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Real Time Strategic Slugfest

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

StarCraft does fall into the RTS genre; resource gathering, unit creation, base building, ect. But it isn't as demanding for a strategic genius as games like Age of Empires or Rise of Nations. Nonetheless, it's an explosive game that will keep you busy for a long time. In a way, StarCraft is a great change of pace for fans of more complex RTS games (like me). Playing Rise of Nations all the time can start to get overwhelming because of the constant mass and micro management needed. In StarCraft, you don't have to deal with a ton of diplomacy issues or anything like that. A typical game has things set up kind of like an RTS death match. All of the resources you need are sitting right next to your base. Collect them, build defenses, then build an army. You can choose from three different races. The Terran, a human army of colonists, Zerg, a race of bugs, mutants, and everything creepy and crawley, and the Protos, a super intelligent race with psionic powers. Each race (Terran, Zerg, Protos) have their one advantages and disadvantages. The Terran are well balanced and are best for beginners. They have good infantry and a variety of defenses. One good advantage is that important Terran Buildings (command centers, barracks, ect.) can lift off the ground and fly to a new area for a quick escape. The Zerg rely on the masses. Their units are not as powerful but they are also less expensive and some are created in groups. One of their disadvantages is that they cannot build (mutate) on normal ground; only on a thick slime that covers the ground near their buildings. The Protos have very powerful units, but they are more expensive and take longer to build. A huge advantage for the Protos is that they don't have to sit at a construction site and waste time building it up. All you have to do is get one of your little probes to warp the building in. The second the probe reaches the building site, they actavate a portal and the building basically starts to build itself, allowing the probe to tend to other matters. As a side effect, they can't repair damaged buildings. The sounds are nothing to make a whole extra section about (zap, boom, kerpow, "gimme somethin' to shoot.") but they're what you would expect from a game like this. The music also fits the mood perfectly. The graphics are about the same as Age of Empires II with a slightly more animated look making everything look and run smooth. It's hard to tell how good the AI is because of the simple tactics they use; launch waves of troops at your enemies and destroy them all. The AI also loves to rush. Expect to be attacked about five minutes into the game. Along those lines, the computer does very well. The environments are very interesting and original, covered with black dirt, craters, strange animals and purple trees. StarCraft also has a great (and free) online multiplayer with an endless number of people to play with.

It's OK

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 23
Date: March 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

First of all I would like to confirm that yes, this game is good and probably worth the money, but it's flaws prevent it from getting 3, 4 or even 5 stars. I'll start off with reasons WHY you should get this:

1. It's fun

2. It's addictive (for a few months)

3. There are three races

4. Probably the best and most organized plot in any RTS I've played.

So to summarize, this game is easy to play and once you start playing you keep playing. It's also one of the few games that you get more than two races to choose from, and they are all quite different. But unfortunately gameplay is not. On to the bad sides now.

1. Absolutely no strategy involved

2. Incredible lag online

3. Solo play campaigns are very difficult and tedious (not in the usual sense)

4. Lacking in unit variety

5. Lacking in creativity and element of warfare

6. Units, researches, and structures take an inconcievably long period of time to complete

7. Nothing special in terms of graphics

So you probably doubt what I've said here, simply because no one else here dares to mention anything about the problems of Starcraft. Most people who review games are simply fanatics perusing the web for anything on their favorite game, in this case it's Starcraft. Let me promise you that if you asked any die-hard Starcraft fan about these flaws, they would simply deny them or try to change the subject.

The main problem I found with this game was the fact that the only way to complete a mission, online or singleplayer, is to build as many units as possible and attack. In most strategy games we refer to this tactic as a RUSH or (unit name here)RUSH. But in Starcraft this tactic is called THE ONLY TACTIC. Trust me on this one, there is simply no way to crush your opponent in any other fashion than producing more units than him. One reason is because Blizzard provided scarcely enough units for you to work with in terms of strategic possibility, as opposed to say Red Alert 2. Westwood clearly knew what they were doing when they made that game: infinite possibilities, numerous units, plus you can do things like garrison neutral buildings and kill civilians.

If Red Alert 2 is a Real Time Strategy Game then Starcraft is a Real Time Role Playing Game. This is because Starcraft focuses on the unit, not the army; so you're entire gameplay expierience will be focused on units and groups of units, as opposed to how you use those units. You can't even wage economic warfare as in attacking harvesters, because they always stay in the enemies base perfectly safe. Yet another major drawback is the fact that there is a limited number of units you can produce. Strange that a game whose most tactically diverse strategy is to mix different types of units and rush, is limited to a specific maximum.

With all due respect, Starcraft is a very awkward and backwards game in the world of RTS. But of course so is Warcraft series, same faults apply. All in all, I'd say buy this game if you like Warcraft and Command & Conquer; but my main point is that this is not the best RTS game, it's far from it.

An epic real-time strategy masterpiece.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I've only been an official PC gamer for about two years. The very thing that made me one was this game. When I first played it two years ago, I was hopelessly hooked. I was drawn into the interesting campaigns, the nice sci-fi visual ambience of it all, and how diverse the races are and how it provided great balance. After this game, I went farther into other PC titles, such as other strategy games and some 1st person shooters. As a matter of fact, you'll see me on Team Fortress Classic under the name of "Dragzag."

All in all, Starcraft is what drew me to the wonderful world of PC gaming.

The Best computer game I've ever Played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 12, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I've been an avid gamer since some of the first text-based games, and Starcraft is the best game I've ever played. Bizzard delayed the realease of this game for almost two years to perfect and tweak it, and the results are incredible. Although the game is highly strategy based, it requires a quick mind in a real time atmosphere. But perhaps the best feature of Starcraft is online play over Battle.net. I have never had a problem finding opponents online, even at 4 in the morning. I warn all those who buy this game, it's more addictive than most illigal substances.

Great RTS game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 31, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This game is sort of a spinoff of Age of Empires, but has expanded on it. Actually, AOE2 has many of the capabilities that AOE didn't, but StarCraft developed. It has 3 races, but also the tech trees are different, and you need different buildings, etc...

There are 30 missions, with a great plot through them. After you finish them, you can create your own with the campaign editor. It is very extensive, letting you add sounds, briefings, and triggered events. That all allows you to create very realistic scenarios, rather than just plopping units on a map.

If you think that sounds like fun, wait until you get online at Battle.Net. You can play against up to 7 other people or computers, in many forms of combat, such as allied or free-for-all. Even if you play the same map over and over, it never grows boring if you play with other people. Also, you can share the maps you make with others when you host games, and the other players download it to play the game.

This game is definetly worth playing, and it is one of the best RTS games on the market.

The best RTS game I have ever played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Starcraft is the best RTS game I have ever played. The plot is captivating and highly relevant to the missions and the way the game is designed. The 30 challenging missions provide plenty of playing time. Battle.net is an excellent service for playing multiplayer games; it's never difficult to find someone to play against. Starcraft also has good options for head-to-head modem games; these are easy to set up. Playing over a LAN is easy, and delays are minimal even on a 56.6 KB / s network. The Campaign Editor is easy to use and extremely powerful; everything that appears in the missions can be created with the Editor. Missions created with the Editor can be played in multiplayer as well as single player games. As the name suggests, one can create campaigns as well as well as single missions with the Campaign Editor. The graphics are nothing special, but they are as good as they need to be. Improvements over Warcraft II are numerous. I won't list them here, but Starcraft is much more than a futuristic version of Warcraft II.

The Best Strategy Game I've Ever Played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: August 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is an EXCELLENT GAME. A must-buy for RTS fans. Now for my oft-dreaded review.
GRAPHICS: As of August 2002, dated. However, keep in mind that this game is four years old, and the graphics were considered cutting-edge in '98. The cutscenes, on the other hand, are still impressive.
GRAPHICS OVERALL: 6.5

GAMEPLAY: Very, very well-structured. Each race has its corresponding strengths and weaknesses. "Big deal," you may be saying. "Every strategy game has that feature." Well NOT ON THIS SCALE. Each side is completely different. Unlike in AoE2(to pick a name at random) saying "I'm good with the Saxons/Soviets/Ordos"
actually means something. In most other real-time strategy games the sides are fudamentally the same. Not so in StarCraft. Some people gripe that the missions are too hard, though.
GAMEPLAY OVERALL: 10.0

SOUND: The quality is so-so, but the score itself is excellent. Try clicking on the same unit repeatedtly for some funny quotes.
SOUND OVERALL: 7.0

CREATIVITY: High. This game has the largest and most complex storyline I have ever seen in ANY game.
CREATIVITY OVERALL: 10.0

GAME OVERALL: 10.0

Starcraft... Another RTS.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Yes, we all know of the famous Starcraft. It's been hailed as one of the greatest RTS's of all time; and if you talk to almost any gamer in the world, they'll know of it. This game is wonderful; it has a great plot and allows you to play three different campaigns. All three of which you'll fight against as another one of the races. Plus, each race has it's own advantage, so no matter what you're playing a different game each time.

However, there are downsides to this same game. The game is incredibly boring after the first couple of missions because they're all the same. Destroy a base, or escort a convoy... basiclly destroy everything on the entire map you're on. This game play gets horribly boring after a few times, and you'll find yourself clicking the same places over and over with your mouse. All you do is build troops up, rush, and slaughter. There's no real strategy to this game at all.

Pros:
Wonderful RTS
Good Plot
Each Campaign has different advantage and disadvantages.

Cons:
Same-old Missions
Rush and Conquer Strategy

best RTS ever??

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

STARCRAFT and TOTAL ANNIHILATION = two best RTS. TA was RTS of the year in 1998 (i think) and starcraft is probably the most popular rts of the past 5 years. These two are far more addictive and offer a lot more than aoe, ra and warcraft.

Ha Ha Ha This is so cool Ha Ha Ha

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: January 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is the ultamate game of the year, It was said on a chinese channel that this is the best game of the millenium.(im chinese) First when you get it ,you may think "right, this sounds pretty cool"(notice that I said "Pretty")

Then, when you start the game play you are captured (addicted) as if it hypnotises you saying "play me" and you end up playing for 2-3 hours in a row only stopping for a bathroom break(or lunch,dinner,etc.) Basically the game tells you to do things that would help the species you are playing "cerebrate" as in Protoss, Zerg, or Terran. It can also help inprove your "sense of strategy" And I would like to say that Not only boys like it, but girls do too!

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