PC | Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty Updated Hands-On - Single-Player Campaign

We get our hands on an early version of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty's single-player campaign. Now that Blizzard has split the sequel to Starcraft into three chapters, the studio is starting to take the wraps off the sequel's story, which Blizzard's Andy Chambers says is big enough to fill three entire chapters. In fact, the creative director says that the sequel's story is so big that the three different games will let the studio properly tell the story of each of the three factions (Terrans, Protoss, and Zerg), rather than having to cut corners here and there to make everything fit in a single box. In any case, the single-player game of Wings of Liberty, the first of Starcraft II's three chapters, is finally coming together, and we had a chance to try out the first few missions of an early version. Blizzard's developers discuss what to expect in the Wings of Liberty single-player campaign.Comment on this video » Watch this video in HD 540p Flash Player 9 is required to watch this video.document.getElementById('flash_video_player_alt_content_6215366').style.display = "none";var expressInstallPath = "http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cne_flash/production/express/playerProductInstall.swf";var object_ele = '';document.write('' + object_ele + ''); Starcraft II's story picks up some years after the events of the Brood War expansion pack for the original Starcraft, after the vicious, three-sided conflict between Starcraft's three iconic factions: the macho Terran space marines, the noble-yet-inscrutable Protoss aliens, and the swarming, homicidal Zerg aliens. At the end of that story, the rebellious human officer Jim Raynor is set at odds against both his former ally, the treacherous human leader Arcturus Mengsk, and his former ladylove, the stealth-specialist-turned-Zerg-hive-queen Kerrigan. The story of Starcraft II begins with Raynor dealing with these new and old threats. Though he's now considered a dangerous outlaw in the eyes of Emperor Mengsk, he remains a freedom fighter who leads his ragtag band of misfits into battle against Mengsk's oppressive regime--until a newscast on Jimmy's TV monitor reveals that the Zerg, which have remained dormant for years, have suddenly reappeared and have launched a broadening, full-scale assault on various sectors in the universe, and to make matters worse, Kerrigan herself has also resurfaced and been captured on film. Starcraft II will offer an in-depth single-player campaign with an epic story told in three chapters. In fact, Kerrigan and Raynor even share a "moment" in the early part of the campaign, and though he still can't quite understand why Kerrigan has finally come out of hiding, and why the Zerg now seem so obsessed with collecting Protoss artifacts, he renews his vow to put her out of her misery and stop her mission of intergalactic conquest. About the only good news in sight is that Tychus Findlay, the hard-nosed commando and war criminal Raynor served with in earlier games, has escaped his sentence and proposed a new revenue stream to fund Raynor's army--selling Protoss artifacts to a collective of scientists. This in-depth story is told not only by way of elaborate in-engine cinematics with plenty of fancy camera work on the game's highly detailed character models that cuts to and zooms in on different characters, but also through between-mission sequences that, surprisingly enough, resemble the point-and-click gameplay of classic adventure games such as Myst and Grim Fandango. These sequences take place in peaceful hub areas where key characters sit or stand around items and fixtures of interest--and you can click on these characters or items to examine or interact with them to get Raynor's take on them. For Wings of Liberty, it's clear that Blizzard has looked to a variety of different media sources for inspiration, such as Western motion pictures--at the very outset of the game, the between-mission sequences take place in an interstellar saloon with a burned-out Raynor sitting at a bar with a drink in one hand and a pistol in another. However, there are also references to influences like the gritty, alien-killing military action of Starship Troopers and ripped-from-the-headlines news broadcasts on the Zerg swarm that appear periodically on TV screens in the game, reminiscent of modern-day news coverage of international conflicts. Clicking around on the items and characters in these areas will pull up little bits of information and lore for players who really want to delve into the story, but it's not at all necessary, and you can skip through them if you're the sort of player who prefers to focus on gameplay and achievements. There will be plenty of incentives for players who prefer to focus on gameplay. The campaign will have a semi-branching structure based around a starmap of planets that will send out distress calls and offers for other sorts of missions, and completing any individual mission will unlock a new unit for use in the single-player game. (However, not all units that appear in the single-player campaign will appear in multiplayer--the Terran flamethrowing firebat unit, for instance, will be available only in single-player.) In addition, finishing any mission will also net you a wad of credits (cash) you can use to purchase powerful upgrades for your armies or to hire expensive mercenary units from mercs you'll meet in your travels. Jim Raynor and his Terran forces face an uphill battle in Wings of Liberty--they must face the corrupt Emperor Mengsk, the mysterious Protoss, and the menacing Zerg threat. These upgrades will make your single-player units more damaging and tougher than their base abilities to deal with the massively powerful boss characters that lie in wait, but they won't be available in multiplayer for gameplay balance reasons. Blizzard is also toying with an open-ended alien research system that will let Raynor's lab cook up anti-alien tech if you successfully collect enough Protoss alien relics or Zerg DNA samples, though this research system is still being worked on and may not even appear in the final game. Real completionists will also find reason to replay each mission, since Wings of Liberty will offer in-game achievements for completing each mission under certain specific conditions, such as quickly finishing a mission within a certain time limit, finishing a mission without losing a unit, or completing a specific side unit. We played through a handful of early single-player missions to find that the experience will be challenging and closely tied in to the ongoing story. Like the missions in Warcraft III, Starcraft II's missions will have multiple objectives that may change over time and will have picture-in-picture briefings from various characters egging you on to your goal or giving you hints on what to do next. The very first mission in the game acts as a tutorial and puts Raynor in command of a small squad of basic marines as they liberate a mining colony oppressed by Mengsk's forces, and though the mechanics of the mission focus primarily on teaching you how to select, move, and attack with your units, the mission is also an introduction to the new universe Raynor is up against. His forces must fight against other Terran troopers in Mengsk's employ while avoiding any casualties of the cowed civilians who mill around giant holographic statues of their new emperor. However, by the end of the mission, the miners were incited to rebel. Wings of Liberty will tell the story of Jim Raynor's Terran forces...but it won't tell the whole story of Starcraft II. We went on to play three additional missions in the early game against both the Zerg and the Protoss, and in the interest of not spoiling too much, we'll just provide a brief description rather than an in-depth breakdown. The first mission we played was a benevolent evacuation of a small medical colony overrun by Zerg. It required us to fight our way to the survivors' outpost, then periodically guard a few caravans of survivors along a winding road to an evacuation site, defending each from progressively more-ferocious Zerg attacks as the colony's medical officer offered horrified commentary on the viciousness of the invaders. That particular mission didn't pay much in terms of reward credits, so we took on a higher-paying mission--collecting a large batch of resource crystals from an igneous planet infested with Zerg. The mission required us to collect several thousand crystals from patches of land that were periodically submerged under lava (which instantly killed any units caught in the molten rock), while fending off any Zerg encroachments, though the map also contained a powerful boss creature known as a "brutalisk"--a gigantic Zerg monster that won't appear in multiplayer. The last mission we tried out was a Protoss artifact retrieval mission for Tychus' contact. It took place on a mostly abandoned colony populated by Protoss fanatics, though when we arrived, the Zerg were also swarming the Protoss, and had we not been able to liberate the artifact from its tightly guarded resting place, the Zerg would have overrun the Protoss as well and attacked us. These missions illustrate how Starcraft II's campaign will have lots of variety and plenty of side objectives. In terms of gameplay basics, Starcraft II's pacing seems very similar to that of the original Starcraft and is often just as fast and just as frantic as in the first game, and the Terran infantry, as ever, is about combined-arms forces of soldiers with varying abilities backed up by combat healing. Unfortunately, we were able to command only a few types of units: marines, which are basic ranged soldiers; firebats, which are flamethrowing infantry good at subduing groups; medics, which continuously heal allied units; marauders, which are heavy-duty infantry with rocket launchers; and reapers, which are infantry units with jumpjet packs that let them take quick flying leaps to quickly close gaps. Much of the classic Terran tech tree returns in Starcraft II, including infantry bunkers to garrison four marines at once to provide defensive stockades or forward emplacements, as well as mobile command centers (effectively, the Terran's "town hall" structure that lets them create SCV resource harvesters) that can uproot themselves and slowly fly to different areas of the map--a useful tactic in longer missions after you've exhausted nearby resource veins. So far, the Starcraft II experience seems to remain very true to the Starcraft experience and seems just as challenging and action-packed. And the new 3D graphics look quite good, and the artwork for various units and structures, from the intricate and advanced-looking armor of the Protoss units to the disturbingly slimy way that Zerg structures "birth" their units, displays Blizzard's signature combination of hand-drawn art and judicious use of polygons and shading to create 3D art that looks distinctive without being too taxing on your computer. News flash! You can expect to play Wings of Liberty...when it's done. There will clearly be much more to Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty than just its single-player campaign, but playing through some early missions as the Terrans and experiencing the intriguing new adventure-game-style hub areas offered a glimpse into a game that everyone will want to know more about. We'll have more coverage of Starcraft II as soon as we can bring it to you. Keep your eyes peeled. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot "PC | Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty Updated Hands-On - Single-Player Campaign" was posted by Andrew Park on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:44:43 -0700

Wii | Muramasa: The Demon Blade Updated Hands-On

As we slice our way through feudal Japan, we realize that there's more to Muramasa than just a pretty landscape. With all the chaos and excitement during events like the Tokyo Game Show and the Electronic Entertainment Expo, it's easy to miss a game that isn't backed by a huge publisher taking up a hefty chunk of the show floor. Muramasa: The Demon Blade, however, has always been able to stand out on its own, with its gorgeous hand-painted visuals and stunning action-packed gameplay. Developer VanillaWare (makers of Odin Sphere and GrimGrimoire) brings a fast-paced, action role-playing game to the Nintendo Wii, with the freedom to explore an intricate network of 2D levels and enough customization to keep you busy for hours. A representative from publisher Ignition Entertainment came by our office to give us some more time with this Wii exclusive, and we're happy to say that it's as fun as it looks. Ninjas always fight giant centipedes on top of temples.Comment on this video » Flash Player 9 is required to watch this video. var shown = false; function syncRoadBlock(adTag) { if( shown ) return; document.getElementById("mpu").innerHTML = '' + ''; document.getElementById("ifr_companion").src = adTag; shown = true; } document.getElementById('flash_video_player_alt_content_6215196').style.display = "none";var expressInstallPath = "http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cne_flash/production/express/playerProductInstall.swf";var object_ele = '';document.write('' + object_ele + ''); There are two storylines to play through in Muramasa, both based on famous Kabuki plays. The game is set in feudal Japan, and you can follow the rogue-ninja Kisuke or play as Momohime, the tragic princess who has been possessed by an evil samurai. The two characters will make their way across Japan's charming countryside, but the experience is different depending on which character you play as. There will be some overlap in terms of bosses and levels, but we were told that for the most part you'll explore unique locations and fight character-specific bosses. Kisuke's quest is to defeat this evil shogun, while collecting demon blades in the process. There are 108, but unless you're willing to explore every nook and cranny of Japan and learn how to forge swords, it's going to be difficult to collect all the blades in one play-through. Our demo began with Kisuke, and we watched as he hacked and slashed his way across beautiful landscapes until he came face-to-face with three giant centipedes. Boss battles are epic showdowns that require some quick thinking and sharp reflexes. He leapt gracefully from one rooftop to another, flying through the air while armed with three deadly blades. As much fun as it was to watch the game unfold, we were eager to play it for ourselves. The mechanics in Muramasa are very simple, but that doesn't mean the game is easy. It's important to be fast and aggressive because enemies deal quite a bit of damage. The good thing is that you don't have to spend too much time figuring out what to do, because you're just using the A and B buttons to perform regular and special attacks and the analog stick to move around and jump. The game will support the Classic Controller as well as the GameCube controller, and there are no Wii motion controls anywhere to be found in Muramasa. You level as you vanquish a wide variety of enemies, many of which come in waves. After each fight, your performance is rated, and extra experience points can be earned depending on how you did. The game won't penalize you for button-mashing your way to victory, but with a bit more finesse, you could be rewarded with more XP and even special items. No one messes with Momohime.Comment on this video » Flash Player 9 is required to watch this video. var shown = false; function syncRoadBlock(adTag) { if( shown ) return; document.getElementById("mpu").innerHTML = '' + ''; document.getElementById("ifr_companion").src = adTag; shown = true; } document.getElementById('flash_video_player_alt_content_6215329').style.display = "none";var expressInstallPath = "http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cne_flash/production/express/playerProductInstall.swf";var object_ele = '';document.write('' + object_ele + ''); What you do have to keep in mind is your sword health. It's easy to forget, and once your sword breaks, you'll make a mental note to pay more attention next time. Your sword will heal in time, but when it snaps, it takes much longer for it to be useful again. Using special attacks, blocking, and just everyday wear and tear cause your sword to lose health until you switch to another blade, giving it time to regenerate. There are items and souls to collect that will speed up the process, but if you pace yourself and swap swords when necessary, then you should be in good shape. It's tricky once you're dealing with bosses, because you can rack up some crazy hit combos, but it's crucial to keep an eye on your sword meter at the top of the screen and quickly switch up when your blade is about to break. Switching swords is a matter of holding the C button--which pauses the action--and picking the blade you want. Each sword has its own special attack, and you can only carry up to three at a time. There's a lot of customization if you want to get into sword forging and cooking, but if you want to just plow through the game, you can do that as well. We were able to jump to Act 4 of Momohime's story to get a feel for the game, running through the snowy mountains to eventually face a bizarre hog that can transform itself into a giant green monster. Without giving away too many details of the boss battle, it's mainly a matter of figuring out how it moves and then unleashing your special attack anytime you have an opening--without breaking your blade. The action is fast, but by holding the A button and dashing across the screen, you'll slice through clusters of enemies with little effort. Using the GameCube controller might be the best option for tighter controls, especially when jumping, but the Wii Remote setup wasn't bad either. Healing items can be assigned to the D pad, so you can easily swap through items and use them. A crude, hand-drawn map will help you keep track of where you need to go. It's possible to have to do some backtracking, but the areas themselves aren't that big if you're just running from one end to the next. You'll come across save points and towns, where you can stop and do a bit of shopping and eating. Keep an eye out for monkeys, because they'll take you to a hot spring where you can regain all of your health. In addition to being able to check out Momohime in a towel, there are some funny conversations that take place there, so it's worth making a stop. This princess doesn't hold back. There's some incentive to go through the game on a higher difficulty setting because there are hidden bosses available only in normal mode and a third difficulty setting to unlock once you beat the game in this mode. Depending on the player, it can take 12 to 15 hours to play through the quest to find and craft everything. For the purists out there, the Japanese voices are included and everything is subtitled, which is fitting because of the time period and storyline. With all the commotion onscreen, we didn't get a chance to listen to Hitoshi Sakimoto's score very carefully, but from the sections that we did pay attention to, the music seemed to capture the essence of the game perfectly. We really enjoyed our time with the game, and it's obvious that Muramasa stands out because of the care that went into re-creating feudal Japan. Also, watching your character beat up enemy shogun in a flurry of sword slashes never gets old. If you're looking for an action adventure game that will take you on a journey through a fascinating era of Japanese history, then have your sword ready when Muramasa: The Demon Blade is released on September 8. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot "Wii | Muramasa: The Demon Blade Updated Hands-On" was posted by Sophia Tong on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:04:07 -0700