Post by Axalon on May 12, 2014 17:48:03 GMT -5
Decided to create my own thread for this, since the other one isn't marked for spoilers and wanted to discuss things openly without spoiler tags everywhere. Spoiler markings are used here for reader convenience, as it would be a massive wall of text otherwise. The following is a mission-by-mission breakdown of the story. Currently it only covers the first three missions. Will update with either the Char or Kaldir missions after I figure out which one makes more sense to go towards in the story. Probably Char.
Its not all bad, but it isn't all good either. Yes, the game has been out for a month. As former MS employee Adam Orth would say: "Deal with it." I'll also preface it with what I've said earlier. I like HotS. The following post may seem completely negative, but I actually like the darn thing. I think its silly and is completely different from previous offerings, but Blizzard's extremely liberal use of Rule of Cool almost makes up for all the shortcomings. Almost.
My inital thoughts can all be found here:
www.holdtheline.com/entries/spoilers-starcraft-ii-heart-of-the-swarm-single-player-campaign.513/
While the other thread for discussing all things Heart of the Swarm (Multiplayer, etc) can be found here:
www.holdtheline.com/threads/starcraft-ii-heart-of-the-swarm.4747/
So, played through the campaign a few more times to better refine my opinion. It mostly hasn't changed.
Kerrigan is gunning for Mengsk even when everything is perfectly fine and there's no threat at all. Hell, she's dreaming about going to Korhal with the Zerg Swarm and toppling Mengsk before the very first mission even begins! In the opening cinematic!
[media=youtube]MVbeoSPqRs4[/media]
^It should be noted that she's already in Primal Queen of Blades mode in this.
In the next cinematic, its shown the first one wasn't for dramatic effect. Kerrigan *does* want revenge on Mengsk, (I assume for leaving her behind in the first game) Raynor be damned.
Mission 1: Lab Rat
Mission 2: Back in the Saddle
Mission 3: Rendezvous
It should be noted that after these three missions, one can already see the radical differences between Heart of the Swarm and every other StarCraft game. These differences become even more apparent by the endgame. Its Kerrigan. Kerrigan and her mind-powers.
StarCraft opened with a group of Terran scavengers being incinerated by the Protoss. I like to believe that the Protoss weren't even aware they were there, or if they were they didn't care, since the intent was to sterilize the planet of Zerg. Campaign begins with Raynor and the player trying to survive both the Zerg and the Confederates.
Brood War opens with the Earth admirals watching a Dominion colony getting overrun by the Zerg. Game picks up where the last one left off with the Protoss evacuating Aiur. There's some strange stuff at the end with the temple of doom, but that at the very least can be chalked up to Xel'naga tech combined with Protoss working in unison with their Dark Templar brethren. Its still strange, no doubt about that, but the concept of Protoss unleashing magical devastation on their foes isn't anything new.
StarCraft II WoL opens with Raynor drinking at the bar and restarting his revolution, something established through the next few cutscenes. That magical artifact at the end of the game was also pretty off-kilter though, and is a sign of the direction to come in the following games methinks.
In HotS, in the first few cutscenes alone we're treated to a group of Dominion soldiers getting mind-fried, Kerrigan channeling Darth Vader and Force-choking people off the ground, and in-game watching Kerrigan one-shot siege tanks with her mind and lift groups of troops into the air with no effort. Its a jarring transition.
Rule of Cool is in effect to be sure, and it is indeed cool, but its still different.
Debating on whether Char or Kaldir would fit better for the story next. Will update soon.
Its not all bad, but it isn't all good either. Yes, the game has been out for a month. As former MS employee Adam Orth would say: "Deal with it." I'll also preface it with what I've said earlier. I like HotS. The following post may seem completely negative, but I actually like the darn thing. I think its silly and is completely different from previous offerings, but Blizzard's extremely liberal use of Rule of Cool almost makes up for all the shortcomings. Almost.
My inital thoughts can all be found here:
www.holdtheline.com/entries/spoilers-starcraft-ii-heart-of-the-swarm-single-player-campaign.513/
While the other thread for discussing all things Heart of the Swarm (Multiplayer, etc) can be found here:
www.holdtheline.com/threads/starcraft-ii-heart-of-the-swarm.4747/
So, played through the campaign a few more times to better refine my opinion. It mostly hasn't changed.
Kerrigan is gunning for Mengsk even when everything is perfectly fine and there's no threat at all. Hell, she's dreaming about going to Korhal with the Zerg Swarm and toppling Mengsk before the very first mission even begins! In the opening cinematic!
[media=youtube]MVbeoSPqRs4[/media]
^It should be noted that she's already in Primal Queen of Blades mode in this.
In the next cinematic, its shown the first one wasn't for dramatic effect. Kerrigan *does* want revenge on Mengsk, (I assume for leaving her behind in the first game) Raynor be damned.
Mission 1: Lab Rat
In the very first mission, Kerrigan goes all "You can't control the Zerg! Nobody can! RAWR!"
...Except Terrans *can* control the Zerg.
In the original StarCraft they weren't necessarily controlled, but manipulated via Psi Emitters to achieve the goals Mengsk wanted to achieve, namely destroying the Terran Confederacy.
In the Enslavers campaign, a set of maps created by Blizzard set between StarCraft and Brood War, a Terran PIRATE takes control of a Zerg Cerebrate and is using Zerg to augment his forces. Yes, a pirate--not a government or some evil dark entity--a pirate, Alan Schezar, has taken over a Zerg Cerebrate, one step down from the Overmind, and has claimed it and its brood as his own.
Even worse, some nearby Protoss advise the player to work with them instead of just destroying the Cerebrate, since they say Alan Schezar would just take control of another one.
In Brood War the UED arrived in the sector and, using a killer combo of psychics and drugs, took direct control of the Zerg Overmind, and thus the Swarm itself. Yes, they drugged the Overmind itself. The overarching Zerg hivemind incarnate...can get drugged by Terran drugs and manipulated by Terran psychics.
Were it not for the combined efforts of what little Zerg Kerrigan could scrounge up, a raid by Raynor's Raiders with some Dominion help, and a Dark Templar strike force killing the Overmind--in essence, all three races working together, the Overmind would've remained under Terran control to this day.
In Wings of Liberty you can have Stetmann create a Hive Mind Emulator, which is, in essence, a smaller robot version of the Overmind that can wrest control of almost (for gameplay purposes hero units are immune, as taking control of the Leviathan or Kerrigan would've been too simple) any Zerg unit away, from tiny Zerglings to hulking Ultralisks. Even Kerrigan can't take control back when the Hive Mind Emulator is applied.
In summary, Terrans taking control of the Zerg isn't a theory, its a cold-hard fact.
It *could* be argued that she was specifically referring to Valerian's ability to control the Zerg, but Kerrigan seems to be making more of a general statement, force of nature blahblahblah type of thing.
Regardless, Terrans have controlled the Zerg in the past, and could probably do so again in the future. Better step it up Protoss, the "primitive" Terrans are making leaps and bounds your advanced minds never even thought of.
Even near the mission's end, when Valerian is all "Okay okay, you've made your point." Kerrigan continues destroying the facility, because she's upset that she's still in a containment cell.
Okay, two things.
1. It was established that this was going to be her last test. Odds are Raynor and Valerian would have let her out of the cell without the need for all the destruction. Hell, even if Valerian had gone back on his word and decided for more tests, Raynor would've gotten fed up and busted her out himself at that point.
2. This is verified at the beginning of the mission, when Valerian says he would personally open the door and let her out once the test was over.
At the end of the mission, Valerian and Kerrigan have this brief conversation.
She's right, luck had nothing to do with it--because Valerian had the presence of mind to evacuate everyone the instant he saw that there was going to be a problem containing things earlier in the mission. I'd say Valerian knows exactly how dangerous the Zerg are after the debacle at Char in Wings of Liberty.
...Except Terrans *can* control the Zerg.
In the original StarCraft they weren't necessarily controlled, but manipulated via Psi Emitters to achieve the goals Mengsk wanted to achieve, namely destroying the Terran Confederacy.
In the Enslavers campaign, a set of maps created by Blizzard set between StarCraft and Brood War, a Terran PIRATE takes control of a Zerg Cerebrate and is using Zerg to augment his forces. Yes, a pirate--not a government or some evil dark entity--a pirate, Alan Schezar, has taken over a Zerg Cerebrate, one step down from the Overmind, and has claimed it and its brood as his own.
Even worse, some nearby Protoss advise the player to work with them instead of just destroying the Cerebrate, since they say Alan Schezar would just take control of another one.
In Brood War the UED arrived in the sector and, using a killer combo of psychics and drugs, took direct control of the Zerg Overmind, and thus the Swarm itself. Yes, they drugged the Overmind itself. The overarching Zerg hivemind incarnate...can get drugged by Terran drugs and manipulated by Terran psychics.
Were it not for the combined efforts of what little Zerg Kerrigan could scrounge up, a raid by Raynor's Raiders with some Dominion help, and a Dark Templar strike force killing the Overmind--in essence, all three races working together, the Overmind would've remained under Terran control to this day.
In Wings of Liberty you can have Stetmann create a Hive Mind Emulator, which is, in essence, a smaller robot version of the Overmind that can wrest control of almost (for gameplay purposes hero units are immune, as taking control of the Leviathan or Kerrigan would've been too simple) any Zerg unit away, from tiny Zerglings to hulking Ultralisks. Even Kerrigan can't take control back when the Hive Mind Emulator is applied.
In summary, Terrans taking control of the Zerg isn't a theory, its a cold-hard fact.
It *could* be argued that she was specifically referring to Valerian's ability to control the Zerg, but Kerrigan seems to be making more of a general statement, force of nature blahblahblah type of thing.
Regardless, Terrans have controlled the Zerg in the past, and could probably do so again in the future. Better step it up Protoss, the "primitive" Terrans are making leaps and bounds your advanced minds never even thought of.
Even near the mission's end, when Valerian is all "Okay okay, you've made your point." Kerrigan continues destroying the facility, because she's upset that she's still in a containment cell.
Okay, two things.
1. It was established that this was going to be her last test. Odds are Raynor and Valerian would have let her out of the cell without the need for all the destruction. Hell, even if Valerian had gone back on his word and decided for more tests, Raynor would've gotten fed up and busted her out himself at that point.
2. This is verified at the beginning of the mission, when Valerian says he would personally open the door and let her out once the test was over.
At the end of the mission, Valerian and Kerrigan have this brief conversation.
She's right, luck had nothing to do with it--because Valerian had the presence of mind to evacuate everyone the instant he saw that there was going to be a problem containing things earlier in the mission. I'd say Valerian knows exactly how dangerous the Zerg are after the debacle at Char in Wings of Liberty.
Mission 2: Back in the Saddle
In the very next mission, the Dominion attacks the facility. A group of Terran Marines and a Dominion Ghost make their way to Kerrigan's location.
I say Ghost, since the subtitles say he's a Ghost, despite clearly using a Spectre model. (Didn't notice this in my first run since I had subtitles off) Was making a Ghost model really all that hard? Anyway, Raynor and Kerrigan gear up and get ready to go.
Kerrigan has these abilities in game that aren't ever explained, Kinetic Blast and Crushing Grip. I'm going to have to assume that this is a result of leftover Zerg gene modifications boosting her power, since again, these are never explained and she never had them before.
At one point in the mission, Raynor and Kerrigan run into a locked door, and ask Valerian for help in getting it unlocked. Valerian warns that there are Zerg specimens on the loose, and Kerrigan makes a remark that she doesn't think she should control them.
...Why?! Gameplay and story segregation aside, (This has to be taken in a lot, since otherwise how is Kerrigan surviving in her skintight Ghost suit and taking Hydralisk spines and Marauder grenades to the face) Kerrigan had no qualms about taking over hordes of Zerg in the previous mission when her only opponents were Valerian's robots, what's the issue here, when Dominion kill-teams are gunning for her?
Anyway, this gives us our enemy diversity for the mission and we continue onwards.
We meet our boss for the mission, a giant super-Viking called the Archangel. It destroys the bridge, separating Raynor from Kerrigan and forcing him to find another way around.
...Why? Kerrigan can lift things with her mind. Just LIFT Raynor over the gap Kerrigan! He can't possibly be too heavy, since she can even lift heavy things like SIEGE TANKS with her mind powers. If anything bad should happen to Raynor, it is undeniably Kerrigan's fault for not doing such a simple thing. I sure hope something bad doesn't happen to Raynor...
So Kerrigan wins the boss battle, Raynor is stuck, and Valerian sends a team in to get Raynor and sets up a rendezvous point for Kerrigan (who tells him not to screw anything up despite not just lifting Raynor across the gap in the bridge)...and...Valerian...apologizes for not listening to her...sooner?
What? Is this regarding the experiments to determine how infested Kerrigan was after the artifact de-infested her in Wings of Liberty? Those experiments are completely valid and make perfect sense to any Terran with half a brain, regardless of where their moral compass points. Even Raynor didn't have any problems with them. This seems like an attempt to give Kerrigan some credibility now, and give Valerian room for character development later on in the story.
Anyway, Kerrigan escapes and Raynor gets cornered by Nova, the Dominion's best assassin.
*Insert dialogue here of Nova making a remark that mentions a WoL choice*
The screen then fades to black for dramatic tension as the two prepare to face off and we get our next cutscene.
Kerrigan arrives on the Hyperion frantic as to where Raynor is. Valerian explains that despite his efforts, he couldn't get him out. Kerrigan proceeds to channel her inner Darth Vader and starts Force-choking Valerian and subsequently two Umojan marines who try to defend him. Also while lifting them up in the air--and in the case of the marines tossing them clear across the bridge.
Again, she should've just lifted and tossed Raynor over. He's a big boy in customized power armor, a little toss wouldn't have hurt. (But then we wouldn't have dramatic tension!)
She continues Darth Vadering Valerian even as the ship is getting blown apart, ignoring Matt Horner's pleas for the need to work together, declaring that "there is no 'us'". She eventually stands down when she realizes that the Hyperion really IS about to be blown to smithereens and takes a dropship down to the planet. The next mission begins with Horner warning Kerrigan that the Dominion is also landing.
I say Ghost, since the subtitles say he's a Ghost, despite clearly using a Spectre model. (Didn't notice this in my first run since I had subtitles off) Was making a Ghost model really all that hard? Anyway, Raynor and Kerrigan gear up and get ready to go.
Kerrigan has these abilities in game that aren't ever explained, Kinetic Blast and Crushing Grip. I'm going to have to assume that this is a result of leftover Zerg gene modifications boosting her power, since again, these are never explained and she never had them before.
At one point in the mission, Raynor and Kerrigan run into a locked door, and ask Valerian for help in getting it unlocked. Valerian warns that there are Zerg specimens on the loose, and Kerrigan makes a remark that she doesn't think she should control them.
...Why?! Gameplay and story segregation aside, (This has to be taken in a lot, since otherwise how is Kerrigan surviving in her skintight Ghost suit and taking Hydralisk spines and Marauder grenades to the face) Kerrigan had no qualms about taking over hordes of Zerg in the previous mission when her only opponents were Valerian's robots, what's the issue here, when Dominion kill-teams are gunning for her?
Anyway, this gives us our enemy diversity for the mission and we continue onwards.
We meet our boss for the mission, a giant super-Viking called the Archangel. It destroys the bridge, separating Raynor from Kerrigan and forcing him to find another way around.
...Why? Kerrigan can lift things with her mind. Just LIFT Raynor over the gap Kerrigan! He can't possibly be too heavy, since she can even lift heavy things like SIEGE TANKS with her mind powers. If anything bad should happen to Raynor, it is undeniably Kerrigan's fault for not doing such a simple thing. I sure hope something bad doesn't happen to Raynor...
So Kerrigan wins the boss battle, Raynor is stuck, and Valerian sends a team in to get Raynor and sets up a rendezvous point for Kerrigan (who tells him not to screw anything up despite not just lifting Raynor across the gap in the bridge)...and...Valerian...apologizes for not listening to her...sooner?
What? Is this regarding the experiments to determine how infested Kerrigan was after the artifact de-infested her in Wings of Liberty? Those experiments are completely valid and make perfect sense to any Terran with half a brain, regardless of where their moral compass points. Even Raynor didn't have any problems with them. This seems like an attempt to give Kerrigan some credibility now, and give Valerian room for character development later on in the story.
Anyway, Kerrigan escapes and Raynor gets cornered by Nova, the Dominion's best assassin.
*Insert dialogue here of Nova making a remark that mentions a WoL choice*
The screen then fades to black for dramatic tension as the two prepare to face off and we get our next cutscene.
Kerrigan arrives on the Hyperion frantic as to where Raynor is. Valerian explains that despite his efforts, he couldn't get him out. Kerrigan proceeds to channel her inner Darth Vader and starts Force-choking Valerian and subsequently two Umojan marines who try to defend him. Also while lifting them up in the air--and in the case of the marines tossing them clear across the bridge.
Again, she should've just lifted and tossed Raynor over. He's a big boy in customized power armor, a little toss wouldn't have hurt. (But then we wouldn't have dramatic tension!)
She continues Darth Vadering Valerian even as the ship is getting blown apart, ignoring Matt Horner's pleas for the need to work together, declaring that "there is no 'us'". She eventually stands down when she realizes that the Hyperion really IS about to be blown to smithereens and takes a dropship down to the planet. The next mission begins with Horner warning Kerrigan that the Dominion is also landing.
Mission 3: Rendezvous
We open up with a shot of the Terran base and wow--Terrans can build and set up things incredibly fast. This isn't really a negative observation as Terrans *are* known for setting up bases incredibly quickly, but damn! They've even got a super cannon set up! And they just got here!
There' s also an entire Zerg Brood.
...Did the Umojans and Valerian just not...pick up on this fact? Zerg Broods aren't exactly little things. A small hive being missed is understandable, but an entire Brood? An entire Zerg Brood was on the same planet they were taking the Queen of Blades to for testing? Kerrigan's dropship was able to instantly identify that both a Dominion base and a Zerg hive were in the area...whatever, we have Zerg now and are controlling them so we begin our mission.
The Dominion gets wiped out, and the local Broodmother rejoices that the Queen has returned, causing Kerrigan to get antsy about returning to her old ways and being called the Queen (although when she was called the Queen earlier in the mission there was no effect on Kerrigan).
The next cutscene gives us the laughable moment of Kerrigan instantly believing that Raynor has been killed, courtesy of the Mengsk Propaganda Network. Cue Kerrigan rage. I've briefly covered this scene before, but for consistency:
1. Why does Kerrigan believe this? UNN is notorious for its Mengsk bias, spinning every story in his favor. The Dominion can do no wrong according to UNN. Fox News really *does* look fair and balanced next to UNN--its hard to outfox Fox News. Geddit? Outfox...Fox....whatever.
2. Where's all the unrest from Wings of Liberty? The entire point of the Revolution story arc was that Mengsk was exposed to the entire sector as a bloodthirsty tyrant, responsible for the murder of millions of Confederates by luring Zerg to their homeworld. Revolts were happening everywhere, the media was on lockdown, things were very bad for Mengsk. Now we're suddenly back to the status quo?
3. Kate Lockwell. First off, I'm surprised she's even still alive. In a regime as iron-fisted as the Terran Dominion she had the nerve to interrupt "Glorious Leader", to borrow a North Korean title, Arcturus Mengsk during a press conference and playback the recording uploaded by Raynor on national television. In subsequent broadcasts she continues to attack the Dominion and Mengsk. Why is she still alive? Tosh, our old Spectre buddy from WoL is attributed to killing an Umojan news reporter for asking too many questions about the Spectre program. If Tosh isn't above such behavior, what's stopping Mengsk from killing her? Instead, she gets promoted after Donny Vermillion goes crazy.
4. Raynor being "killed" isn't very believable. At all. Blizzard doesn't have the cojones to kill their most featured, beloved and built-up Terran character offscreen. This is used of course for dramatic effect, and is what prompts Kerrigan to get all Zerg-crazy for revenge.
Hell, as noted earlier Kerrigan was already bloodthirsty for Mengsk as it was. Critically injuring Raynor or just capturing him and proclaiming he was in Dominion custody would've been enough to send her off on the warpath. She would've blamed Valerian and declared Horner and the others incompetent regardless and set off on her own.
After all this Kerrigan sets course (surprisingly her rage explosion has not damaged any of her dropship's equipment) for Zerg space.
There' s also an entire Zerg Brood.
...Did the Umojans and Valerian just not...pick up on this fact? Zerg Broods aren't exactly little things. A small hive being missed is understandable, but an entire Brood? An entire Zerg Brood was on the same planet they were taking the Queen of Blades to for testing? Kerrigan's dropship was able to instantly identify that both a Dominion base and a Zerg hive were in the area...whatever, we have Zerg now and are controlling them so we begin our mission.
The Dominion gets wiped out, and the local Broodmother rejoices that the Queen has returned, causing Kerrigan to get antsy about returning to her old ways and being called the Queen (although when she was called the Queen earlier in the mission there was no effect on Kerrigan).
The next cutscene gives us the laughable moment of Kerrigan instantly believing that Raynor has been killed, courtesy of the Mengsk Propaganda Network. Cue Kerrigan rage. I've briefly covered this scene before, but for consistency:
1. Why does Kerrigan believe this? UNN is notorious for its Mengsk bias, spinning every story in his favor. The Dominion can do no wrong according to UNN. Fox News really *does* look fair and balanced next to UNN--its hard to outfox Fox News. Geddit? Outfox...Fox....whatever.
2. Where's all the unrest from Wings of Liberty? The entire point of the Revolution story arc was that Mengsk was exposed to the entire sector as a bloodthirsty tyrant, responsible for the murder of millions of Confederates by luring Zerg to their homeworld. Revolts were happening everywhere, the media was on lockdown, things were very bad for Mengsk. Now we're suddenly back to the status quo?
3. Kate Lockwell. First off, I'm surprised she's even still alive. In a regime as iron-fisted as the Terran Dominion she had the nerve to interrupt "Glorious Leader", to borrow a North Korean title, Arcturus Mengsk during a press conference and playback the recording uploaded by Raynor on national television. In subsequent broadcasts she continues to attack the Dominion and Mengsk. Why is she still alive? Tosh, our old Spectre buddy from WoL is attributed to killing an Umojan news reporter for asking too many questions about the Spectre program. If Tosh isn't above such behavior, what's stopping Mengsk from killing her? Instead, she gets promoted after Donny Vermillion goes crazy.
4. Raynor being "killed" isn't very believable. At all. Blizzard doesn't have the cojones to kill their most featured, beloved and built-up Terran character offscreen. This is used of course for dramatic effect, and is what prompts Kerrigan to get all Zerg-crazy for revenge.
Hell, as noted earlier Kerrigan was already bloodthirsty for Mengsk as it was. Critically injuring Raynor or just capturing him and proclaiming he was in Dominion custody would've been enough to send her off on the warpath. She would've blamed Valerian and declared Horner and the others incompetent regardless and set off on her own.
After all this Kerrigan sets course (surprisingly her rage explosion has not damaged any of her dropship's equipment) for Zerg space.
It should be noted that after these three missions, one can already see the radical differences between Heart of the Swarm and every other StarCraft game. These differences become even more apparent by the endgame. Its Kerrigan. Kerrigan and her mind-powers.
StarCraft opened with a group of Terran scavengers being incinerated by the Protoss. I like to believe that the Protoss weren't even aware they were there, or if they were they didn't care, since the intent was to sterilize the planet of Zerg. Campaign begins with Raynor and the player trying to survive both the Zerg and the Confederates.
Brood War opens with the Earth admirals watching a Dominion colony getting overrun by the Zerg. Game picks up where the last one left off with the Protoss evacuating Aiur. There's some strange stuff at the end with the temple of doom, but that at the very least can be chalked up to Xel'naga tech combined with Protoss working in unison with their Dark Templar brethren. Its still strange, no doubt about that, but the concept of Protoss unleashing magical devastation on their foes isn't anything new.
StarCraft II WoL opens with Raynor drinking at the bar and restarting his revolution, something established through the next few cutscenes. That magical artifact at the end of the game was also pretty off-kilter though, and is a sign of the direction to come in the following games methinks.
In HotS, in the first few cutscenes alone we're treated to a group of Dominion soldiers getting mind-fried, Kerrigan channeling Darth Vader and Force-choking people off the ground, and in-game watching Kerrigan one-shot siege tanks with her mind and lift groups of troops into the air with no effort. Its a jarring transition.
Rule of Cool is in effect to be sure, and it is indeed cool, but its still different.
Debating on whether Char or Kaldir would fit better for the story next. Will update soon.