StarCraft: Brood War

Plot synopsis:
=== Setting ===
Brood War takes place in the StarCraft universe, set around the early 26th century. Terran exiles from Earth have colonized a distant area of the Milky Way galaxy called the Koprulu Sector, having established several governments. Eventually, a civil war breaks out and ends with the formation of the Terran Dominion. However, humanity soon becomes caught in a war between the Protoss and the Zerg, which culminates at the end of StarCraft with the death of the Zerg leader, the Overmind, on the Protoss homeworld of Aiur. Without the Overmind to command, the Zerg rampage mindlessly across Aiur, while the cerebrates—the secondary commanders of the Swarm—attempt to regain control. After the discovery of alien life in the Koprulu Sector, the United Earth Directorate (UED)—the international body governing Earth—decides to send an expeditionary force to secure the sector and prevent the aliens from finding Earth. Brood War begins two days after the conclusion of StarCraft.
=== Characters ===
The player assumes the roles of three anonymous characters over the course of the game. In the first campaign, the player assumes the role of a Protoss fleet commander. The player's character is commanded by Zeratul and Aldaris, two adversaries from StarCraft who have since reconciled their differences to lead their people in the face of the rampaging Zerg. They are joined by Jim Raynor, a Terran rebel on the run from the Dominion, Artanis, the previous Executor of the third campaign of StarCraft who has recently been promoted, and Raszagal, the matriarch of the dissident dark templar faction in Protoss society. The second campaign sees the player as a captain in the UED expeditionary force, reporting to the fleet's admiral Gerard DuGalle and his vice-admiral Alexei Stukov. To secure the sector, the UED plans to overthrow the Terran Dominion and its emperor Arcturus Mengsk, and are assisted in this by Samir Duran, a mysterious psionic ghost espionage agent, and his group of anti-Dominion rebels. The final campaign has the player assume the position of a Zerg cerebrate, a commander within the Zerg Swarm. The player is put under the control of Sarah Kerrigan, a Terran who was infested by the Zerg in StarCraft.
=== Plot ===
The story of Brood War is presented through its instruction manual, the briefings to each mission, and conversations within the missions themselves, along with the use of cinematic cut scenes at the end of each campaign. The game itself is split into three new episodes, one for the player to command each race.
In the first episode, Aldaris, Zeratul, and the newly promoted Artanis work to evacuate the surviving Protoss from their devastated homeworld through a warp gate to a dark templar colony on Shakuras, where they meet the matriarch of the dark templar, Raszagal. Although the Zerg are able to follow the Protoss to Shakuras, Raszagal informs the survivors of a Xel'Naga temple on the surface of the planet with the power to scour the Zerg from the surface if activated. Reluctantly partnering with Sarah Kerrigan, who informs them of a new Overmind growing on Char, the player joins Zeratul and Artanis in an operation to recover two key crystals (Khalis and Uraj) necessary to operate the temple. Upon their return, it is revealed that Aldaris has begun an uprising against the dark templar over their alliance with Kerrigan. The uprising is crushed, and Aldaris is killed by Kerrigan, who reveals that her motives are to ensure the destruction of the Zerg cerebrates on Shakuras so she can gain control of the Zerg herself before departing the planet. Despite knowing that activating the temple will accomplish Kerrigan's objectives, Zeratul and Artanis proceed with little other choice, wiping the Zerg off Shakuras' surface.
In the second episode, the player leads the United Earth Directorate's initial incursions against the Terran Dominion. Upon meeting Samir Duran, the fleet's vice-admiral Alexei Stukov conscripts Duran as a special advisor. The UED soon discovers a "psi disrupter"—a device capable of disrupting Zerg communications—on the former Confederate capital Tarsonis. Although Duran persuades admiral Gerard DuGalle to have the anti-Zerg device destroyed, Stukov's forces relieve Duran at the last moment. The UED proceeds to the Dominion throne world Korhal IV where the player defeats Arcturus Mengsk's armies, although Mengsk is rescued when a Protoss fleet commanded by Jim Raynor arrives. The UED tracks Raynor and Mengsk to the Protoss homeworld of Aiur, but the two escape the massive UED assault when Duran inexplicably moves his forces out of position and allows the Zerg to interfere with the operation. Having understood that the UED invasion had caused Mengsk, Raynor, and the Protoss to band together against a common foe, Stukov realizes that Duran's actions and the Zerg attack were too much to be a coincidence—the Zerg were also allied with the Terran Dominion and the Protoss, and Duran had been working to undermine the UED. While Stukov takes a contingent of troops and reconstructs the psi disrupter on Braxis, DuGalle is unaware of his intentions and becomes convinced that he is a traitor. The player helps Duran hunt down Stukov inside the psi disrupter, but before he dies, Stukov reveals to DuGalle that Duran is the real enemy. Duran flees after the player foils his attempt to sabotage the psi disrupter. Using the psi disrupter's capabilities, DuGalle and the UED are able to assault the Zerg world Char and take control of the new Overmind growing there.
The final section of Brood War sees the player helping Sarah Kerrigan defeat the UED. With the Overmind falling under the United Earth Directorate's command, all operations amongst native factions in the sector are damaged, including Kerrigan's forces. To begin the campaign against the Directorate forces, Kerrigan and Samir Duran form a reluctant alliance with Jim Raynor, Protoss praetor Fenix, and Arcturus Mengsk to destroy the psi disrupter. After destroying the psi disrupter, the player leads Kerrigan's forces in a full-scale assault on Korhal, quickly breaking the UED's hold over the planet. In the aftermath, Kerrigan betrays her allies, destroying a large number of Dominion forces and killing both Fenix and Mengsk's right-hand man, Edmund Duke. Angry at Kerrigan's betrayal, Raynor promises that he will kill her one-day and then retreats. Kerrigan travels with Duran to Shakuras and abducts Raszagal, who she uses to blackmail Zeratul into killing the Overmind on Char, thus bringing all Zerg forces under Kerrigan's control. Zeratul attempts to rescue Raszagal, but the player prevents their escape, and Zeratul eventually kills Raszagal when it becomes clear she has been irreversibly brainwashed by Kerrigan. At that moment it became clear that Aldaris's uprising in the first episode was an attempt to stop the brainwashed Raszagal from betraying her people any further. Upon leaving Char in search of Artanis, Zeratul stumbles upon a genetics facility run by Duran without Kerrigan's knowledge where a Protoss/Zerg hybrid is being developed. At the same time, Kerrigan is attacked on Char by the Dominion, the UED, and a vengeful fleet commanded by Artanis. Despite being outnumbered, Kerrigan defeats all three fleets and eradicates the surviving UED fleet, leaving her the dominant power in the sector. Before the UED fleet was wiped out, Admiral DuGalle sent a final message back to his family before committing suicide with his pistol.

Tags: violence

Review:
The best game ever.
The whole game is amazing.
You play as the 3 races again after the first Starcraft, this includes new units such as the Medic, Valkerie, Devouerer, Lurker, Corsair, Dark Archon and the Dark Templar, as well as new characters and upgrades.
The game is awesome and i recomend it.
The best thing ever about this game is the campaign editor and battle.net you can make any type of map and play it with friends over the internet for hours.
This is the sweetest game ever..
An excellent sequel to the original Starcraft.
A number of expansion packs lack the quality and focus of the original game, and one gets the feeling that it is just a cynical attempt of the developers to milk a few extra dollars out of fans of the original game.
This is certainly not true for Starcraft: Broodwar, it is obvious that a lot of effort was made by Blizzard to produce a expansion that is on par with the original game.
Starcraft: Broodwar felt more like a sequel than a mere expansion pack.The storyline of the single campaign is as detailed and interesting as the original and a few useful units were added for each race.
I only have two complaints, the first is that some of the missions are fiendishly difficult and there are a few times I had to resort to cheat codes to be able to finish the mission.
My other complaint is the shortage of cut scenes, there are basically only one for each campaign.
The developers took such a lot of effort with the storyline, why not follow it through with decent cinematics?
Overall, if you enjoyed the original Starcraft, don't miss out on Starcraft: Broodwar, if you didn't, Starcraft: Broodwar is not going to change your mind because it is essentially more of the same..
Real Time Strategy's finest (to date!).
Warcraft and Warcraft II, the predecessors of this game, changed the gaming world forever.
Blizzard introduced a whole new genre of PC games.With Starcraft, Blizzard proved that they could keep on applying their genius towards pushing forward real time strategy games in huge leaps of creativity and intricacy.
The game is simply brilliant, from the many ways the races and their respective technologies interact, to the engrossing storyline of the game.Perhaps most important was the introduction of BattleNet -- an online forum where Starcraft players from around the world have been dueling around the clock for years.
If you haven't played this game yet, it's time to check it out.(Don't forget the expansion pack, and watch for Warcraft III to be released Spring 2002.).
Just when you thought space was safe again.
This is the only add-on made for StarCraft, and it picks up where that left off.
There are almost as many levels, which is definitely seldom seen, and highly commendable.
The story is still great, but it doesn't quite measure up to the standard the game itself set, and parts of it just aren't that interesting or captivating.
It does continually develop, and getting to the end(of the overall plot) is worth it.
The campaigns aren't equally good, either, and I understand that not everyone cared for the very ending.
They do still have all the same voices, however.
A little of the dialog, and maybe also character writing, could have used some work.
The voice acting is still magnificent.
Several new characters join the fray, and they're not bad at all.
The number of cut-scenes in this is fairly underwhelming...
and they're not as well-done(if some are still pretty "large") as those of the game.
The level design is tough to argue with...
and the ideas behind the levels tend to be rather marvelous, as well...
there are even a place or two where you can make a choice that will affect the following level or the like.
There is the odd one out here and there, fights that...
just aren't that spectacular, but not many.
There are a few that have well-thought out concepts behind them, and these were, to me, by far the most fun.
The flaws and errors, still not *that* obvious in the grand scheme, remain.
I'm not sure sound and/or music really has a noticeable amount done to it, which is fine(if it ain't broke...).
The overall setup of StarCraft remains, with some differences.
The game-play is still entertaining and challenging.
The graphics remain the same, and I'm not certain that anything fresh is included to multi-player.
I do of course mean in addition to the one hundred new levels for it.
There are more environments herein, if not all that many.
Everything that is in this(and a few extra goodies, too!) seems to be added to the Campaign Editor simply through the regular installation, so for all of us who love to fiddle around with that, there are good news in that department(too).
as all faithful players of it know, the real excellence of the original lies mainly in how unique and yet equal the three sides are.
This is continued in this, where not only does every unit return, but each side get two more units, one air and one ground, and with them come further abilities(which are adequately introduced in the campaigns).
Each of the three air units are all anti-air, as far as attacks go, but their most effective use are like night and day...and...uh...and...an eclipse, something.
The Corsair, found in the army of the strongest technology, is effective against ground-based attacks, in particular static defenses, due to its ability, the Disruption Web, which renders anything within its area of effect unable to attack, within the duration.
The human-controlled Valkyrie is best against groups of enemy fliers, and as such, can be used to either force them to scatter, or take them down fast.
Finally, the Devourer, of the other extra-terrestrial race, can be a real pest against anything else that isn't grounded, not only due to its speed and power, but also the lasting effects of its acid spores.
The three ground units are mighty different from one another, as well...
the Terrans get a Medic, who, in addition to healing, can also Restore, which dispels any(seriously, as far as I've been able to tell, *any*) negative ability used against the unit that you cast it on, and can use their Optical Flare to Blind...
Observers and regular units alike(it'll severely limit the line of sight of the unit on the receiving end of it).
The Zerg get the Lurker, which is essentially a burrowed(!)(and when not, it's mobile) version of the Sunken Colony(almost adding another dimension of danger to ignoring the possibility of Zerg burrowing).
Last, but by no means, no stretch of the imagination, least, is the Dark Archon, for the Protoss.
Apart from Feedback(basically instant death to any enemy that has energy) and Maelstrom(which, granted, is perhaps a little...
misplaced, as far as sides go, they already have something like that, if they were going to make another, it should maybe have gone to the Zerg, instead), which freezes the target(s!) in place, they have a devious, useful and fun one...
it's called Mind Control.
This baby(at this point, I'd like to make it perfectly clear to anyone reading this that it is not, in fact, an actual infant...
for those potential players out there who dread their parenting and child-care skills, you can relax again) will take over any single enemy hit by it, and yes, this can, in fact, be used to get all three races in one battle.
Not everything about this expansion pack is positive, and it does not beat what it is a successor to...
but it does add, a lot of it is masterful, and there are improvements with the changes.
Strategies can now be (even) more intricate, and the game-play is more updated than altered, more like the next logical step, and more of the quality and brand that we already know and appreciate, than something...
alien(I know, I know, terrible, awful, cringe-inducing to the very extreme, but I could not help it).
This is worth a try(albeit I don't think I've seen a demo version...
whereas the predecessor to this not only has one, but it is stand-alone and is, more or less, a prologue...
*and* has multi-player) for anyone who liked the first.
Anyone who enjoyed making levels for it should also give thorough consideration to this.
I recommend this to, well, either and both, of the aforementioned groups(and maybe there's a healthy symbiosis of the two, as well as some that fit into both categories), and there are countless hours of playing, and/or creating, ahead.
Starcraft Completed.
This review contains spoilers for the single-player campaigns.Starcraft: Brood War is the expansion to Starcraft.
It is developed by Blizzard Entertainment.
The video game features the continuation to the story started by the original game in its single player campaign.
The multiplayer features additional units to each of the three races.The single player maintains the excellent standard set in the original game.
The single player starts with the Protoss fleeing to Shakuras, the Dark Templar homeworld.
The campaign continues following the Dark Templar, Zeratul and templar Artanis as they seek to expel the Zerg from their homeworld.
Kerrigan, freed from the Overmind's influence, has desires of her own.
The Protoss campaign is a great story of a race in exile as they try to rebuild.
The campaign captures many aspects of the Protoss and with Kerrigan's new found independence, the story has enough twists.
The next campaign follows the United Earth Directorate's assault into the Kropulu Sector.
The campaign has the player dismantle much of the original inhabitant's civilizations.
The campaign is more of a setup to the world with interesting aspects as the United Earth Directorate pacify the new forming Overmind.
The last campaign follows infested Kerrigan as she seeks to destroy the Overmind and United Earth Directorate.
The last campaign is a master stroke in story telling.
Kerrigan was already one of the more interesting characters from the original and this last campaign made her the best character Blizzard had written until this point.
Kerrigan establishes herself as the queen of the universe through playing each of the other factions against one another.Gameplay wise the single player uses its formula of attack, defense, and special operations through its campaigns.
The player will know how the new units work using them, and against them.
The missions offer a good challenge with the Zerg campaign being the hardest.The multiplayer is much more balanced than the original.
The new units give each of the races more variety in their strategies.
For example, Terran player can now use stimpak on their marines and firebats more liberally when accompanied by a medic.
Protoss players can use the corsair to fend off aerial attacks with its area of effect air attack.
Zerg has the devourer which aids in the destruction of capital ships.
The multiplayer is incredibly well designed and has great replay-ability.Overall Starcraft: Brood War is a great expansion pack.
It is a must have to anyone that enjoyed the original Starcraft.
I highly recommend this game.Four stars out of four stars.An e sports retrospectiveStarcraft: Brood War was unique for being one of the first televised video games.
In South Korea, this game was incredibly popular as the multiplayer one versus one scene was highly competitive and fun to watch.
I saw many Korean games and could appreciate the high level the games were played at.
For anyone interested in catching up on e-sports, I would recommend finding pro matches and appreciate how the professionals optimize each of the races.
They are able to use the units in a special manner and it makes the game exciting.Starcraft RemasteredStarcraft Remastered is a remake of Starcraft and its expansion Brood War with high definition sprites and resolutions.The exact same game play from the old games is here but with a modern polish.
Every unit and building looks crisp and still maintains that distinct look and feel.
The cut scenes have not been redone but the resolution for them has been increased.
The same bugs or features depending on your view are still here.
The multiplayer does have some quality of life improvements, with a matchmaking features to make even games.
Finding an opponent is easier in the update.
There are some downsides such as bugs in its multiplayer and if one is a serious player, I would recommend waiting for more information concerning the multiplayer.
Overall I would recommend this remaster.Three stars out of four stars..
Starcraft: Brood War (the Saga).
One word for this game.
Extraordinary.
The concept was pretty much deep in the SCI-FI universe and the gameplay was simple and easy to learn.
The Campaigns were the best added episodes for the three races.
The adding of UED Admiral Gerard DuGalle, Vice-Admiral Stukov, praetor Artanis and all others were a great force of strike.
Anyways, the formidable work is from the missions and the campaigns which are nicely done with betrayals and accomplishments.Cinematics were unforgettable.
The Intro about when the UED abandoned their soldiers on the Battlefield reflected such a reality in War's ground.
The Ending, the suicide of Admiral DuGalle was giving some questions about "Who's left" the Zerg are unstoppable.
A lot humor was present and a lot of charismatic dialogs which are too simply funny.
Battle.Net was a link to the Internet cooperatives with many other players especially with friends.
The Link with Battle.net was described that Starcraft had been the Game N1.