Starcraft: Brood War (PC, 1999)
Graphics-9 Sound-8.5 Control-8.5 Challenge-7* Story-4.5
Level Design-8.5/8* Frustration-7* Fun-7.5*/8.5 Originality-4.5
Overall Score-8.5
*The campaign
+
Some new units (lurker, devourer, corsair, recruitable dark templar, medic, valkyrie - fills up holes in each army's repertoire and gives each race a stealth unit)
interesting units and abilites overall
good voice acting overall
pretty good campaign variation overall
better mission scripting than before (alternate objectives in some missions (they only affect future gameplay in fairly minor ways though; you still can't affect the story at all)
new side objectives like destroying cerebrates to weaken certain units)
pretty high unit limit (200 supply, larger/more advanced units cost more than one)
almost as long as the main game (8 missions per race)
new map tilesets
sometimes better campaign AI
Alternate solutions/victory conditions in some missions*
+/-
More focus on stealth than before (can get tedious since it forces you into more defensive scouting and more varied builds)
overlords can carry ultralisks
reavers and dragoons take up the same amount of space in a shuttle
can't sell units
can't speed up building construction by using more than one worker
always need to start over with upgrades etc. in each new campaign mission (gets tedious at times) - sometimes you start out with a couple of upgrades regardless of your actions during the previous mission though
control groups are altered by the arbiter's stasis ability (can be good for the other player though)
waypoints don't work when warping in buildings with probes
no destructible terrain
no water units
no "unit lost" message (or event log to bring up at will)
can't tell units to hold and not attack anything?
the computer cheats when it comes to unit control/micro
-
Same pathfinding/interface/control/AI issues as before
some new pathfinding issues (lurker, dark templar)
the campagin doesn't always respond to your actions when it should (for example if there's a holdout mission and you've killed all the enemies the mission doesn't end and the enemy doesn't get any reinforcements)
some trial & error (sudden reinforcement attacks or other unexpected mission changes)
no difficulty options for the campaign
only has intro and ending cutscenes (four in total; there are more in-game cutscenes though), unskippable in-game cutscenes (some lengthy dialogue scenes after beating missions), the game's still lacking when it comes to introducing new units and their uses to the player (interruptions would've been annoying but there could've been an option to check new unit info in a menu or something), low volume on some of the voice acting, can't keep playing after getting the victory message in a campaign mission (would've been interesting to see if you could beat the enemy when you're not supposed to), minor balancing issues (specific map types, scouts are still too expensive, lurkers/medics/corsairs are generally too good against the AI), some annoying sfx (siege tank, lurker), dumber story than before (with very gullible characters that don't evolve much over the course of the game), some overly long missions, sometimes uneven difficulty (the terran campaign is pretty easy overall, surprisingly tough final protoss mission), no new music?
Notes:
-*Missions with an alternative solution:
Return to Char - you can either destroy the Overmind or bring a worker to the crystal
Assault in Korhal - destroy all the Nuclear Silos or destroy all the Physics Labs
The Kel-Morian Combine - collect 10,000 minerals or destroy or infest all the Command Centers
Level Design-8.5/8* Frustration-7* Fun-7.5*/8.5 Originality-4.5
Overall Score-8.5
*The campaign
+
Some new units (lurker, devourer, corsair, recruitable dark templar, medic, valkyrie - fills up holes in each army's repertoire and gives each race a stealth unit)
interesting units and abilites overall
good voice acting overall
pretty good campaign variation overall
better mission scripting than before (alternate objectives in some missions (they only affect future gameplay in fairly minor ways though; you still can't affect the story at all)
new side objectives like destroying cerebrates to weaken certain units)
pretty high unit limit (200 supply, larger/more advanced units cost more than one)
almost as long as the main game (8 missions per race)
new map tilesets
sometimes better campaign AI
Alternate solutions/victory conditions in some missions*
+/-
More focus on stealth than before (can get tedious since it forces you into more defensive scouting and more varied builds)
overlords can carry ultralisks
reavers and dragoons take up the same amount of space in a shuttle
can't sell units
can't speed up building construction by using more than one worker
always need to start over with upgrades etc. in each new campaign mission (gets tedious at times) - sometimes you start out with a couple of upgrades regardless of your actions during the previous mission though
control groups are altered by the arbiter's stasis ability (can be good for the other player though)
waypoints don't work when warping in buildings with probes
no destructible terrain
no water units
no "unit lost" message (or event log to bring up at will)
can't tell units to hold and not attack anything?
the computer cheats when it comes to unit control/micro
-
Same pathfinding/interface/control/AI issues as before
some new pathfinding issues (lurker, dark templar)
the campagin doesn't always respond to your actions when it should (for example if there's a holdout mission and you've killed all the enemies the mission doesn't end and the enemy doesn't get any reinforcements)
some trial & error (sudden reinforcement attacks or other unexpected mission changes)
no difficulty options for the campaign
only has intro and ending cutscenes (four in total; there are more in-game cutscenes though), unskippable in-game cutscenes (some lengthy dialogue scenes after beating missions), the game's still lacking when it comes to introducing new units and their uses to the player (interruptions would've been annoying but there could've been an option to check new unit info in a menu or something), low volume on some of the voice acting, can't keep playing after getting the victory message in a campaign mission (would've been interesting to see if you could beat the enemy when you're not supposed to), minor balancing issues (specific map types, scouts are still too expensive, lurkers/medics/corsairs are generally too good against the AI), some annoying sfx (siege tank, lurker), dumber story than before (with very gullible characters that don't evolve much over the course of the game), some overly long missions, sometimes uneven difficulty (the terran campaign is pretty easy overall, surprisingly tough final protoss mission), no new music?
Notes:
-*Missions with an alternative solution:
Return to Char - you can either destroy the Overmind or bring a worker to the crystal
Assault in Korhal - destroy all the Nuclear Silos or destroy all the Physics Labs
The Kel-Morian Combine - collect 10,000 minerals or destroy or infest all the Command Centers