Polls
Loading ...Subscribe
-
-
Translate
-
- RT @Scobleizer: The World Economic Forum is using @storify to store the best tweets from Davos: http://t.co/t1bcRaFY #wef #davos
- 600bb deep. This is home http://t.co/1etB41qX
- @RealKidPoker he's there because he plays a game of cards for fun? #douche
- @BrokeLivingJRB shove pre pls.
-
Home
- Starcraft 2 Blog
-
SC2 Blog Search
-
-
18
Blizzard has delivered. Thousands of people have already downloaded and installed the StarCraft 2 Beta, the Battle.net 2.0 platform is online and fully operational (where it counts), maps are downloaded swiftly, and finding a match takes seconds.
In general, the beta seems to be going very smoothly. Many players already populate the various leagues, the interface is smooth and quite intuitive, and is, amazingly, integrated into every part of the game in a very unobtrusive and efficient way. Some complaints about unused space have been made, but where it matters – inside the game – it functions beautifully.
Ten Blizzard maps have been made available, all in either 1v1 or 2v2 sizes, on a variety of tilesets:
- Blistering Sands
- Desert Oasis
- Scrap Station
- Steppes of War
- Kulas Ravine
- Lost Temple
- Metropolis
- Twilight Fortress
- Shakruras Plateau
Some maps come in two flavors – novice and normal. Novice type maps have a slightly modified topography and provide players with conditions conducive to less eventful early games.
Battle.net’s post-match screen includes a very informative tab that provides a clear summary of each players’ build orders, directly compared to each other. This second-by-second view provides a great insight into the first crucial minutes of the game and will help players understand where exactly they might have gone wrong without taking the time to go over the replay.
Next on today’s agenda, we’ve compiled a short list of changes to the game we haven’t heard about before the beta began:
- When a Protoss player has one or more Warpgates, hitting “W” will select all of them, making warping units to the field a button-click away at all times.
- Lurkers are no longer a part of the game. The unit is completely gone.
- The Protoss macro mechanic has been replaced. Instead of the periodic Probe mining bonus, the Nexus now has “Chrono Boost“, a 25-energy ability that the Nexus can use on ANY building, including those of allies, to increase the speed of unit production and research. Extremely useful in all situations, from the beginning of the game (build Probes faster) to the end (Build Mothership faster).
- Speaking of the Mothership, its “Black Hole” ability now functions as a souped-up Stasis Field, sucking up all units around the area of effect and keeping them trapped in another dimension for a short period before spitting them all out when it dissipates. Use with a well-timed Nuke for bonus points.
- Mentioned just a couple of days before the beta, Banelings can now again be used as underground mines, detonating while burrowed. However, the favorite strategy with Banelings is currently “get a lot of them and roll into the enemy base”.
- There is NO chat on battle.net besides that with your friends and the “parties” you form with them. No regional or global channels like in StarCraft 1, and no chat gem either.
- The Battlecruiser no longer has different abilities to choose from. Instead, only the Yamato Cannon is available after being researched at the Fusion Core.
- When a player losses all his main structures (Command Center, Hatchery, Nexus), all his units and structures are revealed to the enemy. This measure was implemented to prevent players from abusing the players who just beat them by playing Pylon hide-and-seek. However, it is already raising some concern about end-case situations (stalemates, players still having enough money, etc). The SC2Blog recommends turning this feature off in tournaments and other high-level competitions.
If you’re having a hard time letting go of your recently acquired StarCraft 2 Beta, you can now enjoy its theme music even when doing what you should have been doing instead of playing:
Terran theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcghLSIpZlM
Zerg theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ivYHY8V-XA
Protoss theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuh96ogWoAc
Menu theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVNyU-BF9wg
For players who are not in the beta and are eager for some action, here are some new high-definition gameplay videos. If you’re looking for more, stay tuned and keep an eye over our Facebook page – it will periodically be updated with noteworthy live streams, as they occur.
Related Posts:
- » Patch 1.1.3 - New Battle.net Filters and Thor AI
- » StarCraft 2 Name Change and StarCraft Race Video Overview
- » BlizzCon 2010 Summary - Art, Gameplay and Pictures
- » Patch 1.1.2: Roaches Get Their Groove Back, Void Ray Nerfed
16 Comments to “StarCraft 2 Beta: First Gameplay and Battle.net Impressions”
StarCraft 2 Beta. Hell, It’s About Time. »
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners.
All the Rest © SC2 blog 2007-2010
Great info, I have to say that I really like the build order screen.
My name in the beta is “GoodAsnDrvr.peterlo” Hit me up for good times!
the chat gem will be missed. :/
Ahhhh, I was really disappointed about the Cattlebruiser’s abilities. They tried so many things but ended up keeping it exactly the same.
I build one and I’m like “TIME FOR SOME HOT PLASMA” and then realize it doesn’t even start with an ability, it has to be further researched.
No more lurkers? WTF? Weren’t they already saying that the zerg were the hardest to get balanced correctly, currently? And they respond to this by removing one of the few units they’d placed at Zerg Top Tier?
I was looking forward to the new improved lurker attack range.
*le-sigh* Ahwell.
@banana_republic
the chat gem is in diablo…
Hey Terrano, what is your Battle id?
Just three words, folks. Three words: It is orgasmic.
Nothing else to say.
But seriously, we’ve been waiting a decade for this game, am I right? And is the closed beta everything we’ve been waiting for? Oh yes it is!
I didn’t even have a key until earlier today, when I posted on some blog claiming to have a ton of invites for free. I
figured it was a scam, but posted a comment requesting an invite since I was hopeless and desitute. Lo and behold, three hours later, I actually had an invite. Go figure dude…
Anyway, not sure if they have any invites left, but who knows, here’s the link to the free starcraft 2 beta invites blog I found: http://starcraft2betainvites.blogspot.com/
Good luck! And one more thing…
Battlecruisers Operational!!!
Damn I REALY want to help beta test this game, not just to play it but I want it to be the ultimate game.
My first suggestion is to remove or change the trumpet from the beginning of the menu theme, it does NOT fit the song, completely out of place! At first it sounds like a song from in The Matrix, and then it sounds like something from a WarCraft orc theme.
The protoss and zerg theme needs more melody, to much eerie sounds and not enough music. The terran theme really fits well though. Would be cool if they had some of the old stuff mixed in a bit.
Wow great article thanks! Im so happy that the beta has arrived by i really hope it dosnt get ruined by idiots who try to crack the client and make money out of it… This game deserves the best!
Chrono Boost is a great idea! I knew they could come up with great and unique protoss macro mechanic! Just LOVE the idea!
I saw many gameplay videos from Youtube and soma live streams, and appear that Zerg race is weak.
Nice, tried to get on the beta, but was never given a beta key from Blizzard. Found this nice site to buy cheap sc cdkey too, if you guys would like to try sc1 before sc2. http://www.g2buy.com/index.php?gOo=goods_search_list.dwt&gcat=1904. Bought sc battlechest for $3.55 there, got it within 30 minutes xD
I like the changes they’ve made. I’ll miss lurkers though. Can’t imagine playing zerg without them ;[
Wow, that is awesome. I wanna play soon, too bad it is in closed beta..
Ten maps? I count 9 there, listed.