StarCraft 2 story/atmosphere is disappointing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E95k-Gajk1E

wouldn't let me link so here it is.

this guy reviewing can get a bit abbrasive, but he makes some great points that i noticed when i played thru the campaign.

I find myself agreeing with so much of what he points out. I really enjoy StarCraft 2... I have spent countless hours playing the multiplayer... however, I realized shortly in to the campaign that the story and presentation were not up to the high standards of the original StarCraft. If you are a gamer that cares nothing for the single player or campaign, and your only interest in the game is working up the ladder, then you probably don't care. But if you were a fan of the original SC campaign, then you should check out the vid.

The dialog seemed to be dumbed down for the masses... and the atmosphere became much less ethereal and surreal... I remember playing through StarCraft and Brood War, and the presentation, music, and story made you really feel like you were in outer space battling it out... you were genuinely interested in what the characters were saying, and the story was captivating... whereas the StarCraft 2 campaign just kind of throws you into these missions and you're like "okay... sure... here we go..." I mean, its not a terrible thing, it just doesn't present itself as well in order to get the player really involved emotionally. I know that StarCraft is mainly popular for its gameplay... and the gameplay delivers... however, it feels to me that the developers neglected so much possible storytelling for just fine-tuning the multiplayer or balancing the units. I love the upgrade system in SC2, but I can't help but feel like they rushed the story in order to spend more time on other elements.

This review also points out so many inconsistencies with the story in SC2, and the mistakes that were seemingly made... especially Jim's relationship with Kerrigan... imo it makes NO sense in SC2, as Raynor promised Kerrigan that he'd be with the one to kill her. It seems the story went from complex and intriguing to cheesey and sappy.

EDIT: Here is an example of the darker tone and atmosphere of the original... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eflKzcEbLk&feature=related . a bit different from hearing about Donny Vermillion off with his peanut butter, eh? hehe

Imo it was perfect considering it's Starcraft, a bit more cheesy, but the same Starcraft, the only thing I found interesting in SC 1 was the Xel'Naga/hybrids part. The only thing I didn't like was them forcing the "country boy" attitude on Raynor combined with country music for the atmosphere.

It's the best RTS campaign I played, it wasn't as fun as DoW 2's (DoW 2 and only 2, none of the expansions), but I spend twice as much on SC 2's campaign (43 on DoW 2).

Gave up on that "review", can't stand more than 5 minutes, that guy is so frustrated it's stupid to consider it entertaining, it's like he complains about every out of place virtual dust particle (BF 3 - why is this weapon in my hands, how did it get here, why is there so much dust after that explosion, I am literally choking IRL, the virtual sun is blinding me; Diablo 3 - why do I fight evil, who gave me these clothes they don't go well with my eyes, I fought skeletons before, I wield weapons before, that attack is too flashy, etc", when whining goes that way it becomes stupid...SC 2 isn't a mystic human revelation, is the game fun? if yes, good, if not, ok write a review, post it somewhere, feel proud and important, move on, but a terrible annoying video review made of a lot of parts? no

^I just want to say, I personally love the Western aesthetic and music style :P. Wish it appeared on the official soundtrack release more than it does.

Haven't finished the campaign yet, though. Still making my way through.

I wouldn't say that its dumbed down - lets be honest here: video games are not renowned for their Shakespearean storytelling, bar Bioshock and GTA IV lol. It was in other words a continuation of the same half-arsed writing that most games go through and boy was some of it bad. It shifts so often in tone and its like a succession of random threads strung together. Most of the characters are complete morons that you don't really care about. You know you're in trouble when you want a spin-off about Donny Vermillion lol! And some of Matt's dialogue was just painful to listen to. It seemed apparent that they wrote the story last. Dead last! Maybe if they stuck to making it a sort of Space-Western parody, as it seems to start off right at the beginning of the game in the bar, it might have been more fun!

^I just want to say, I personally love the Western aesthetic and music style :P. Wish it appeared on the official soundtrack release more than it does.

Haven't finished the campaign yet, though. Still making my way through.

Sharpie125

I liked the western-style stuff and the music, that wasn't my problem... that was presented in the original SC as well... they could have kept that in and still made the storytelling a lot less dull and more engaging, all while making the atmosphere darker, and a giving a greater sense of urgency... how relaxed all the characters are right before the final mission is just laughable to me... it was just not well put together... the gameplay was great, but the story and presentation were not up to par.

SC1 opening cinematic >> maybe you'll get an idea of what i'm talking about about the darker tone and atmosphere of the game. this is just one example of many of course... in the original, the terran seem darker, the protoss are more mysterious, and the zerg seem a lot more evil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eflKzcEbLk&feature=related

Oh yeah, for sure. I can totally see SC1 being much, much more grittier, from what I've played of SC2 already. SC1 was more Aliens, especially the way the Zerg were portrayed throughout the entire Terran campaign, it was like horror/sci-fi. I'd almost liken SC2 to Star Wars in terms of overall feel. SC2 really took up the fantasy ball and ran with it, and I almost hate to make the comparison, but it's more like Warcraft 3, where the characters are much more "vibrant". From what I remember of the original SC1 cinematics, there was a really trashy, scrap-metal look to the Terrans, but now you've got Tychus in a fairly sleek looking, blue-coloured suit of armour. And on the part of Zerg/Protoss campaigns, the overall tone was darker.

We'll just have to wait for the expansions to see if Blizzard will change anything, but something tells me the fantasy parts are gonna be amped up even more.

SC2's story and atmosphere are more than sufficient for a RTS.

Yeah, SC2 was absolutely terrible regarding to story. What can you expect when all that is left is on Blizzard are the WoW writers.ampiva

I think Blizzard was stuck with this. They wanted players to be able to choose which mission to do next. That really limits the flow of the story. Each mission essentially has to be self-contained, so there is very little overarching story. They did have mission arcs (sort of like quest arcs in RPGs) all from the same person that deal with one issue (Helping Tosh and his spectres, Helping what her name's colonists). The problem was those mission arcs didn't have much to do with the core story. The core is Raynor against Mengsk with Kerrigan's return messing things up, but that whole story was only about 12 missions or so. The other 10+ missions were side stories that didn't relate to that core. I'm not sure what they could have done though since I do appreciate having control over which mission to do next.