Author: scharfschutze
Type: PC Game
Released: 1999
Designer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Genre: Real-time strategy (expansion for StarCraft)
At the end of Blizzard's epic game StarCraft, the distant Koprulu Sector is in turmoil. The corrupt Terran Confederacy has been overthrown by a new, dictatorial Terran Dominion, the Zerg Overmind has been destroyed, and the Protoss world of Aiur has been devastated by a war unlike anything the galaxy has ever seen. The lives of the poor inhabitants of the Sector have had some pretty bad times; in StarCraft: Brood War, it's only gonna get worse.
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StarCraft: Brood War was Blizzard's second attempt at an "expansion pack", and it set the standard for ALL expansion packs released since, whether by Blizzard or others. It added new terrain, new units, new abilities, and a completely new addition to the game's storyline. All in all, Brood War is Blizzard's best "expansion pack" ever released - the only possible competition is Diablo II's excellent expansion pack, Lord of Destruction. The best part of Brood War is the fact that it followed the old saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" very closely. Nothing that made the original game such a hit is missing or modified, and the only things that are different are the things Brood War adds to the mix.
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Every race receives several new units, based on the new changes in the storyline. With the arrival of the Earth-based UED, the Terrans receive Medics, unarmed soldiers that heal wounded infantry around them; they also receive the Valkyrie, a purely anti-air vessel that can fill the skies with anti-air rockets. The Protoss, having absorbed the Dark Templar into their culture, receive Dark Templar (they were in the original game, but now they're a buildable unit) and the Dark Archon, a "spell-caster" that can control the minds of other units; in the air, the Protoss have access to the Dark Templar Corsair, a fighter that, while it can't attack ground units, can launch a missile that disables all ground based defences, allowing it to chew up any air unit it encounters without fear of ground fire. The Zerg can now upgrade their Hydralisks to Lurkers; the Lurker cannot attack units while unburrowed, but when burrowed, it shoots out a long line of spikes that hit everything in their path. Lurkers are excellent siege weapons; they're also amazing mobile base defence. In the air, the Mutalisk can now upgrade into the Devourer, an anti-air unit with a splash attack, damaging many different targets.
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The new game also adds new upgrades for all races, including Charon Boosters (increasing the range of the Goliath's AA missiles), Chitinous Plating (upgrading the already-impressive armour of the Zerg Ultralisk), and, of course, a whole series of upgrades relating to the new units and their capabilities. This adds a whole new flavour to the game: it's highly unlikely, in the course of a single multi-player game, that any one player will be able to research every technology and producing a credible military force at the same time. Instead, you must choose one of two approaches: either specialize, upgrading one single unit type (infantry, armour, aircraft) to the max as well as researching every upgrade for one or two specific units (say, Terran Ghosts or Protoss Dark Archons); the other option is to attempt to be a "jack of all trades", researching (for example) Level 1 Weapons and Armour for all units. The jack-of-all-trades approach also offers the option of either developing "basic" abilities for the "spell-casting" units, or ignoring them completely and possibly developing Level 2 capabilities. Although the number of technologies available is small, the options they allow for gameplay, as well as the drain they exert on your resources, make them an important part of your battle planning.
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This review has received our Perfect Ten Game award for: Adding even more depth to the gaming experience without removing, modifying or altering anything that made the first game a Top Ten in itself.
The graphics don't change between StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War. The effects don't either, although each new ability has, of course, its own effect.
Gameplay: 10/10The best thing one can say about an expansion pack is that it doesn't change the gameplay nature of the original game. This is certainly true of StarCraft: Brood War; it seems the designers went out of their way to ensure that Brood War plays just as well as the original StarCraft.
Replayability: 10/10You can never go up from perfection, and luckily, Brood War doesn't go down. The game maintains its excellent rating in this category thanks to the Map Editor (which, unlike WarCraft II, was updated with all the new textures, tilesets, and units from the expansion) and the new campaigns, which are excellent.
Overall: 10/10What can I say? I'm a sucker for StarCraft, and Brood War remains, in my mind, the perfect expansion pack. Like the original, I bought Brood War the day it came out, and it certainly wasn't wasted money. If you have StarCraft, you owe it to yourself to get Brood War.