Starcraft II is Blizzard Entertainment’s magnum opus real time strategy game and sequel to the original Starcraft which was released on 31st March 1998. It took Blizzard Entertainment 12 years to come up with a sequel which was eagerly awaited by the fans of real time strategy genre around the globe. Starcraft II has been simultaneously released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS platforms on July 27th 2010.
Brief Story Plot
It’s the 26th century and three species namely Terrans, Zergs and Protoss are locked in combat to claim dominance over a remote and isolated part of the Milky Way galaxy. The main protagonist of the game is Jim Raynor who is spear heading an insurgency against the oppressive autocrat Terran Dominion. The events that unfold in Starcraft II are depicted to be occurring four years after the conclusion of events of the first game.
Terrans
Terrans are humans exiled from earth by United Earth Directorate, a fictional unified government which is formed by all nations of earth. Terrans are shown mostly bickering amongst each other and are divided in factions. In the first part of Starcraft the exiles form the confederacy of Man, a corrupt and tyrant regime that rules with an iron fist, a group of insurgents led by Arcturus Mengsk called the Sons of korhal finally overthrow the confederacy and establish an autocracy called the dominion with Arcturus Mengsk as the ruler. The main protagonist of the game Jim Raynor serves as a commander of in the Sons of Korhal but when he witnesses that Arcturus Mengsk is no different than the people they have overthrown and has betrayed his companions, he deserts the dominion and forms his own resistance group called Raynors Raider. Starcraft II furthers this story by following Raynors raiders and their struggle to overthrow the dominion.
Basic Terran Units
Terrans are the most versatile species to play with in StarCraft II because of their unique ability to move their buildings to new locations. This ability also makes Terrans the most defensive race in the game. Basic Terran units are moderately strong, agile and can create some real problems for their opponents.
Marine
Marine is the most basic of Terran units. They are the mobile infantry and are very low cost to produce and hence can be mass built when running low on resources. The combat shields upgrade increase the hit point of marines to 10 points and when applied to a group of marines can come in pretty handy.
Banshee:
This is the basic Terran airship and is most often used by players to rush the enemy earlier in the game while the air defenses are down. It has a pretty decent air to ground striking capability. Banshee when upgraded with appropriate tech has the ability to vanish from sight, an ability which can come in very handy against enemies who aren’t accompanied by mobile detectors. Banshee unit has no air to air fighting capabilities and is pretty much prone to heavy damage by other air to air fighting units. The basic purpose of banshee is harassment which it’s very good for.
Battle Cruiser
Battle Cruisers are like the Terran trumpet card. Expensive to produce but supremely powerful and heavily armored, these units have the capability to turn the tide in Terran favor in any stage of the game. Most opposing players to Terrans just don’t have anything powerful enough in their anti-air arsenal to deal with this death from above. The battle cruiser does a massive damage but when upgraded with Yamato canon upgrade deals extra 300 damage. The battle cruiser is an ideal instrument for annihilating stronger enemy units.
Ghost
Ghost is the basic covert ops unit. It can sneak into enemy base and with appropriate upgrades can cause a lot of devastation and mayhem.
There are some noteworthy capabilities that make it very lethal, first the EMP blast which does massive damage to shields and units in the surroundings. Ghosts are a Protoss nightmare and an early rush against Protoss players with ghosts can prove to be quite useful. The most infamous and notorious of these capabilities is the Tactical nuke which causes 500 damages to structures in a very large radius. Tactical nuke can only be used if the cloak upgrade has been researched and acquired; otherwise ghost unit is left vulnerable to enemy attack and is killed off before its intended purpose is served.
Hellion
Hellion is a perfect unit for warding off early rushes attempted by enemies. It is wickedly fast with a flame thrower mounted on top which is quite deadly for melee units. Hellion is a very powerful deterrent against Zergling rush and obliterates Zerglings like a hot knife going through butter. However hellion is rendered useless against more powerful enemies like Protoss stalkers.
Basic Terran Buildings
Academy
This building is necessary for researching and achieving upgrades. The most basic researches academy has to offer are U-238 shells and stimpack.
Armory
Armory is a must have building for strengthening the armor of starships and vehicles and improving ammunition for heavy weapons. The researches offered by armory are:
Upgrade Vehicle weapons
Upgrade Vehicle plating
Upgrade ship weapons
Upgrade ship plating.
Barracks
As evident from the name, this building houses and trains units like Marines and other infantry. Barracks are completely mobile meaning they can move from one place in the map to another providing defensive capabilities as well as serving as a deployment center. The units barrack offers are:
Marines
Firebat
Ghost
Medic
Bunker
Bunkers are defensive structures which can house troops and provide them shelter from enemy fire. Troops sheltered in the bunker can fight the enemy without sustaining damage. Bunkers are also placed around key buildings to provide them safety against enemy attacks.
Command Centers
Command centers are the resource centers for a Terran outpost. They are heavily armored but slow moving and very vulnerable when on the move. All mining vehicles deposit their load in the command center and it also produces SVC units.