METAL GEAR SOLID 5

It’s heartbreaking that a Metal Gear Solid game has to be the one that kicks off a list about disappointing stories, but that’s just the way it is- The Phantom Pain is a masterclass in emergent, system-based gameplay, with stealth mechanics that stand as the very best even to this day. But it’s a game that sheds the story-heavy focus that the series was always known for. Cutscenes are few and far between, while some of the most important storytelling bits are relegated to optional cassette tapes and missable events- don’t even get us started on the ending.

Blizzard may have ended the Starcraft story for the foreseeable future with the recent release of Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void, but it doesn’t look like they are done with the series just yet. According to highly respected Korean site iNews24 (via Kotaku) – and if there is one source we would trust above all others when it comes to Starcraft news, it would be a Korean one, given South Korea’s love for the series – Blizzard are preparing a special kind of treat for longtime fans and players of the series, come September.

Apparently, multiple sources have indicated to iNews24 that Blizzard are preparing a remastered version of the original Starcraft, and that they will be revealing it this September, which is actually next month. Interestingly and excitingly enough, especially for those who found Starcraft 2 to be underwhelming overall compared with the original game, the update seems to be largely cosmetic, too- the game will just be updated to support HD graphics, and a more modern UI, but still retain its gameplay as is, untouched. In other words, this isn’t going to be anything like a remake of the original game in Starcraft 2‘s engine- it’s the classic game we all know and love, just with cleaned up graphics.

The report states that further details on the product will be made available after its reveal, during BlizzCon in November- which sounds reasonable enough to me. Reasonable enough that I can start looking forward to an announcement of the remaster now. I was always more into Age of Empires or Command and Conquer, and never quite managed to get into the original Starcraft at the peak of its popularity- I would love to be given another chance to give the game a go.

It features the Zerg Campaign and new multiplayer units for each race. Our review of the game praised it a lot and gave it a glowing 10/10 score.

You can read it here. It’s an RTS game which requires a lot of skills and getting these achievements won’t be an easy feat. There are tons of achievements in the game and most of them are time consuming however we have a guide for most of them below.

The expansion pack was commercially successful as well with over 2 million copies sold in a week.

Let’s start with the campaign achievements of the game. We have the complete list as well as videos on how to get them.

Achievements Guide

Achievements list and guide courtesy of SOEgame and Videogamesblogger.

Umoja Missions Achievements:

1. Lab Rat (10 points) — Complete the “Lab Rat” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

2. Mighty Mouse (10 points) — Destroy 35 Sentry Bots in the “Lab Rat” mission.

3. Rat Race (10 points) — Complete the “Lab Rat” mission in less than 10 minutes on Normal difficulty.

4. Back In The Saddle (10 points) — Complete the “Back In The Saddle” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

5. Full Throttle (10 points) — Complete the “Prevent the Dominion from destroying a tram engine during the tram ride in the “Back In The Saddle” mission.

6. Brutal Legend (10 points) — Don’t take any damage from the Archangel in the “Back In The Saddle” mission on normal difficulty.

7. Rendezous (10 points) — Complete the “Rendezvous” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

8. First Strike (10 points) — Destroy 15 enemy structures before Naktul’s forces arrive in the “Rendezvous” mission.

9. Zerg Saves The Queen (10 points) — Rescue all trapped Swarm Queens before Naktul’s forces arrive in the “Rendezvous” mission on Normal difficulty.

10. Bonus Objectives: Umoja (10 points) — Complete all Bonus Objectives in each of the Umoja Missions.

11. Umoja Missions (20 points) — Complete all the Umoja Mission achievements.

Char Missions Achievements:

12. Domination (10 points) — Complete the “Domination” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

13. Poached Eggs (10 points) — Hatch all 6 Baneling Nests in the “Domination” mission before collecting 100 eggs.

14. No Egg For You (10 points) — Don’t let Zagara collect an Egg in the “Domination” mission on Normal difficulty.

15. Fire In The Sky (10 points) — Complete the “Fire in the Sky” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

16. Red Alert (10 points) — Don’t let 5 units die to the Gorgon Battlecruiser in the “Fire in the Sky” mission.

17. Conquer & Command (10 points) — Destroy 3 Orbital Command structures in the “Fire in the Sky” mission on Normal difficulty.

18. Old Soldiers (10 points) — Complete the “Old Soldiers” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

19. Nuclear Launch Rejected (10 points) — Destroy 20 enemy structures before the 1st Nuclear Strike in the “Old Soldiers” mission.

20. Recalled Down the Thunder (10 points) — Complete the “Old Soldiers” mission in less than 20 minutes on Normal difficulty.

21. Bonus Objectives: Char (10 points) — Complete all Bonus Objectives in each of the Char Missions.

22. Char Missions (20 points) — Complete all the Char Mission achievements.

Kaldir Missions Achievements:

23. Harvest of Screams (10 points) — Complete the “Harvest of Screams” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

24. Ice Breaker (10 points) — Destroy 20 unfrozen enemy structures in the “Harvest of Screams” mission.

25. Storm Chaser (10 points) — Complete the “Harvest of Screams” mission in less than 15 minutes on Normal difficulty.

26. Shoot the Messenger (10 points) — Complete the “Shoot the Messenger” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

27. Warp in Peace (10 points) — Don’t let a Protoss Shuttle begin Warping Out in the “Shoot the Messenger” mission.

28. Extreme Nexism (10 points) — Destroy 2 Protoss Nexuses in the “Shoot the Messenger” mission on Normal difficulty.

29. Enemy Within (10 points) — Complete the “Enemy Within” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

30. Biomass Effect (10 points) — Collect 450 biomass in the “Enemy Within” mission.

31. Failure to Launch (10 points) — Don’t let an Escape Pod reach less than 20 seconds in the “Enemy Within” mission on Normal difficulty.

32. Bonus Objectives: Kaldir (10 points) — Complete all Bonus Objectives in each of the Kaldir Missions.

33. Kaldir Missions (20 points) — Complete all the Kaldir Mission achievements.

Zerus Missions Achievements:

34. Waking the Ancient (10 points) — Complete the “Waking the Ancient” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

35. A Game of Drones (10 points) — Don’t lose more than 3 Drones in the “Waking the Ancient” mission.

36. Rude Awakening (10 points) — Kill 4 Primal Hives in the “Waking the Ancient” mission on Normal difficulty.

37. The Crucible (10 points) — Complete “The Crucible” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

38. Epic Meal Time (10 points) — Kill 75 enemy units with Primal Spawn Locusts in “The Crucible” mission.

39. Can’t Touch This Chrysalis (10 points) — Complete “The Crucible” mission without Kerrigan’s Chrysalis taking damage on Normal difficulty.

40. Supreme (10 points) — Complete the “Supreme” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

41. Endangered Species (10 points) — Kill 500 enemy units with Kerrigan in the “Supreme” mission.

42. Queen of the Jungle (10 points) — Complete the “Supreme” mission without letting Kerrigan drop below 100 life on Normal difficulty.

43. Bonus Objectives: Zerus (10 points) — Complete all Bonus Objectives in each of the Zerus Missions.

44. Zerus Missions (20 points) — Complete all the Zerus Mission achievements.

Skygeirr Missions Achievements:

45. Just Getting Inside (10 points) — Complete the “Infested” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

46. Master of Puppets (10 points) — Kill 60 enemy units with Parasitic Dominated terran units in the “Infested” mission.

47. Spreading the Disease (10 points) — Infest all Garrisons without losing a Virophage in the “Infested” mission on Normal difficulty.

48. Hand of Darkness (10 points) — Complete the “Hand of Darkness” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

49. Shattered Command (10 points) — Destroy 2 Command Centers in the “Hand of Darkness” mission.

50. Power Underwhelming (10 points) — Destroy 3 Hybrid Holding Cells before the Hybrid are released in “Hand of Darkness” on Normal difficulty.

51. Phantoms of the Void (10 points) — Complete the “Phantoms of the Void” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

52. The Phantoms Menaced (10 points) — Kill 2 Hybrid within 20 seconds of each other in the “Phantoms of the Void” mission on Normal difficulty.

53. Stukov Strikes Back (10 points) — Don’t let Stukov die in the “Phantoms of the Void” mission.

54. Bonus Objectives: Skygeirr (10 points) — Complete all Bonus Objectives in each of the Skygeirr Missions.

55. Skygeirr Missions (20 points) — Complete all the Skygeirr Mission achievements.

Mastery Achievements:

113. Mad Dash (10 points) — Destroy 3 Factories in the “Lab Rat” mission in less than 10 minutes on Hard difficulty.

114. Nick of Time (10 points) — Complete “Back in the Saddle” with more than 40 seconds on each lockdown on Hard difficulty.

115. Premature Evacuation (10 points) — Destroy all Dominion Structures in the “Rendezvous” mission before Naktul’s brood arrives on Hard difficulty.

116. Shutout (10 points) — Destroy Zagara’s base in the “Domination” mission in less than 14 minutes on Hard difficulty before collecting 100 eggs.

117. Going, Going, Gorgon! (10 points) — Destroy 4 Gorgon Battlecruisers within 120 seconds in the “Fire in the Sky” mission on Hard difficulty.

118. Home Wrecker (10 points) — Destroy the Planetary Fortress in the “Old Soldiers” mission before the nuclear strike on Hard difficulty.

119. Psi-lence is Golden (10 points) — Complete all objectives in less than 12 minutes in the “Harvest of Screams” mission on Hard difficulty.

120. My Cool Bay Explosions (10 points) — Destroy all 3 Protoss Docking Bays in the “Shoot the Messenger” mission on Hard difficulty.

121. Monster Smash (10 points) — Kill 15 units with the Giant Ursadon in the “Enemy Within” mission on Hard difficulty.

122. Whack-A-Brakk (10 points) — Kill 15 units with the Giant Ursadon in the “Don’t let Brakk destroy any Biomass in the “Waking the Ancient” mission on Hard difficulty.

123. Short Life Expectancy (10 points) — Kill the Tyrannozor in under 1 minute after it appears in “The Crucible” mission on Hard difficulty.

124. Whose Queen Reigns Supreme? (10 points) — Complete the “Supreme” mission in less than 12 minutes on Hard difficulty.

125. Once, Twice, Three Times Malady (10 points) — Complete the “Infested” mission before the Dominion Gas the Platform a 3rd time on Hard difficulty.

126. Dominion Domination (10 points) — Kill 3 Hybrid Dominators with Terran units in the “Hand of Darkness” mission on Hard difficulty.

127. No-toss (10 points) — Destroy all Protoss structures in the “Phantoms of the Void” mission on Hard difficulty.

128. Ludicrous Speed! (10 points) — Complete the “With Friends Like These…” mission in less than 11 minutes on Hard difficulty.

129. Fast Break (10 points) — Complete the “Conviction” mission in less than 10 minutes on Hard difficulty.

130. Crash The Party (10 points) — Destroy all Dominion structures in the “Planetfall” mission before the 5th Bile Launcher lands on Hard difficulty.

131. Speed Bump (10 points) — Destroy the Odin in “The Reckoning” mission before Mengsk sends it at Raynor on Hard difficulty.

Unit Guide

Check out our unit guide videos. They are from YouTube user ShokzSC.

Heart of the Swarm Terran Reaper Guide

Heart of the Swarm: Protoss Oracle Guide

Heart of the Swarm Hellbat Guide

Heart of the Swarm Viper Guide:

Note: This guide will be updated once we have more information on the game.

Blizzard’s David Kim has said that no one has come close to figuring out the game yet.

“Just wanted to let you know that our design team is watching every major match carefully and will continue doing so,” he wrote on the the game’s forums.

“The super aggressive play is turning out to be really fun to watch. Nobody is close to figuring the game out yet. A few players are really changing up their play and having completely different results than what’s expected by the majority.”

He also revealed some more details on how the some players weren’t having much trouble with overpowered units or other things.

“We’ll try our best to not be too quick to make judgments on things that are allowing players to play a much more aggressive game. For example, yes Medivacs look strong but it’s forcing even the opponents to play aggressive and the constant action throughout the game is looking to be really fun to watch” he said.

“We’ll continue watching all the pro and community concerns, but keep in mind we’d really like the game to settle before we step in and make a move.”

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Thanks, VG247.

Story, Characters:

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm starts right where StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty ended, those who have finished the first game know what’s going on and those who didn’t can go read it about it somewhere else if they don’t care about spoilers. However, to give you a general idea, you take control of Sarah Kerrigan as the Swarm Queen.  Sarah Kerrigan’s main mission is revenge, but this will require a lot of sacrifices and things that she normally won’t do. Kerrigan knows what she truly wants, she’s smart, bossy and most of all very determined when it comes to her goals. Keriggan connects with players by her fascinating facial expressions, voice acting, feelings, emotions and of course her thirst for vengeance. She has probably become one of my favorite female lead characters in video games after playing StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm.

Let’s talk about other characters and Zerg in general for a moment. As you go through the single-player campaign you will be meeting new Zerg characters throughout your adventure. At first, it was a bit hard to see how anyone would fall in love with ugly creatures like Zerg, but Blizzard has done an amazing job at making Zerg grow on the player and make them interesting.

One of my favorite characters is Abathur, Abathur is a Zerg who resides in the evolution chamber in between the missions of the game. He is responsible for providing new mutations/evolution for your Zerg units as you progress through-out the campaign. The way he talks and how he comes off is flattering, making his personality truly unique and interesting thanks to phenomenal voice acting that Blizzard has always provided over the years.

In between every mission you can click on the Zerg characters to engage in conversations, just like how StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty did in it’s campaign. If you want to learn more about the background story, personal stories of the characters and even achievements that require you to find something about a certain character. They conversations are usually not that long, they’re interesting for the most part and some of them are also humorous.

As I was playing through the campaign the tension of the story kept building up and I wanted to play more and more until the end to see how the the game unfolds. The occasional and awesome cinematics build up great suspense and excitement at the same time as you come across important parts of the story. There are a lot of plot twists and things that you may or may not expect, each player is different, but a lot of things have definitely caught me by surprise.

StarCraft has a lot to live up to considering that the franchise has already went through 4 games in total, it’s an expensive and rich universe that many gamers love across the entire globe. Heart of the Swarm has a lot of emotional moments throughout its campaign course, some people may not like it, some won’t care and some will love it. I personally thought it was great experience all throughout. I can’t wait to see where the story goes next in StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void which is the next and final expansion which will be focusing on another alien race called Protoss.

Zerg Campaign:

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm’s single-player campaign is purely epic. From the start of the game’s first mission to the end everything was well executed, fun to play through and did not feel annoying. Each mission was unique in one way or another, one mission you’re defending someone or something, while in another you’re racing against the clock to get to a certain point and then building a base and getting your army ready for a full blown assault on enemy’s base.

However, I think one of my favorite new things that were introduced to the game as a whole are actual boss fights. Without spoiling anything, I will say that Blizzard has implemented boss mechanics into the game, as you can imagine, the bosses have a health bar, attacking patterns and clues that you have to look out for. You have to properly control and time your units to dodge attacks that are incoming in order to stay alive, the boss fights themselves were fun and did not feel cheap or gimmicky in any way.

Heart of the Swarm also introduces RPG elements to the game and leveling for your main character Sarah Keriggan. As you progress through the missions and complete secondary objectives you will be earning levels. Keriggan has a whole set of different tiers with multiple skills that she can use. One of my favorite skills that you can use in the game is the Leaping Strike that let’s you jump on enemy units/structures from a far distant and hit them for high amounts of damage. Leaping Strike also let’s you climb up the cliffs and down, so if there are enemy units that your army can’t reach then feel free to leap strike at them.

Another useful skill is the Kinetic Blast. Kinetic Blast does instant damage to an enemy target from a distance, its very useful against heavy armored units and defensive structures that need to be taken out as soon as possible. There are ton of skills to choose from. If you want Kerrigan to be more of a support hero then you have the complete freedom to do so by picking more supportive skills as opposed to offensive or defensive. You can also play with your army combination/strategy to best complement Kerrigan’s abilities if you wish. The player is allowed to switch skills out only in between the missions in the Leviathan.

Blizzard has also added mini missions called Evolution Missions. Evolution Missions are designed for the evolution of your Zerg units as you progress throughout the campaign. These missions get unlocked at certain points throughout the game’s story, before you start an actual mission it will tell you what rewards you get for completing it and sometimes you get rewarded with Evolution Mission as an unlock. Once you have unlocked a Evolution Mission you can go to your Evolution Chamber in the Leviathan. (Leviathan is you Zerg’s main ship where Sarah Kerrigan and her Swarm do their base operations and set out on missions, similar to Jim Raynor’s ship Hyperion that was in StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty).

In the Evolution Chamber you can see all of your unlocked units, their evolution (if you have completed any) and mutations that they have received. These evolution missions also act as demos and tutorials to your newly evolved units. They don’t take long to complete and get you comfortable with your newly evolved unit.

For example the Zerglings can evolve into Raptor strain or Swarmling strain, Raptor strain allows the Zerglings to jump up and down on cliffs, leap over objects/buildings,  40% increase in their attack speed and do 2 more points of damage. Swarmlings spawn almost instantly from your hive and come in packs of 3 instead of 2 for the same price of minerals. The Evolution Mission lets the player test both of the types, once the players are done with the mission they will be forced to pick one out of the two available evolutions permanently.

Not only do these missions add a little bit of varied content to the campaign, but they also break up the pace a little bit as your playing throughout the main missions. There are evolution missions to be unlocked for every single unit that the Zerg has to offer. This is a great way of making Zerg more interesting, it makes sense for the race and it’s fun to see original creatures evolve into something else with new abilities.

Paying credits to evolve Zerg units would be very weird so I am happy that Blizzard has went with the evolution way instead, because Zerg are organic alien race as opposed to the human Terran who spend cash to make their armor/guns better in StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty. I am now curios to see what Blizzard will be doing for the Protoss race in StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void as far as the upgrade system goes.

Multiplayer and Units:

StarCraft is one of the most popular games in E-Sports thanks to it’s amazing balance between each of the 3 races, fantastic flawless gameplay and of course the community itself that loves the game and appreciates. With the addition of the Heart of the Swarm, the expansion adds 2 new units to Terran and Zerg, while Protoss get 3. This brings the total number of  7 brand new units for the online competition  It may not seem like a lot, but just adding something new to the multiplayer can easily tip the game unbalanced, the developers have to be very careful when it comes to implementing anything new when it comes to E-Sports. There is a lot of pressure from professional players due to the fact that they’re used to playing the game a certain way.

Zerg Units:

Majority of the new units were created for more crowd control, for example one of the new flying Zerg unit called Viper. Vipers can pull enemies off cliffs or unreachable platforms on to the battlefield so your army can eliminate them, they may also spit acid cloud on enemies which limits their vision and they cannot attack anyone from range and are forced to combat them in melee. If properly used, these units can cause major damage to your opponent in multiplayer.

The Zerg have also received a new siege unit called Swarm Host. Swarm Host is a unit that burrows underground and spawns locusts that have a limited time to live before they die out on their own. Swarm Host is fantastic for defense, you can set them up on ramp and just have them spawn locusts non-stop every 15 seconds after the cooldown is off. They look cool and totally fit the Zerg race, players can also use them offensively if they wish to destroy enemy defenses from a distance without engaging directly.

Terran Units:

The Terran get Hellbat and Widow Mine unit. Hellbat is a unit that can transform between hellion and a firebat. This unit replaces the Hellion since it can already transform into one. The Hellion is a lot faster when it comes to traveling speeds but its attacks is a lot weaker. Hellbat on the other hand walks very slow, however, it can take more of a beating and its range of fire is wider and stronger as opposed to the Hellion.

Widow Mine can only attack when it’s burrowed underground. Once burrowed underground it will be able to send out missiles towards enemy’s army once they get close in proximity of the mine. Its an interesting unit that can be used both offensively or defensively in different situations.  You can set them up right on the ramp next to your base to destroy oncoming enemy units to defend yourself or try using them offensively by baiting someone in  to the Widow Mines.

Protoss Units:

Protoss have Oracles, Tempest and Mothership Core as their brand new units. Oracles have 3 different abilities, for the most part they’re air support units. Revelation can be cast on an enemy unit in close range, this will allow you too see what the enemy unit sees, so this is a cheap way to spy on someone’s base if you can cast it without getting killed in time. Envision is their second ability that casts on themselves, after the Oracle becomes envisioned, they become detectors. The last ability is Pulsar Beam, it can be activated on/off and it’s a range attack skill that is good to use against light enemy ground units such as zerglings, marines or zealots.

Tempest are anti-air units that were given to the Protoss to Counter the Zerg’s Mutalisks in StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty. Tempest do a ton of splash damage and can easily kill packs of Mutalisks and other air units in the game. Tempest may also shoot ground units, however, their attacks don’t do as much damage and there is no splash damage either.

Mothership Core is another brand new addition for the Protoss. This unit has 3 abilities that can be used in defensive or offensive ways. Photon Overcharge lets you turn your Nexus into a giant defending photon cannon with a big range that is almost equal to a Terran’s siege tank and damage of 2 photon cannons combined. It’s extremely useful for defending your expansions, however, you have to use it wisely because it costs a lot of energy to use and it can only be applied for 60 seconds, this is best used during enemy attacks.

Second ability is Mass Recall, Mass Recall let’s you teleport your units to your Nexus. If you have a big pack of Stalkers or Zealots for example you can use Mass Recall and click on them to teleport them back to Nexus. Last, but not least is the Time Warp ability. Time Warp creates a bubble on top of the enemies, the bubbles make the enemy units walk and attack slower as opposed to normal speed, great for tactical advantage during fights.

However, if you want to be any good in the multiplayer and get your feet wet in the competitive play, then get ready for a lot of failures, practices and strategy tests over and over again. This is what StarCraft multiplayer has always been about, learning new things, practicing them and then applying them to a real battle and be ready to counter act if necessary. With the addition of 6 brand new units across the 3 races get ready for long nights of online gaming sessions.

Overall Verdict

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm is great, it packs an epic single-player Zerg Campaign, awesome characters with deep personalities, great soundtrack, phenomenal voice acting, graphical engine improvements and it continues to be the top of the line real-time strategy online competitive sport as it always was with the addition of 7 new multiplayer units. The start of the story was a great beginning and already exciting all way throughout the entire campaign, I was on the edge of my seat to see what happens next.

The additions of boss mechanics, Evolution Missions and RPG elements made the game a little bit more than just a regular real-time strategy game. Tons of new achievements to hunt down and things to do. Multiplayer will be continued and gamers will start fiddling with new tactics day and night during their long hour online sessions.  The execution of this expansion was perfect, the only problem with it, is that there is not enough of it. I cannot wait too see where StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void will take us next in the StarCraft universe, kudos to Blizzard.

The game was reviewed on the PC.

CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment Mike Morhaime stated that “Heart of the Swarm enhances every aspect of StarCraft II. In addition to Kerrigan’s campaign and the new multiplayer units and maps, we think players will really enjoy the new online elements and new features that make StarCraft II more fun and easier to learn than ever before.”

Aside from purchasing the game at retail, gamers can also head over to Blizzard’s official site for the game and purchase it for £32.99. However, they’ll miss out on the Collector’s Edition, which is retail-exclusive, that contains tons of digital and physical goodies and will retail for £59.99.

While Wings of Liberty focused on the human side of the campaign, culminating in Sarah Kerrigan reverting to her normal human form, and Heart of the Swarm sees her doing her part to reunite with the the Zerg, Legacy of the Void focuses on the mysterious and ambiguous Protoss.

Considering their enmity towards the humans and Zerg, it would certainly be interesting to see the universe from their perspective for once.

Heart of the Swarm releases in March 12th for PC, with Blizzard stating it “is doing everything we can to make sure this launch goes as smoothly as possible.”

Source: 2P

Starcraft is one of Blizzard’s most revered franchises ever, and one of the best real time strategy games of all time. With Starcraft 2, Blizzard sought to divide the main game into three parts to capture the scope of the epic conflict unfolding. Wings of Liberty focused on the humans’ side of the conflict; now part two, Heart of the Swarm, will focus on the opposing forces of the Zerg.

Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm will release on March 12th for PC; players can head here to pre-purchase the game and get in on the action early. Considering the excellent reviews that its predecessor saw, we expect the second part to be equally compelling.

The next title, Heart of the Swarm, has already been reserved by many eager gamers and Blizzard has a treat for all of those dedicated fans: If you pre-purchased the game digitally on Battle.net before the 20th of December (previously before the 18th), then you’ll be able to gain access to the beta for Heart of the Swarm.

Does that mean that gamers who haven’t pre-purchased the game before the 20th don’t get access? Not necessarily, but their addition to the beta will be done on a weekly basis where the lucky ones who pre-purchased will be granted immediate access. Quite a clever way to see which of you maniacs is more dedicated than the other to the cause, eh?

Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm is set to release on March 12th 2013 for PC and Mac OS X.

Source: Ubergizmo

Blizzard had already detailed the Clans system for StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, and not they’ve also given some details on the Groups system. Blizzard says that while Clans are catered for more hardcore players of SC2, groups are more for a casual audience.

“The Groups feature is a way for you to meet and interact with other StarCraft 2 players who share common interests,” Blizzard said. “ccordingly, when you create a Group, you’ll select a category that best describes the type of Group you are creating. These categories include topics such as BarCraft for Groups that are interested in finding and keeping in touch with friends they’ve made at BarCraft events, Strategy and Coaching for Groups that are looking to share their favorite strategies and helping others improve their play, and many more.”

People can invite “near limitless” people into groups, as opposed to 50 people per each clan, and each character is allowed to join 20 groups, while he or she can only be part of one clan. However, groups too will have their very own channel, news feeds and rosters.

Blizzard says that since Clans and Groups are so similar, people will probably use them interchangeably. “We anticipate that some people will use them interchangeably at first,” says the dev. “Moving forward, our development focus on the Clans feature will be to add more competitive features, whereas Groups will remain geared around casual social interactions.”

The features will be out with StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm’s beta’a patch 2.0.2.

Heart of the Swarm comes out on March 12 next year for PC and Mac. Stay tuned for more info.

[Blizzard (via Polygon)]