| StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm | |
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Official Logo |
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| Developer(s) | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Designer(s) | Dustin Browder |
| Artist(s) | Samwise Didier |
| Writer(s) | Chris Metzen |
| Series | StarCraft |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows Mac OS X[1] |
| Release date(s) | TBA |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is an upcoming sequel and expansion pack to the military science-fiction real-time strategy game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and part two of the planned StarCraft II trilogy. Part three is titled Legacy of the Void.[2]
The expansion will include additional units and multiplayer changes from Wings of Liberty, as well as a continuing campaign focusing on the Zerg species. It will span approximately 20 missions and will be priced as an expansion set.[3] Currently no release date has been announced.
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The game is expected to have around 20 missions, and will be a sequel to Wings of Liberty, taking place two years after that game, in 2506.[4] The player will assume the role of Sarah Kerrigan and the development of a Zerg empire.[5]
Heart Of The Swarm will feature 8 new multiplayer units, while removing 3, as revealed in Blizzard's annual conference. The Terran race will feature three new units: the Shredder, the Battle Hellion, and the Warhound. The Protoss will also feature three new units: the Replicant, the Oracle, and the Tempest. The Zerg will receive two new units: the Viper and the Swarm Host. The Protoss Mothership and Carrier, as well as the Zerg Overseer, will be removed from the game.
The Thor has been changed to an "ultimate" unit, akin to the Protoss Mothership, limiting the player to have only one at a time. Its functionality will be changed, and it will not be able to shoot air units. The Hellion has had a new "battle mode" added, which allows it to transform into a heavier and more powerful unit, like the viking's transformation. The Zerg Ultralisk and Baneling have received new abilities; the Ultralisk has a researchable ability that will allow it to burrow underground then shoot forward and unburrow, similar to the Protoss Zealot Charge ability. The Baneling will also get a burrow related upgrade: it will be able to move underground, like the roach, after researching a move-while-burrowed ability and the burrow ability.
The plot of Heart of the Swarm begins where Wings of Liberty left off.[6] It will focus on the Zerg race and feature Sarah Kerrigan as the protagonist, and anti-hero. The campaign begins with Kerrigan's quest to assume leadership of the swarm in her regained human form, and exact her revenge on Arcturus Mengsk, Emperor of the Terran Dominion. The Zerg have split into several factions without her leadership, and she must take control of the various rival broods, headed by powerful queens, while General Warfield of the Dominion is attempting to eradicate the Zerg on Char.[7] Additionally, a teaser trailer for the game shows Nova leading a team of Terran Ghosts to infiltrate a Terran facility and orders them to "find Kerrigan." Amidst the chaos of the attack, Raynor chases a pair of Ghosts to a room. The Ghosts lock the door behind them, and soon after an explosion occurs. Raynor then picks up the ruin of the door and enters the room where he finds Kerrigan wearing a Terran Ghost suit, her back to him.[8]
The development of StarCraft II was announced on May 19, 2007, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea.[9][10] At the June 2008 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational, Blizzard Executive Vice President Rob Pardo said that StarCraft II was to be released as a trilogy of games, starting with Wings of Liberty, focused on the Terrans, followed by Heart of the Swarm, revolving around the Zerg, and finally Legacy of the Void, devoted to the Protoss.[2] Blizzard's storyboard team was already working on Heart of the Swarm in early 2010 while Wings of Liberty's gameplay was refined.[11] Wings of Liberty was released July 27, 2010 to much critical acclaim.[12][13][14]
Blizzard had never anticipated releasing Heart of the Swarm before the end of 2011.[15] By March 2011, lead designer Dustin Browder estimated the game was "about a year" from completion.[16] By July 2011, the first portion of the game was finished, as well as many of its cinematic cutscenes.[17]
A few updates will be made to the game's graphics engine, including upgrades to the look and behavior of Zerg creep, as well as some improvements to the rendering of game environments. However, the expansion will have the same hardware requirements as Wings of Liberty.[18]
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