So, who's playing it? What are your comments? thoughts? favourite moments? Got screenies? Post and discuss anything away!

Careful with the spoilers, for people that actually care about them as this topic may be filled with them.



Also, Pr0nogo, we all know what you think so save your opinions


== SPOILER WARNING DO NOT READ BELOW ==


I'm currently like 7 missions in. I've liked a few things so far, other things were "meh". The prologue missions, specially the second one, were pretty boring, I thank god I didn't pre-purchase.

The lotv campaign so far it's okay, I like the spin it took with the protoss after the whole promotion ads being "We are bound in the khala" blah blah BS I find it amusing that the first thing they had to do was severe their nerves so they are no longer one


I liked that spin to the story. Also, the first scene of spear of adun air strike was pretty cool. Makes me wonder how to pull that off in a map.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Nov 12 2015, 7:05 pm by Roy. Reason: Updating title

Still playing it. I'm up to the Shakarus hold out mission and I have done the Jim Raynor Keystone mission.

Will talk more when done.

I don't like Zeratul dying and I don't like how he died. Zeratul should have been able to cloak and cut Artanis's nerve cords

hahahaha

Personally I watched the ending on youtube (cant afford the game & internet is crap here) and had enough right there but watched other cutscenes too for whatever reason, doesn't feel much like StarCraft to me frankly & it's very hollywood

Okay still not reading spoilers but I just want to chime in again.

I've just watched the scene where Sharkus gets blown the fuck up. An epic moment with bad-ass Zeratul voice over.

One thing that is really, really taking me out of the mood is the god damn compression on in-game cinematics. I just noticed it first with the opening intro (compared to youtube on 1080p) and now this vid. Like, wtf is going on? I have my cinematic setting set to high - doesn't help. The compression is effing nasty. Like, why does Blizzard kneecap their cinematics like this?? Why???

I noticed this too. I think it probably just has to do with the format they're using.

Could probably extract the .ogv files and then watch them to see if it makes any difference.

I should put a little addendum to my previous comment that I did think the choreography in the fight scene where Zeratul dies (I guess this has already been stated so no need to spoiler tag it?) was pretty cool even if, like MasterJohnny said, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Like, a lot of the choreography I saw in general was pretty decent, and I liked the animations too. it's more just the context I wasn't big on I guess

Just played some more tonight. Wow, Fenix is back. That is some delicious fan service, and he's back in a way that makes sense logically.

Just hit up the Xel'Naga tower with Kerrigan. Interesting retconning action going on here. Xel'Naga are like cuthuluu-looking creatures, Amon is like some sort of betrayer version (calls himself the Great Betrayer, cough cough Illidian cough cough). And now the big surprise and twist is Alarak (sounds like he's voiced by the same guy who plays Q in Star Trek) is now wanting to help you. I note his nerve cords are uncut, however, so I do wonder if that will come bite us in the ass later.

One final funny thing I noticed was if you click on Fenix in the Solar Core he has lots of funny stories. I think some of them are actually a nice bit of fan service to the Starcraft novels (haven't read them, so wouldn't know) while others are movie references (Predator, Die Hard, etc.). Good stuff.

The weekend has finally come so time to play the shit out of this game. Next time I post I will probably be finished.

I had the weekend completely free, did not even have to go out with girlfriend and I had no internet to play. It was down T.T

I beat the campaign and am currently doing the epilogue. It took me two restarts and a total of 70 saves to beat the final mission... As for the final epilogue mission I'm on now, 30 saves and counting.

Brutal?

Tips for final mission on brutal, from someone who beat it after only 5-6 reloads IIRC:
Mass Corsair/Stalker/Dark Templar. ~42 Corsairs is what you should be looking at. Use Orbital Assimilators (auto-gas harvest) and get four gases early, even before you build your second nexus. Have a third of your corsairs at each base entrance after you hit critical mass. Keep DTs with the Corsairs and a control group of Stalkers to intercept Warp Prisms (use ship abilities to take them out). Get 3/3 ship ups asap and shields, ground ups can come later since DTs are broken.

The last epilogue mission is insanely easy, just mass roach/hydra until only 1-2 crystals are left. Then sac your army and build mutas to hunt them down unless you luck out and they fly over the terrain. Spread creep EVERYWHERE and expand to both side bases ASAP so you can get as much as possible as fast as possible. Kill the volcanos whenever they respawn, just use the mass heal and the harry potter laser beam nonstop and you'll be ok.

I played on brutal obviously. For the final mission I went void ray/collosi/immortal. I got a Mothership at the end and had a few Dark Archons I used to mind control a few carriers and confuse waves when I could.

I saved every time I cleared a wave with minimal casualties and made full use of the Spear of Aduns weapons. I had the repair thing, lazers, global shield, and time stop.

Alarak was suicidal which sucked cause his wave clear was godlike. Vorazun seems to have an ok time surviving. The phase-smith needs help early and whenever a protoss wave attacks him, but with his colossi he can hold his own for a while.

After I neared 200/200 I started making tons of cannons and just queued up units in the production buildings in case I lose some.

The final epilogue mission is a massive pain cause my bases would be destroyed in an instant the moment I stop babysitting them no matter how many spine crawlers I'd build.

Just use her teleport to kill their attack forces.

So the weekend is over and I still haven't finished the game lol. Thought I had finished it, then I realised there are three more epilogue missions lolol. The fight continues.

Good wrap up to the Protoss story. Surprised Selendis turned out to not be in the expansion at all hardly. Essentially a damsel in distress. I can't remember the names of other Protoss in the Wings of Liberty Protoss misisons but I suspect they are missing too.

Loved Alarak's character. Hightroll of the Taldarem. He died in the final hold-out mission on my playthrough though (he ran deep into enemy lines like a dumb-ass). I'm unsure if the game even registers that.

Amon was all talk by the end. I was expecting some sort of twist, but maybe that's to come in the epilogue?

The epilogue is meant to tie up loose ends.

No tying up loose ends! I demand Starcraft3. Zeratul returns to fight the UED
UED is lead by Duran

Narud is dead. Alexei Stukov killed him. He pulled a Batman (Christian Bale) by repeating the words he used against him. The United Earth Directorate is hardly mentioned in StarCraft II, and judging the way how the ending resolved in the epilogue... the UED is probably by far the most powerful faction in the universe of StarCraft. Xel'Naga, the Hybrids, they're nothing compared to Earth.

Zeratul is dead, and he wouldn't have a prophecy that would predict whatever the people of Earth are doing.

So I have now completed the game. Gotta say, end result is 'meh'. I mean, obviously it had its shining moments. That final scene with Jim Raynor and Kerrigan "Hell it's about time," that was a great ending. Couldn't have asked for anything more. But then the very next scene is like "Jim Raynor was never seen or heard from again." LOL WTF. Fucking ominous. I suspect Kerrigan took him to her Celestial Sex Palace or what not.

The entire epilogue felt tacked on, and a huge tonal shift after finishing LOTV. I dunno, just wasn't a smooth transition. I did find it cool how Alexei Stukov was the one to kill Narud.
Amon ended up being a total chump. I expected some sort of ace in the hole like Mengsk's Keystone trap - but no - nothing. He just goes on and on in his evil voice until you kill him. As if there was ever any doubt.

Tassadar being a bait and switch, trolololol by Blizzard. So there is no afterlife after all. Dead is dead, it seems.

Not sure if there were multiple endings or not, but in mine it said Alarak refused an offer for alliance and left to make his own homeworld (what, was Slayn not good enough for you Alarak??) Alarak is by far the best character to come out of LOTV. I hope we see him again in a future story DLC (which is the path Blizzard now seems to be taking.)


Overall, I reckon they have done a good enough job. Passable, I'd say. But this isn't anything mind blowing, or something that is going to be a treasured memory for me. This was 'just another game' essentially. Anyway, thanks for the ride, Blizzard. Next stop: Covert Ops.

Alarak and Artanis are the most frustratingly suicidal motherfuckers ever. I've never come across any npc as yolo as them.