Product Description

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the sequel to Blizzard Entertainment's 1998 hit StarCraft, which has been hailed by players and critics worldwide as one of the top real-time strategy games of all time. StarCraft II will once again center on the clash between the protoss, terrans, and zerg, with each side deploying favorite units from the original StarCraft, along with numerous upgraded and brand-new units and abilities that allow for fresh tactics and strategies. The game's new 3D-graphics engine maintains the speed and responsive control of its predecessor while rendering hundreds of units onscreen for massive battles. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty's solo campaign will continue the epic saga where it left off in StarCraft: Brood War. The storyline chronicles the exploits of marshal-turned-rebel-leader Jim Raynor and features both familiar faces and new heroes. Players will be able to tailor the experience, choosing their own mission path and selecting technology and research upgrades to suit their playing style throughout the 29-mission campaign. Several challenge-mode mini-games will also be included, with focused goals designed to ease players into the basics of multiplayer strategies. In addition, dozens of multiplayer maps will be available for competitive play through the new version of Battle.net, which is launching alongside StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. This new version of the service has been built from the ground up to offer an unparalleled online play experience, with new features such as voice communication, character profiles and achievements, stat-tracking, ladders and leagues, cloud file storage, and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4830 in Video Games
• Brand: Blizzard Entertainment
• Model: Starcraft II
• Released on: 2010-07-27
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OS X
• Format: DVD-ROM
• Dimensions: 6.00 pounds

Features

• The Art of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, a 176-page book featuring artwork from the game
• An exclusive 2GB USB flash drive replica of Jim Raynor's dog tag, which comes preloaded with the original StarCraft and the StarCraft: Brood War expansion set
• A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, cinematics with director's commentary, and more
• The official StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty soundtrack CD, containing 14 epic tracks from the game along with exclusive bonus tracks
• StarCraft comic book issue #0, a prequel to the comic series

Amazon.com Product Description
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the sequel to Blizzard Entertainment's 1998 hit StarCraft, which has been hailed by players and critics worldwide as one of the top real-time strategy games of all time. StarCraft II will once again center on the clash between the protoss, terrans, and zerg, with each side deploying favorite units from the original StarCraft, along with numerous upgraded and brand-new units and abilities that allow for fresh tactics and strategies. The game's new 3D-graphics engine maintains the speed and responsive control of its predecessor while rendering hundreds of units onscreen for massive battles. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty's solo campaign will continue the epic saga where it left off in StarCraft: Brood War. The storyline chronicles the exploits of marshal-turned-rebel-leader Jim Raynor and features both familiar faces and new heroes. Players will be able to tailor the experience, choosing their own mission path and selecting technology and research upgrades to suit their playing style throughout the 29-mission campaign. Several challenge-mode mini-games will also be included, with focused goals designed to ease players into the basics of multiplayer strategies. In addition, dozens of multiplayer maps will be available for competitive play through the new version of Battle.net, which is launching alongside StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. This new version of the service has been built from the ground up to offer an unparalleled online play experience, with new features such as voice communication, character profiles and achievements, stat-tracking, ladders and leagues, cloud file storage, and more.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Collector's Edition Features:

• The Art of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, a 176-page book featuring artwork from the game
  
• An exclusive 2GB USB flash drive replica of Jim Raynor's dog tag, which comes preloaded with the original StarCraft and the StarCraft: Brood War expansion set
  
• A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, cinematics with director's commentary, and more
  
• The official StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty soundtrack CD, containing 14 epic tracks from the game along with exclusive bonus tracks
• StarCraft comic book issue #0, a prequel to the comic series
  
• A World of Warcraft mini Thor in-game pet that can be applied to all World of Warcraft characters on a single Battle.net account
  
• Exclusive Battle.net downloadable content, including special portraits for your Battle.net profile, decals to customize your units in-game, and a visually unique version of the terran Thor unit
  

From the Manufacturer

Amazon.com Product Description

From the Manufacturer

STARCRAFT 2: WINGS OF LIBERTY COLLECTOR'S EDITION

Description:
Silence looms over the ruthless conflict between Terran, Protoss, and Zerg - but the ghosts of the past whisper your name. This limited edition collector’s set has been specially created to commemorate the premiere of the next chapter in the world’s greatest strategy game.

THE ULTIMATE WINGS OF LIBERTY EXPERIENCE
Over ten years in the making, this ultimate edition of StarCraft II features a wealth of rare and exclusive items to aid you in your epic campaigns throughout the Koprulu sector, including:

STARCRAFT II: WINGS OF LIBERTY PC/MAC GAME
The full version of the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty game on DVD-ROM.

THE ART OF STARCRAFT II: WINGS OF LIBERTY
Journey into the game’s artistic development from early concepts to final 3D renderings with this 176-page Collector’s Edition art book.

JIM RAYNOR “DOG TAG” USB DRIVE INCLUDING ORIGINAL STARCRAFT ANTHOLOGY
This battle-worn replica of Jim Raynor’s in-game dog tag doubles as a fully functional 2GB USB thumb drive and comes preloaded with the original StarCraft and Brood War Expansion Set.

WINGS OF LIBERTY EXCLUSIVE BEHIND-THE-SCENES DVD:

• Over an hour of developer interviews, delving deep into the game’s development from initial design to final gameplay.
• All 13+ minutes of pre-rendered cinematics and 32 minutes of in-game ‘story mode’ scenes, including director’s commentary.
• A retrospective examining StarCraft’s rich history in gaming.

STARCRAFT COMIC ISSUE #0
Join the War Pigs in their first terrifying encounter with the alien Zerg in this exclusive “Issue #0” of Wildstorm’s StarCraft comic.

COLLECTOR’S EDITION SOUNDTRACK
Fourteen orchestral pieces from the Wings of Liberty soundtrack, plus exclusive bonus tracks.

EXCLUSIVE IN-GAME WORLD OF WARCRAFT PET
Hammer of the Gods! Summon a Baby Thor to accompany you on your journeys throughout World of Warcraft.

EXCLUSIVE BATTLE.NET DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT
Unlock special features through Battle.net, including in-game army icons, unique avatar portraits, and an exclusive version of the in-game Thor unit.

Click to view larger image

Click to view larger image

Click to view larger image

Click to view larger image

© 2010 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. Wings of Liberty is a trademark, and StarCraft, Battle.net, Blizzard Entertainment and Blizzard are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., in the U.S. and/or other countries. PC DVD ROM logo © and TM IEMA 2004. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

109 of 148 people found the following review helpful.
Great game. Welcome to modern gaming.
By J. J. Marino
This new iteration of Starcraft is very good.

This is the collectors edition. Its about thirty dollars more than the base version. While that may seem like a lot being one third more cost, you do get a ton of really cool extras. I will put a + next to the ones I think are good. Whats different in this version vs the other version. For your thirty dollars you get:

..>> A nice art book with paintings, character models, sketches for behind the scenes look into the art of the game.
+ >> A making of DVD with behind the scenes movie of how the game was made.
..>> A CD of the music from the game.
+ >> A 2GB Flash drive shaped like Raynor's dog tag. In the drive there is the original Starcraft plus the Broodwar Expansion. You can use this drive for anything its still a 2GB drive in the end.
..>> A Starcraft comic book
+ >> A different icon for your character on Battlenet.
+ >> Special Icons and logos for your units in the game
+ >> Special collectors edition of the Terran Thor.
+ >> MY favorite a MiniThor pet for WoW that is for all characters on your Battlenet account. Just like the Pandaren monk or Mountain Dew promotional pet.

Its alot for only a few dollars more. I spent that much on 3 WoW pets, so if your into unique items this may be the upgrade for you. I have too many books now as it is so the extras are not IMHO worth it all that much. That being said the DVD has a nice production value to it and the other pieces are well made so if you are into that aspect you may enjoy it more.

The review of the game:

Blizzard has taken this game into the modern time with a new look, 3D engine and new strategies. You do not have to have played the original Starcraft to understand what is going on here. Blizzard has made this game to be completely stand alone and to train you as the player from the ground up. This means that if you may be new to the story then you will be brought up to speed quickly. If you are a veteran you will appreciate the new and exciting look and feel plus the new units.

3D:
+ For the first time you can swing down and check out your units and see what they can see with regard to the terrain.
+ Beautiful 3D terrain and environment. You really feel immersed in the fantastic vistas and look of the game.
+ Smooth performance even with low end graphics cards. I played this on my PC which has a GTX 470 and of course it was beautiful. I then tried it out on my wife's Macbook Pro (with old ATI card) and while not as rich looking it was very playable and smooth. Which means Blizzard cares enough about their fan base to let older slower computers play this game.

Sound:
+ Zerg squishy noises are awesome and make me nauseous to hear them. The clink of the space marines are so fitting and the phased sounds of the Protoss are spot on. Great sounds that add to the immersion.
+ Voice acting is some of the best I have heard in a game. It has a cinematic feel to it as you play.

Single Player:
+ The single player mode is fun and it is what I have played most sofar. It is challenging and without using any cheats (I am sure they are there but not released as of yet), it means I really have to watch my resources and units well.
+ Units are easily queued and respond with amazing AI. Give them a general order and they follow it and can think on their own better than any other RTS I have ever played, thats saying alot because I have played probably most of the RTS games even back to the original Civilization ( yes I am dating myself here).

Online play:
+ Games are quick to get into and feature a nice interface that makes the waiting time pass.
+ The ranking system thus far seems very fair and well thought out. I am sure it will change in the future but for now is very good.

Summary:
This is more than an update of the original. It is more like a movie playing homage to an old classic. What you get here is a brand new game with a history behind it as being one of the best video games of all time. Don't believe me ask one of the professional SC1 players. This game will grow over time and by the time the last iteration comes out it will be so polished that it may surpass SC1 as the seminal RTS game.

In closing:
I am not an employee of Blizzard nor am I a Fanboy. I merely purchased a game, enjoyed it wrote a review here on Amazon. Nothing more nothing less. I am passing on this information to you the consumer in hopes you will find this to be the case for you too.

It is great RTS game, get it.

UPDATE: August 1 2010
Ok Multiplayer just rocks. I spent 10 hours today playing head to head with my friends and against others. Its really good. From time to time people may crash and then the game gives you the win after 45 seconds. The chat is great, you can talk to your allies, your team mate and the opponents by just hitting tab. The achievements are great and really fun. I am still doing the unranked challenges, you get 50 total then you are ranked. By then you should know what your doing. You can create your own custom games, maps and setup. Very customizable.

Overall this is fantastic and really engaging. I haven't sat this long in one sitting since raid nights on WoW. I still don't get where people say you cannot chat with the other team, your team or whatever? I think its a ton of misinformation that is spreading. Oh well I am enjoying the heck out of this.

Get this game and get in the battle!

Thank you for reading my review.

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
Not meant for single players
By M. Narjes
I think this remake was geared to multi-players and online professional players. The campaign is very short and not nearly as engrossing as the original SC. The harder levels within the single-player campaign require that you play at "fast" or "faster" gameplay, so your units end up racing around on the screen in an unnatural way. The firing rate, the explosions, everything is sped up - what's the use of having these beautiful graphics when everything just flashes by you and you don't get to enjoy it? I think the term is "twitch RTS", and I guess it's the rage with all the kids these days - but it's not for me.
I posted on the Blizzard forum why they would remove the option for normal speed for the harder settings: "To keep everyones achievements on an even keel" was the basic response. Guess what? Not everybody cares about achievements, rankings, or playing online. Some of us like to pass a few hours in single player mode playing the game in our own way.
I think World of Warcraft has changed the focus of Blizzard. Its all about subscriptions, online multiplay - and the single player experience has suffered for it.
I played the game for a few days and now it just sits - it' the collectors edition too, beautiful box, but it's painful to look at it and see what a missed opportunity it was. I'll probably end up getting the expansions, but it won't be at full price, since I know what to expect now.
It's funny, Blizzard included the original SC/Brood War on a USB key tag in this collectors edition - and guess what? I think I may just have to fire it up and play old school SC my way just like the good old days.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent RTS... took Blizzard long enough
By Reviewer
I won't get into details, but this is definitely one of the best RTS games out on the market. They've captured all the fun of Starcraft Broodwar and added in features that were missing. Sure, some of the features like LAN are gone, but most people have broadband internet nowadays anyway. Also, I will say that the transition from Starcraft Broodwar to Starcraft II was much better than the leap from Halo CE to Halo 2.