Take it online, however, and a different set of maps ensures skirmishes as compelling as most FPSs, with automatic searches for fellow players taking less than two minutes and a useful non-ranking phase to determine your abilities for future match-ups. The close-in perspective, with levels crammed with choke-points rather than the vast open spaces of the original, makes for a more frantic, linear experience that single players will find restrictive. Online is also the only place you can fully explore the capabilities of all three races, either in co-op mode or up to eight-player skirmishes, which also explains the basic look and feel of the game. In the levels where you're up against both alien enemies, you have to think hard about which defenses to deploy and which units to target first in the frantic firefights that ensure.Ĭrucially, Starcraft II has been designed as an online game, so much so that you can't play it at all unless you're logged into your Battle Net account. The one thing that hasn't changed is that perfect balance between the capabilities of these races, weapons and strategies. There are also interactive cut-scenes, set in various space stations or bars where the Firefly-style steam-punk characters interact or you can hire mercenaries, play arcade games and choose between weapon upgrades, including those of the other two alien races.
Starcraft II looks amazing, and every level is crammed with detail – from clunking cranes to bubbling lava and passing wildlife – which all adds to a palpable realism that makes the likes of Command & Conquer 4 seem sterile and bland.
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