We only got two and a half more minutes of gameplay (more, please!), but in them were hidden many new things, worthy of discussion. Here we go, then, from worst to best.

Soul Hunter: A guy wielding a huge gun, riding a hoverbike? Called “Soul Hunter”? That’s somewhat of a gaming cliche. Hopefully, Blizzard can give this unit some real personality and bring it to a level beyond “cool guy on a hoverboard”.

Also, can we cut down on the number of units named “Hunter”, please?

Aside from that, the concept is interesting. At first viewing, it seemed that the Soul Hunters’ attack increases in damage the more of them are firing together, similar to C&C3’s Laser Cannon. It turns out that they literally hunt souls, which increase their damage output, as represented by the wider green beam. This makes a Soul Hunter who has collected a few souls a valuable unit to keep alive, and a good reason for the player to watch over battles involving it.

I have to wonder, though – do Zerglings have souls?

Phase Cannon: Again, an interesting, innovative improvement for an old game piece. The new ability to revert back to their energy form (which looks cool, by the way!), move around (confined to a Pylon/Phase Prism aura, I’m assuming), and reposition themselves provides many new options, and might forever destroy one of Zerg Players’ all-time favorite strategies, the Mutalisk probe raid.
More than likely, the ability to turn the Phase Cannon mobile will be a mid to late game upgrade due to balance and early strategy considerations – offensive cannons are bad enough, offensive mobile cannons could prove too much. Blizzard’s implementation of semi-mobile stationary defense in Warcraft 3 (the Night Elf Ancient Protectors) provided the building with mobility, should the player choose to sacrifice it’s Fortified Armor type.
We are making an educated guess here, by suggesting that the (mobile) energy form is highly vulnerable. If this isn’t the case, this new ability might just prove to be too powerful.

It seems that setting up a new Protoss expansion is going to be easier than ever in StarCraft 2. Build up a few cannons, send a Phase Prism to the desired location along with the cannons in energy form, and BAM! An instant, protected expansion, and that’s without mentioning the Protoss ability to warp in new units to the Phase Prism’s location.

Tempest: Well, aside from flying over the new yellow crystals, these guys are awesome by themselves. The design is great, and their shields are awe-inspiring. This carrier replacing, Dark Templar version of the flying fortress is strictly a ground-sieging unit, lacking both an aerial attack and a shield capable of deflecting such attacks. Not a wise design choice for a flying military unit, but that’s how the Protoss roll.

Replacing the old fighters are disc “fighters”. These don’t shoot, but instead, follow the Dark Templar tradition of getting up close and personal and slicing the enemy to small pieces.

It seems that as opposed to the old carriers, a serious Protoss player isn’t going to send these Tempests into the battlefield without a few Phoenix fighters or Stalkers to cover their glaring vulnerability.

Twilight Archon: This guy elicited the same reaction I had upon seeing the first generation Archon: Whoa!

The Archon is back in its full, blue energy, glowing might. Not much else can be said about him at this time, except that it appears like his attack no longer deals splash damage, which is a shame. Walking over an endless amount of Zerglings with a couple of Archons were one of the high points of StarCraft for the experienced Protoss player. Perhaps this role is now reserved for the Colossus.

Lastly, a treat for our readers: The first glimpse of the Psi-Storm, cast by a High Templar!

Here’s the little guy doing his thing:

And here’s the Psi Storm in its entire electrical glory:

Quite a waste of mana, this one was.

These pictures don’t do it justice, though. Make sure you watch the high quality gameplay video (download from our server), skip to 2:00, and watch it yourself.

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