StarCraft II Unveiled!

[Akasha]

Courtesy of the Blizzard Insider email:

Go go go! On May 19th, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational event in Seoul, Korea, we announced in front of a stadium of thousands that StarCraft II is under development, and revealed a first-ever look at the new real-time strategy title. The original StarCraft is known for its epic galactic battles between three distinct, formidable races - the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg - as well as its gripping single-player storyline told with the aid of Blizzard's signature cinematic sequences. StarCraft II follows in that tradition, as demonstrated at the Worldwide invitational with a live gameplay presentation and an exciting new cinematic teaser for the upcoming game.

We're eager to share the new face of StarCraft with you (it's now running in a custom 3D engine that includes realistic physics and allows for massive armies and massive units on-screen simultaneously). Check out the StarCraft II Official Website to view the gameplay trailer revealed at the Worldwide Invitational, the StarCraft II cinematic teaser, and much more!

Visit the Official StarCraft II Website now!

StarCraft II continues the epic saga of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. These three distinct and powerful races will clash once again in the fast-paced real-time strategy sequel to the legendary original, StarCraft. Legions of veteran, upgraded, and brand-new unit types will do battle across the galaxy, as each faction struggles for survival. Featuring a unique single-player campaign that picks up where StarCraft: Brood War left off, StarCraft II will present a cast of new heroes and familiar faces in an edgy sci-fi story filled with adventure and intrigue. In addition, Blizzard will again offer unparalleled online play through Battle.net, the company's world-renowned gaming service, with several enhancements and new features to make StarCraft II the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game.

Features:

• Fast-paced, hard-hitting, tightly balanced competitive real-time strategy gameplay that recaptures and improves on the magic of the original game
• Three completely distinct races: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg
• New units and gameplay mechanics further distinguish each race
• Groundbreaking single-player "story-mode" campaign
• Vibrant new 3D-graphics engine with support for dazzling visual effects and massive unit and army sizes
• Full multiplayer support, with new competitive features and matchmaking utilities available through Battle.net
• Full map-making and scripting tools to give players incredible freedom in customizing and personalizing their gameplay experience

Insider Interview:
THE MAKING OF THE STARCRAFT II CINEMATIC TEASER

The Insider recently sat down with the Blizzard cinematic team for a behind-the-scenes look at the StarCraft II cinematic teaser recently released at the Worldwide Invitational, as well as to discuss the challenges involved with continuing the single-player storyline from the original game...

One of the things that really made StarCraft stand out when it was first released was the epic scale of events unfolding over the course of the original game and the Brood War™ expansion, told in large part through the game's cut-scenes and beautifully crafted cinematics. Of all the possible scenarios for a cinematic teaser, why did you decide to focus on the genesis of a marine?

Read the full interview

[NewfieDave]

Originally Posted by Akasha

Vibrant new 3D-graphics engine with support for dazzling visual effects and massive unit and army sizes

I loved the original SC because of the balanced gameplay. The graphics were never amazing, but they were good enough to make the game visually appealing. I really hope that graphics won't become the focal point in SC2, but considering Blizzard's track record I doubt they'll disappoint.

The army size increase intrigues me. I always thought SC could benefit from a higher unit limit, and the shift to lower unit limits in WC3 never made sense to me. Actually, not much about WC3 made sense to me. Grinding NPCs in an RTS? WTF?!

[Cvijafaq]

From the gameplay video, the graphics don't look too fancy (witch is good since the game won't be too hard to run). They look like a polished version of old graphics.