Starcraft is a space-based real-time strategy game that is top-notch from start to finish in both single and multiplayer
Racial Profiling
In Starcraft you select from one of three races. The Terran race is the human race. Consequently, their units are the most easily recognized. You will find familiar marines, assault motorcycles (Vultures), tanks, and a walking robot bearing a striking resemblance to ED-209 from Robocop. Each race has a different strength, and the Terrans have a strong mid-game, but a weaker early and late game.
The Zerg are an entirely biological race directed by factions of an "Overmind" known as "Cerebrates". They are by far the most alien of the three races, and their technology tree develops in a completely different manner from the Terrans. Their units gestate into buildings or other units that originate from a hive. The Zerg units tend to be weak, be inexpensive and quick to build, making it easiest to overwhelm the opponent with raw numbers rather than strategic attacks. If you ever saw the movie Starship Troopers, you will have an instant familiarity with the race.
The Protoss are an entirely alien race that live in constant battle against the Zerg swarms. The Protoss are the most technologically advanced. Their units have shielding, are very expensive, but also extremely tough. The Protoss are lacking in the early game due to the high cost of their units. However, the Protoss can dominate the late game with superior firepower and tactically advanced warcraft.
A Window to a Universe
Starcraft takes place on planets ranging from Terran worlds, to the ashen fields of the Zerg homeworld Char, to the elegant spires of the technologically advanced Protoss homeworld of Aiur. Your player view is a 3/4 overhead view of space platforms, barren fields, and tree-pocked worlds. Everything is sprite-based, and units are tiny. It can be difficult to discern one unit from another, particularly with the Zerg, who are all similar in color and shape. As the player learns the technology tree, however, he or she gains more familiarity with the various units and comes to recognize each quickly.
The artwork is impressive, though dated in 2007. Char appears a barren wasteland. Aiur is filled with the ruins of old civilizations. Tiny Zergling units rush across the battlefield as gigantic Ultralisks lumber afterward. Protoss warriors have an awkward gait as the approach their quarry, and the spider-like dragoon moves in as unnatural and awkward a manner as it appears. The Terrans have a recognizable familiarity that evokes the feel of present day, despite the future setting.
A Matter of Survival
Starcraft has thirty missions in its core campaign, ten for each race. The player will become the Terran, Zerg, and Protoss races in turn as he or she jockeys for survival. Survival is, of course, what Starcraft is all about. The story unfolds as the Zerg begin appearing on planets throughout the Terran worlds in overwhelming numbers. Naturally, the Terrans are too busy fighting amongst themselves to recognize the imminent threat.
The story is sequential. When you complete the ten Terran missions, you become the Zerg, picking up at a point in time after the Terran missions ended. The same holds true for the Protoss, who you are charged with using to fight back the successes of your prior Zerg campaign.
Characters with Character
In the course of the game you will meet a colorful array of characters from bad-boy with a golden heart Jim Raynor, to the angry infighting of the Zerg cerebrates, to the tradition-bound warrior race of the Protoss. Each has their own developments in morals and allegiances to deal with as the story progresses.
Therein lies one of the beauties of Starcraft: the single-player game was obviously as important to Blizzard in development as the multiplayer game. The storyline twists and turns as its cast is placed in unusual circumstances. There are betrayals and sacrifices alike, making for great science fiction drama.
The voice actors also portray their characters' qualities with conviction, strengthening their authenticity. Jim Raynor sounds like a soldier who is tired of being a soldier, but continues to fight out of frustrating necessity. The Protoss sound much like the Klingon race of Star Trek fame: honorable warriors from an ancient race that take pride in their battle-scars. The Zerg screen and cry like the twisted animal abominations that they are.
By the end of the game you will feel every bit as if you have fought alongside a group of people you have come to know well. You will also be exhausted from the constant and long battles Starcraft requires of you to achieve specific goals, such as acquiring computer disks, destroying a particular enemy, or freeing a key ally from incarceration.
Provoke your inner Overmind
Starcraft is strategically challenging, requiring equal parts planning and reacting to achieve victory. Resources are always limited, forcing the player to construct those units necessary as quickly as possible within a limited budget. Careful consideration of the opponents situation, resources, strengths, and weaknesses all need to be factored into constructing the appropriate defensive and offensive forces.
The same holds true of player-versus-player games in which your opponent might through any of a number of units at you. They might construct cloaked units, a massive air force, tank units, or a single unit micromanaged sneak attack through a hole in your defenses. The challenge is a mental one up until the attack itself, when a battle of reaction time becomes central.
If you enjoy a polished game that plays like a science fiction chess, you will love Starcraft.