The graphics and gameplay are great, but new players will be frustrated and there is a lack of community with Battle.net
At a first glance, Starcraft 2 has extremely updated graphics. In comparison to other titles now the graphics are nothing special, but their art style gives them a nice look and feel. The fans of the original should be very happy about that.
Campaign mode is basically what one would expect; it has a cliche story and brings not that much new to the table but is very solid. There are unique missions in it, such as needing to mine a certain amount of minerals while protecting your guys from rising lava. There are also a number of creative units that, for the sake of multiplayer balance, are not present in the multiplayer mode.
The real focus of the game is on multiplayer. The multiplayer is very strong. This is a tried and true formula that Blizz is bringing back to its fans. They have changed almost nothing. While some say "don't fix what isn't broken," others want something new. Blizzard, king of RTS during the 90s, should have been able to bring some innovation to the title, some say. I agree that it should have been changed more than it was, but I am very happy with how the game came out. Relatively balanced for a new release.
The biggest problems start with Battle.net, the system Blizzard uses for playing SC2. First problem is that you need to be connected to the internet to play. That is perhaps the biggest annoyance, because that also eliminates LAN play. Without LAN play, there are times that I've played my brother in the same room as me and we've lagged out of the game simply because we both had to connect to the internet.
Next comes the lack of chat rooms, clans, and companionship. There is no place to sit and talk to people in-game in a lobby. No chatroom. No one can get to know each other and arrange to be in a 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4 team. No clan system means that people have a hard time getting to meet people if they don't know anybody IRL who bought the game.
Another issue comes with Real ID friends. Some people don't feel comfortable giving out their information such as email and full name, but that is a requirement to be added to a friends list. There are many times that in games I will add people to a friends list simply because I enjoyed playing with them, but that casual feel has been taken away for a very formal feeling system that drains the casual and homey feeling people wanted to have.
Facebook is to blame, and it seems ironic that a social networking site has done the opposite of that. People FB friend basically anybody, and it hasn't seemed to occur to Blizzard that maybe people don't want to play SC with somebody they sat behind in high school? I don't care about those people.
Another problem is the lack of unique names. There is no unique names! Names can be remade and the way to track down specific players is with a tracking number they receive. So if you want to look up someone named John, you must look up John #244. The system is pathetic.
Overall, however, the greatest weakness of the game is also its greatest strength; it is EXACTLY THE SAME. The reason it is a strength is that the classic players rejoice. The reason it is a weakness is that the strategies are the same, meaning that the old players are the top dogs immediately and new players are quickly discouraged by losses.
While some may find this to be laughable at best, new players will be discouraged. They will lose, many many times before winning against anybody. The campaign doesn't show how to play Protoss or Zerg and the units in campaign don't exist for Terran multiplayer.
Anybody who wants to play this game will have to literally study for hours and hours before entering multiplayer to understand the intricacies of the game. The reason this is disheartening is that its a BRAND NEW GAME. If I were to start playing Company of Heroes for the first time, obviously I'd be in the same position but the reason is that the game has been out for 4 years. SC2 is theoretically new.
The final verdict is that the gameplay is extremely clean and satisfying and there are hardly any bugs. The balance is a work in progress but is mostly good. The campaign is solid. The problems exist with community and the learning curve for this game is similar to that of EVE Online and other games with learning walls. If I played the first game, the rating would probably be 10.