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.

Blizzard Entertainment has updated StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void‘s co-op component with some significant new features.

These include mutators and mastery levels. Mutators are as you’d expect – random factors thrown into games to add a bit more challenge like invisible enemies or worker units falling asleep at times. A Mutator Challenge event will be offered each week and players are invited to share their ideas for mutators and challenges. Some of them include Train of the Dead, where infested units assault your base constantly and replace enemies killed; and Time Lock, where enemies have double movement speed and can slow your units.

The Mastery levels take any XP earned by a completely maxed out commander and unlock points (one per level, with nine levels being available) for greater unit strength and abilities. You can then have these bonuses for all commanders, leading to better combat effectiveness during co-op missions and an edge while tackling the Mutator Challenges.

"There were a lot of plates to balance here, especially since the Protoss were the main faction and stories for the Terrans and Zerg had to be wrapped up as well, but Blizzard manages it all quite well."

While StarCraft has never been the pinnacle of story-telling, Legacy of the Void does tie up loose ends while presenting a compelling galactic conflict. The Terrans, Zerg and Protoss are still locked in a long-standing war but the situation is further complicated by the arrival of Amon, a Xel’Naga exile who awakens during the Protoss invasion of Aiur and takes control of most of the armies from the Khalai and Templar. It also doesn’t help that Amon is looking to unite the Zerg and Protoss into a hybrid while exterminating anyone that stays in his way. It’s up to Zeratul and Artanis to control the remaining Protoss forces and unite to face the overwhelming foe before them.

The basic theme in Legacy of the Void is being outnumbered, which makes sense when you consider that Amon has taken control of an overwhelming force to combat the Protoss. There isn’t too much variety in the basic gameplay of StarCraft 2 – you’ll gather resources, build bases and armies, control various points, etc. Some missions even ask you to simply hold out and survive against waves of enemies. It’s all about bravado and heroics, though the writing itself can feel a little cheesy at accomplishing this. That being said, it’s a good kind of cheesy that is aided by a stellar voice acting cast and beautiful cut-scenes. On the one hand I kind of wished that the action in the cut-scenes was more apparent in the main battles. On the other hand, StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void retains its classic RTS formula while still presenting top-notch production values.

Regardless of the writing, the ending and conclusion to the StarCraft 2 saga is handled extremely well in Legacy of the Void. There were a lot of plates to balance here, especially since the Protoss were the main faction and stories for the Terrans and Zerg had to be wrapped up as well, but Blizzard manages it all quite well. That being said, there’s still plenty of opportunity for future stories in this universe.

"Rather than starting with six resource gatherers, you now have 12. The trade-off is that mineral fields now present fewer resources, pushing you forward towards the enemy in an attempt to expand, build up your forces and eventually win."

You won’t just be picking up StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void for the single-player campaign though. It’s the multiplayer which will ultimately tide you over and Blizzard does make some interesting changes to help speed things along for core players. Rather than starting with six resource gatherers, you now have 12. The trade-off is that mineral fields now present fewer resources, pushing you forward towards the enemy in an attempt to expand, build up your forces and eventually win. It helps introduce a level of attrition to battles as opposed to the Zerg rushes of the past and while it doesn’t make things easier for novice players (like me), I still appreciated the ability to jump right into the action.

When you factor in the different races and the units on offer – like the Protoss’s Oracle which can now detect all neighboring units at once rather than using different abilities for underground enemies and those in buildings, or the Zerg’s Ravager which provides artillery fire and is great for destroying Protoss shields, or the Terrans’ Liberator which can take out both air and ground units but requires extra management for the latter – then StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void’s multiplayer quickly becomes a heated war in which numerous tactics will be necessary. Thankfully, every unit is balanced in its own right – the races simply offer their own ways to win rather than one being significantly overpowered against the other.

Archon mode is a rather interesting addition to the traditional Blizzard multiplayer. With matches being more aggressive, Archon mode lets two players work together to manage resources and a base. In this way, you can one player designated to managing resources while the other is focused on commanding units. Besides allowing players to specialize in different skills and delineate accordingly, this is also a great way for the more inexperienced players to be eased into StarCraft 2’s multiplayer.

"StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void is a fitting end to the five year story and it’s great that Blizzard will continue to support the universe with smaller expansions in the coming months."

This isn’t to say you won’t get wrecked on a frequent basis, especially when you compete in higher ranked matches by yourself. However, the Archon mode definitely brings a higher level of strategy to the long-standing multiplayer of StarCraft without significantly altering anything players love about it.

As always, Blizzard Entertainment is on point with its graphics and music. StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void didn’t bring my system down to its knees but you’ll need quite a bit of power to embrace the full beauty and effects on offer, especially when all-out war is taking place. Network performance is also excellent and I never noticed any lag or issues in multiplayer.

StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void is a fitting end to the five year story and it’s great that Blizzard will continue to support the universe with smaller expansions in the coming months. The visuals and story, combined with great multiplayer that introduces a newer way to play matches without upsetting balance and Archon mode for even more strategic planning, make Legacy of the Void one of the better RTS games to release in recent years. New players might struggle initially, especially when it comes to learning the ropes in multiplayer, but it’s a struggle that can reap many rewards as you find the play style that suits you best. Whether you’re a fan of strategy games or a hardcore StarCraft 2 player, Legacy of the Void is worth picking up.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void has already seen a very strong start – it sold one million copies within the first 24 hours of launch.

Blizzard noted the successful launch on Twitter, stating, “”Thanks for making the launch of #LotV a success! We’ll see you in the Koprulu Sector, Commanders!”

Though Legacy of the Void is the last in Starcraft 2’s saga – which began with Wings of Liberty and continued into Heart of the Swarm – Blizzard still plans to support the game with additional mission packs called Nova Covert Ops. These will offer new single-player missions to keep players busy in the long haul. Of course, you can expect more Starcraft experiences in the future from Blizzard. In what shape and form though remains to be seen.

What are your thoughts on Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information.

Blizzard Entertainment’s Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void is out now, thus wrapping up the trilogy that began with Wings of Liberty and continued into Heart of the Swarm. Instead of the Marines and Zerg, this chapter focuses on the Protoss.

Unlike before, players will be working to unite the various Protoss clans in order to reclaim Aiur, the homeland of the race. This means a new campaign and brand new maps for multiplayer along with new units. There will also be a new feature called Archon Mode which allows two players to simultaneously control one army. Did we mention co-op missions as well?

Legacy of the Void will continue to be updated with new missions and other new content into the new year so there’s no worry about running out of things to do in the long run. Where can the series go from here? We’ll have to wait and find out so stay tuned for more information.

Will you be picking up Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void on PC? Let us know in the comments.

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void will release on November 10th. As promised, a special event over the weekend saw the developer finally date the RTS, which has been in development since 2013. If that weren’t enough, the opening cinematic for the game has also been revealed. Check it out below.

Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void continues the story of Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm but this time centers around the mysterious Protoss. A free prologue called Whispers of Oblivion was available to all for free since E3 2015 and the story will continue directly from there. The overall gameplay will be different from previous Starcraft 2 iterations as it sees Artanis working to gain favour with different Protoss tribes through diplomacy.

Will you be picking up Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void when it releases this November for PC and Mac OS X? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

It’s hard to believe that StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void has taken this long to release. After all, the previous iteration of the game – Heart of the Swarm – released in March 2013. Thankfully, that wait is nearly at an end as Blizzard Entertainment has announced a livestream on September 13th to announce the release date for Legacy of the Void.

The livestream will take place at 10 AM PST on StarCraft’s Twitch channel and along with finding out about the release date, any changes that have been made and new gameplay features, Blizzard will also be showing off the opening cinematic for the game.

StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void is currently in closed beta and has since had a prologue campaign comprising of three missions available for all. There hasn’t been a lot of information on it for a while but Blizzard is still very much committed to the game. Stay tuned for the release date and cross your fingers that it happens this year.

Blizzard Entertainment is quite the busy developer these days, offering new content for Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft (with the upcoming expansion Legion), Diablo 3 and of course, its newest title Overwatch. However, following the release of StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void, the developer may consider releasing more RTS games in the Warcraft universe. Warcraft 4 confirmed? Not quite.

Speaking to IGN during Gamescom, Legacy of the Void producer Tim Morten stated that, “It’s very rewarding for us to hear that there’s demand out there for more RTS content in the Warcraft universe. There’s no question, though, that we’ll consider Warcraft, StarCraft, or even new ideas. Anything is possible [but] we don’t have any specific plans.”

It should be noted that Legacy of the Void will conclude the StarCraft 2 saga but won’t be “the end of StarCraft”. Look forward to more stories in that universe for the future. Stay tuned for more information on Blizzard’s other titles in the coming weeks.

Blizzard Entertainment held a media briefing today before its official livestream tomorrow and discussed new details for several of its top titles, both currently released and coming soon.

It first talked about StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void and how it would have a new co-op mode called Allied Commanders that allows players to control heroes like Jim Raynor, Kerrigan and Artanis in order to defeat enemies in a series of missions. Commanders will have their own special abilities and level up throughout a mission. A demonstration of this new mode will be done on August 8th, 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM and August 9th, 1 PM to 2 PM.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will see its next expansion in The Grand Tournament and 11 new cards and a jousting mechanic were revealed to players. The expansion releases later this month.

Heroes of the Storm’s Eternal Conflict event continues with Kharazim, the Monk, joining the Hero roster alongside Rexxar of Warcraft fame and Artanis of StarCraft. A new three-lane battleground was also showcased in the Infernal Shrines wherein players will use a Punisher demon to beat down the opposing team.

Finally, there’s Overwatch which received a new hero in Lúcio, a Brazilian musician with roller skates who can grind on walls and use his music to support his team, and two new maps, namely Numbani and Volskaya Industries. Lúcio will be playable on the show floor along with McCree, Soldier 76 and Zarya who were announced earlier this year.

Remember to stay tuned tomorrow for Blizzard’s livestream and tell us what you think of today’s event in the comments.

Blizzard Entertainment announced at the E3 2015 PC Gaming Show that the upcoming Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void will be receiving a free prologue campaign in the form of Whispers of Oblivion. This will be available for everyone for free regardless if you’ve owned any of the previous games.

Whispers of the Oblivion offers a small campaign with three missions and acts as a connection between the upcoming expansion and the previous game, Heart of the Swarm. It will also update players as to the story thus far and information on the setting. There will be a beta for those who’ve pre-ordered Legacy of the Void in July but the expansion will be free to everyone later.

What are your thoughts on Starcraft: Legacy of the Void – Whispers of the Oblivion being available for free to everyone? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned for more information in the coming months.