ho about being the good guys vs SC1's factions being different view points and interests. Seems that Blizzard thinks that playing as the bad guys would not sell. I hope that the player cerebrate will make a return though, since it's been hinted at that he's the only cerebrate to have been kept by Kerrigan and that he's still alive; basically I hope that it will feel like a Zerg experience and not "Zerg... but with HUMANS FOR THE MOST PART" like it seems it'll be right now.

And Blizzard mentioned that Heart of the Swarm would have more RPG elements, most notably in the form of Kerrigan being a hero unit that you must protect, so the whole setup is even more obvious.

 

[Tacitus_]

Something occurred to me. Why was Kerrigan after the Xel Naga artifact? Was she out to destroy it, or use it?

She knew of the prophecy on some level, but we do not know what or why.

Hopefully the expansion will shed some light on this

Spoiler

or blizz will be lazy and handwave it away

 

[jaxword]

Pretty obvious that you'll play as Kerrigan trying to rebuild her control of the Zerg swarm in order to save the galaxy. A damn shame too, because now everyone's all gung-ho about being the good guys vs SC1's factions being different view points and interests. Seems that Blizzard thinks that playing as the bad guys would not sell.

Well, not when you have to set the groundwork for Worlds of Starcraft.

 

[tenton]

where Mengsk has Raynor by the balls, and then Tychus walks out and shoots him.

With Raynor's gun, with the one bullet chambered. I can totally see that.

And folks, remember, this is only 1/3 the story of SC2. Remember, they split this game up into thirds; maybe not because they had too much story, but too much gameplay.

 

[raphier]

With Raynor's gun, with the one bullet chambered. I can totally see that.

And folks, remember, this is only 1/3 the story of SC2. Remember, they split this game up into thirds; maybe not because they had too much story, but too much gameplay.

Well, considering this 1/3is the entire Terran campaign, so when it comes to human story of the campaign, it's over. And that's disappointment. Everything that happens in the story now with humans in it, will basically just be a cameo, akin to zeratul. They should've resolved the whole rebellion plot in the Wings of Liberty and carry to Hybrids in the rest 2/3.

 

[Tacitus_]

Well, considering this 1/3is the entire Terran campaign, so when it comes to human story of the campaign, it's over. And that's disappointment. Everything that happens in the story now with humans in it, will basically just be a cameo, akin to zeratul.

You're saying this like there will be no terran involvement at all during the expansions.

 

[raphier]

You're saying this like there will be no terran involvement at all during the expansions.

Well we won't be leading Jim Raynor on his way to win the war or see the resolution in high-quality cinematics. Think about it, Most of introduced characters either died or vanished, depending on your choice. It's logical for they aren't needed anymore.

 

[Big-E]

I kind of hope the story ends like it shows in the last Zeratul mission but instead of just being the protoss, everyone is united against the threat and Jimmy fights with Zeratul side by side.

 

[raphier]

I kind of hope the game ends like it shows in the last Zeratul mission but instead of just being the protoss, everyone is united against the threat and Jimmy fights with Zeratul side by side.

Worst idea ever, because it's most expected. Having this one universal threat whom against everyone unites screams cliche all over my monitor. It shouldn't be this black & white Good/Bad relationship.

I hope to god that won't happen

 

[Tacitus_]

Well we won't be leading Jim Raynor on his way to win the war or see the resolution in high-quality cinematics. Think about it, Most of introduced characters either died or vanished, depending on your choice. It's logical for they aren't needed anymore.

True, but they aren't exactly interesting characters (outside of maybe Tosh and Horner and Horner propably will show up with Raynor) worth missing.

And Raynor will propably show up in a CGI scene since Kerrigan and Zeratul had their own cut scene and if Kerrigan is going on this lets-save-the-universe-with-zerg route, Jimmy is going to want to watch her very closely.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

so what do I have to do to get the secret mission(s)?

 

[Tacitus_]

so what do I have to do to get the secret mission(s)?

Do the mission "Media Blitz" before you go to Char (either a saved game from before or a new campaign) and destroy the Science Facility in the lower right corner.

 

[farnham]

Well, considering this 1/3is the entire Terran campaign, so when it comes to human story of the campaign, it's over. And that's disappointment. Everything that happens in the story now with humans in it, will basically just be a cameo, akin to zeratul. They should've resolved the whole rebellion plot in the Wings of Liberty and carry to Hybrids in the rest 2/3.

No because the terran will play an important role in the expansions as well you will simply not controll them

also if the rebellion plot was resolved in wings of liberty you wouldnt have the xelnaga controlled mengsk in the expansions

 

[H.Cornerstone]

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.

He's working for Megsk who I am starting to believe is a Xel'Naga in disguise.

 

[Zen]

Something occurred to me. Why was Kerrigan after the Xel Naga artifact? Was she out to destroy it, or use it?

When you have parts of the obelisk assembled in the Laboratory, and the Doctor lady on board, you can trigger a conversion where she talks about how the artifact pieces seem to absorb energy. Specifically it gets pointed out that being around it could be fatal if you were Protoss.

Kerrigan was probably wanting to use it against the Protoss, while also keeping herself safe from it being used against her.

I'm not COMPLETELY done the campaign yet, but I'm so close that I'm in here anyway; Apologies if this is actually answered in the story (such as it is), but if Kerrigan was granted free will by the Overmind, free of the directives of the Voice from the Darkness, etc, why in her conversations with Zerathul was she welcoming the end?

 

[duckroll]

if Kerrigan was granted free will by the Overmind, free of the directives of the Voice from the Darkness, etc, why in her conversations with Zerathul was she welcoming the end?

Free will only means she can think for herself. Considering how her entire existence as infested Kerrigan was born of betrayal and destruction, why wouldn't she welcome the end of the world? She might be able to think for herself, but as an infested being, she's just pretty much crazy. Highly intelligent, but crazy.

 

[Pachinko]

Am I the only one rather alarmed at the insane difficulty spike in the final stage ? It's the only time in this entire game I've lost , and to make it sting worse I've screwed up 3 times now. Right after the second time kerrigan attacks I'm just overwhelmed by about 500 zerg units at the same time.

It's like, the game goes from being so pathetically easy I think I've gotten worse at it playing 25 stages to being even harder then any stage from the first game was. Or am I just playing it totally ass backwards on this level ?

Seems like I can avoid using the wipeout device until the artifact is charged to about 24% or so but man. I'm just really at a total loss for what I should do here other then going to bed and trying it tomorrow.

 

[NemesisPrime]

Something occurred to me. Why was Kerrigan after the Xel Naga artifact? Was she out to destroy it, or use it?

Maybe it was all part of her plan???!!!

 

[duckroll]

Am I the only one rather alarmed at the insane difficulty spike in the final stage ? It's the only time in this entire game I've lost , and to make it sting worse I've screwed up 3 times now. Right after the second time kerrigan attacks I'm just overwhelmed by about 500 zerg units at the same time.

It's like, the game goes from being so pathetically easy I think I've gotten worse at it playing 25 stages to being even harder then any stage from the first game was. Or am I just playing it totally ass backwards on this level ?

Seems like I can avoid using the wipeout device until the artifact is charged to about 24% or so but man. I'm just really at a total loss for what I should do here other then going to bed and trying it tomorrow.

What difficulty are you playing it on? I played the game on Normal, and every single mission was pretty damn easy. It gets much harder on Hard. The final mission didn't really seem any harder than previous missions, it was really pretty easy for me.

Which route did you pick? I took out the Nydus tunnels, and for the final mission all I did was bunker up all the choke points and then build 30-40 Goliaths, some Thors, 8-10 Battlecruisers, and filled most of the elevated area with missile turrets. The zerg never reached the artifact ever. They weren't even ever close.

 

[KaYotiX]

Im expecting Tycus to be infested and be the new "leader" of the zerg. Cant wait for the next game though. Will be really interesting to see how they do a Zerg campaign with Kerrigan "human", unless it is a trap and she still has control over the Zerg and fucks the Terrans up big time from inside.

 

[V_Arnold]

I just finished the campaign a few days ago, and boy was that last mission a bitch. My strategy ended up being to cover the entire plateau the artifact was on with Perdition Turrets. Very few squares were left uncovered, so when the Nydus Worms came up at the end, they were instantly torched!

As for the story, how exactly is Heart of the Swarm supposed to be a sequel?! It's going to be about Kerrigan, but she's turned back to normal. Now her hair was still all Zerg-ish, so perhaps she's not completely human again, but maybe has control of her own mind now. My best guess would be something about Kerrigan controlling her swarm but fighting for Raynor's side, against what villain you ask? Maybe an infested Tychus?! Perhaps somehow Tychus somehow survived a shot to the face and then was infested. I can just imagine the scene now of "You shoulda listened to me Jimmeh!", as he jumps on the back of an Ultralisk and it rears back it's front legs and charges toward a Terran base.

That was obviously pure speculation, but that's really the only way I can think of that wouldn't completely clusterfuck the storyline. I might be a bit angry if the story is "LOL Zerg captured Kerrigan again"

Uhm.... you know, there is that huge Void stuff going on which were just plainly introduced by Zeratul's memory crystals. Obviously the story will go that way from here, but if it is so hard to imagine, you will have lots of surprised and fun incoming in the Heart of Swarm

 

[Duran]

If you click on Single Player, and you go to the home page for the campaign it says:

WINGS OF LIBERTY COMPLETED!

"...Tychus Findlay is dead..."

So even though it was off screen, I'm pretty sure he's dead.

 

[jaxword]

If you click on Single Player, and you go to the home page for the campaign it says:

WINGS OF LIBERTY COMPLETED!

"...Tychus Findlay is dead..."

So even though it was off screen, I'm pretty sure he's dead.

Yes. He is dead. 100% dead.

Unless, of course, Metzen determines fan demand is high.

Then he will be magically resurrected by zerg/protoss/xelnaga power.

Let's not pretend that Metzen's storywriting is any better than, say, a Superman or Wolverine comic. Death only means anything if the character has no fans.

 

[zoukka]

Tychus wouldn't work as a zerg main villain. He's as human as possible and as anti-zerg as possible. Whatever propaganda and one-liners they would make him talk in the sequel, wouldn't have any weight or believability at all.

Kerrigan will triple-cross everyone.

 

[Hylian7]

Am I the only one rather alarmed at the insane difficulty spike in the final stage ? It's the only time in this entire game I've lost , and to make it sting worse I've screwed up 3 times now. Right after the second time kerrigan attacks I'm just overwhelmed by about 500 zerg units at the same time.

It's like, the game goes from being so pathetically easy I think I've gotten worse at it playing 25 stages to being even harder then any stage from the first game was. Or am I just playing it totally ass backwards on this level ?

Seems like I can avoid using the wipeout device until the artifact is charged to about 24% or so but man. I'm just really at a total loss for what I should do here other then going to bed and trying it tomorrow.

You are not the only one! I lost that last mission so many times! One time I even lost at 98.6%!!! The way I finally did it was put Perdition Turrets on the sides, and steadily put them on the top pleateau. By the last bit of the mission, you should have all squares you possibly can up there covered in Perdition turrets. Nydus worms come up? They get instantly torched! The time I won, nothing ever touched the artifact. I was playing on normal with the speed set to the max.

 

[PuppetMaster]

They don't even show Tychus take a bullet, they are clearly leaving the possibilities WIDE open for a comeback

 

[Pooya]

They don't even show Tychus take a bullet, they are clearly leaving the possibilities WIDE open for a comeback

They didn't show it because the game is rated T, showing a headshot is not really suitable.
as mentioned campaign menu explicitly mentions that he is dead and Kerrigan is human now

 

[duckroll]

They didn't show it because the game is rated T, showing a headshot is not really suitable.
as mentioned campaign menu explicitly mentions that he is dead and Kerrigan is human now

Nah, that's really a poor excuse. Remember when Tychus and Raynor attacked Mengsk's flagship? Yeah they had no problems showing them killing the enemy forces up close there. The T rating is not an excuse at all, if they wanted to show Tychus die, they would have.

 

[BeeDog]

They didn't show it because the game is rated T, showing a headshot is not really suitable.
as mentioned campaign menu explicitly mentions that he is dead and Kerrigan is human now

Then how do you explain the headshot of a Zerg in one of the in-game cutscenes? You see brain matter explode, and then the gory skull right in view.

 

[Tacitus_]

Nah, that's really a poor excuse. Remember when Tychus and Raynor attacked Mengsk's flagship? Yeah they had no problems showing them killing the enemy forces up close there. The T rating is not an excuse at all, if they wanted to show Tychus die, they would have.

The comparable shot

Spoiler

sorry

in that cutscene would be the one where Tychus tackles a marine and then shoots him in the head. They don't show that either, not to mention that all kills are just sparks flying off the enemy marines armor.

And also apparently Battlecruisers have shields now.

 

[Pooya]

Nah, that's really a poor excuse. Remember when Tychus and Raynor attacked Mengsk's flagship? Yeah they had no problems showing them killing the enemy forces up close there. The T rating is not an excuse at all, if they wanted to show Tychus die, they would have.

Both were similar IIRC, actual getting shot and blood is not shown.

 

[duckroll]

You see Raynor draw his pistol and turn around, they deliberately didn't show either party firing the shot. It's meant to be dramatic and a little ambiguous. If they don't want to do anything further with Tychus, he stays dead. If they do, he can always come back in some form.

 

[hteng]

it's always a good idea to leave something open ended, least you might need to use it in the future. It's not surprising though but feels cliched.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

The comparable shot

Spoiler

sorry

in that cutscene would be the one where Tychus tackles a marine and then shoots him in the head. They don't show that either, not to mention that all kills are just sparks flying off the enemy marines armor.

And also apparently Battlecruisers have shields now.

If you upgrade them they do.

 

[Coeliacus]

Well we won't be leading Jim Raynor on his way to win the war or see the resolution in high-quality cinematics. Think about it, Most of introduced characters either died or vanished, depending on your choice. It's logical for they aren't needed anymore.

In true Starcraft lore fashion, the alien races will shit all over the Dominion in their own campaigns anyway.

 

[zoukka]

Then how do you explain the headshot of a Zerg in one of the in-game cutscenes? You see brain matter explode, and then the gory skull right in view.

hideos alien = human?

 

[Tacitus_]

If you upgrade them they do.

"Their shields are still down! What should we do?" And Raynor goes to board the ship.

And Duckroll, watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na_wpDzWNEA - do you believe that the Marine Tychus faced lived too?

 

[Akainu]

Then how do you explain the headshot of a Zerg in one of the in-game cutscenes? You see brain matter explode, and then the gory skull right in view.

Simple