StarCraft Battle Chest (PC, 1999)

Real-time strategy goes to new levels as three intergalactic species fight for survival. Control the vagabond Terrans, enigmatic Protoss, or the bloodthirsty Zerg as they wage war on the edge of the galaxy. Includes support for Internet play over Battle.net, Blizzard's on-line gaming service.
The full versions of StarCraft and the acclaimed expansion pack Brood War, as well as complete strategy guides for each, make StarCraft: Battle Chest a treasure chest for real-time strategy fans. Instead of two similarly powered enemies facing off, the three distinct races in StarCraft have unique capabilities and strategies. Everyone still competes in the RTS genre's typical race for resources, but that's the only shared trait. Terrans can move their bulky mechanized bases as necessary, while the reptilian Zerg grow their colonies and warriors from mutating larvae. Meanwhile, the noble Protoss warp in equipment from their home world using psionic powers. Not only does game maker Blizzard juggle the races' playability and match it with superb art and sound effects, it also weaves together an engrossing three-act plot. Early on, as a Terran magistrate, you spend a breathtaking 30 minutes defending against a Zerg onslaught. As the story unfolds around you, you'll experience the Zerg's hive mentality and decipher the mysterious Protoss by the game's dramatic conclusion. Missions vary in scope and are effectively framed with dialogue, chapter screens, and in-mission exposition. Multiplayer games are also very well represented by Blizzard's own free Battle.net service. If you'd rather play over a local area network, StarCraft will generously "spawn" up to seven copies so your friends can join in. In keeping with StarCraft's groundbreaking design, Brood War presents you with three sides of a galactic conflict. Scheming humans, insidious Zerg, and proud Protoss collide again, with stunning new cinematics setting the stage. Old friends and foes and ominous new arrivals give the story a breakneck pace, while a handful of additions to each race's arsenal makes for tense battles. Brood War also features stellar new environments and ambient art, as well as more than 100 additional multiplayer maps. Some missions require a bit of finesse, breaking the resource-gathering routine while making good use of the new units. Humans now have Valkyrie missile frigates as well as medics who automatically try to heal your grunts. New for the Zerg air force is the acid-spewing Devourer; the new Lurker unit provides heavy-duty (under)ground support. Along with the Corsair fighter, the Protoss reenter the fray with Dark Templar, which can merge to form the devastating Dark Archon. Unfortunately, units old and new still suffer from weak artificial intelligence in path finding. Real-time strategy games don't get any more epic or any more satisfying.

Many Warcraft II fans were reluctant to hold Starcraft in the same light as they did with Blizzard's other masterpiece franchise. Many believed the science-fiction and ultra-reality themes of Starcraft would mar the overall quality and presentation of the game. Finally, so many people were already entrenched into Warcraft II that few of them wanted to switch over to Starcraft. Blizzard has since proved that all wrong.

Released on April 1, 1998, Starcraft drew upon the inspiration of Warcraft II and Total Annihilation to pioneer a new standard on which all RTS's then were crafted upon. What Starcraft did was not completely mind blowing. Blizzard aimed to create a strategy game based on three completely differing factions. This seemed a novel idea considering their previous effort, Warcraft II, simply had two factions which (to a great extent) mirrored each other in units and strategy. With Starcraft, Blizzard crafted the 1)Terrans: a race of mechanized human beings left to survive and colonize on their own, the 2)Zergs: a race of parasitic invaders controlled by a totalitarian centralized "brain" or mind, and finally the 3)Protoss: a race of zealous warriors humbled in their honor and appreciation for battle and death.

The new precedent that Blizzard set was balance. For prior games, companies simply made each side equivalent, allowing for a complete but dull balance. Starcraft achieved balance between three completely different races and all were viable against each other in terms of Units and Strategy. What perhaps should be more noted is Blizzard's constant revisiting of the balance in the form of patches which they released periodically to the public.

The game featured three excellent campaigns featuring memorable heroes, fantastic level design, and a sheer and utter amount of polish on all aspects of the game. The story traces the foundation of the Terran empire and the insurgency of various Terran sects, the arrival and enslavement of the Terrans by the hands of the Zerg, and finally the sacrifice of Tassadar, of the Protoss, to ebb the flow of Zerg power.

The graphics and sound, although were not technically the most impressive, showed character and suited the needs of the game perfectly. Where upon the majority of the games themes are cacophonous and relatively negative, one needs the tacit humor that arrives from the mouths of the various units. The graphics showed the edge of 2D gaming, and still looks good in comparison to the 3D age of gaming.

What finally sealed Starcraft's destiny as one of the Greatest Games ever was the fun, varied, and free multi-player available on Blizzard's Battle.net Internet service. Whereas the campaign was the drawing point of the game, the multi-player was its sticking point. The online component included variants to the original game's formulae, tournament style battles, and an ever evolving ladder ranking system. All this worked in conjunction with the core of the game to create an excellent and viable product.

Starcraft was Blizzard's masterpiece. Whereas they gained the majority of their notoriety from the Warcraft series, Starcraft was the brainchild of Blizzard and is the culmination of everything great in Real-Time strategy gaming. Starcraft helped cement Blizzard's reputation as one of the greatest developers in the world.

Blizzard real-time strategy games are some of the very best and this package gives you both the Original StarCraft as well as the official add-on to it; called BroodWar. You can play through as 3 unique tribes or races, each with specific strengths; Terrans, Protoss or Zerg. StarCraft contains some unseen twists and turns with betrayals and alliances. In some missions you need to build a base and start builing up an army to battle your enemy, and in others you have a small army and need to capture a base or explore a base or installation. BroodWar continues on with similiar types of missions, and is a continuation of the storyline from StarCraft. You will face different obstacles and challenges and unique sets of objectives in both games. If you have played Warcraft 1 or 2, the layout and controls of this game will seem very familiar. StarCraft came out in 1997, but at 10 years of age it does not feel nearly that old. BroodWar followed up in 1998. They can be played on newer computers running XP or Vista without any issues. There are sets of single player missions that you can play through with each of the 3 races in both games, as well as multiplayer games which you can play against the computer, against others over a local network, or on Blizzard's battle net against others across the internet. This allows you to go head to head or play cooperatively against other people if you ever grow tired of playing against the computer. The gameplay in both StarCraft and BroodWar is very smooth with a game speed adjustment meter which allows you to speed things up or slow them down as you please. The game is relatively bug-free and in my 10 years of playing it I have never once had it crash on me. In my opinion it is nearly flawless and I still enjoy playing both games.

First of all, lets start this off by saying that Starcraft is a great game for anyone to pick up. It is the definition of easy-to-learn difficult-to-master game. For a real time stragety game, they rarely get better than this one.
Look back to the release date - 1999. And yet people still choose to play this game, not only alone or with friends, but online as well. Why, you ask?

Its all about being balanced and stragety.

You are a given a choice of 3 groups of races to play as. One is not simply smarter or at a serious advantage over another. They are all equal in their strengths, and weaknesses. Its up to the player to find out what works well against others.

There are appx 10-15 units per race, and while not alot, it makes for a simple yet great game. The replay value on this game is amazing. I'm not simply talking about a week or even a month. You find this game laying around and pop it and you are hooked. The best part about it is you can put it down and come back to it later, and most of the multiplayer games last within time limits that normal people have between work, school, etc. Meaning that usually the games dont take over an hour or two, and you still get the feeling of planning out an attack and stragetically defeating your opponent.

The online portion is someting to behold. Blizzard has brought us this classic game, and unlike most other games nowadays, you don't need some monthly fee that bites into your budget to play. You just hop on, and play someone. Your record is stored and you can even play ladder matches agaisnt some of the greater players if you feel up for a good challenege. And there are constantly new patches being developed so you know that the creators didnt just make their money and forget about you. For about 20 dollars now you can get one of the best classic games for your PC. Again, it is for new gamers and old pros as well. You can't go wrong.

StarCraft took the real-time strategy game genre to a whole new level with an amazing story line, stellar graphics and sound, riveting game-play and heart-pounding multi-player.

Blizzard already had a hit with WarCraft, so fans of that game were eager to try StarCraft and were not disappointed. Blizzard added a third race to the mix and numerous new units. They also perfected asymmetric play, thus highly increasing replay value.

The Brood War expansion gave fans even more of the game they loved, but with a focus on the Zerg. The expansion follows the story, keeping the player interested throughout.

The Battle Chest brings both the original game and the expansion pack, along with unit charts and Priam guides for both of them, including tips and tricks and full maps. It’s certainly a must have for any fan.