It’s been a very long time since StarCraft was first released. By this point, the original game is just part of the landscape, and the gameplay itself has aged pretty well. The game has not, however; it was never really designed for modern systems, and the graphics look like a blurry mess between story cutscenes that are literally talking heads on monitors. It’s the sort of game that’s ripe for an upgrade with a delicate touch, something that doesn’t touch the actual game but adjusts the metaphorical wrapper. You know, like what Blizzard announced for StarCraft: Remastered.
No changes will be made to the actual gameplay, game balance, or so forth of StarCraft with this release; however, the developers are promising modern matchmaking and Blizzard app integration along with redone graphics (complete with the ability to zoom in and out), re-recorded audio and music, and new comic book-style scenes between missions to tell the story more organically. If you’ve never really moved on from the game, this is unambiguously good news; you can put your long-in-the-tooth Brood War CD away and still get all of the same actual gameplay.
You’ve got my attention. *blasts jet of fire*
I’ll be watching this closely. Loved SC1 and played the hell out of that. Couldn’t get into SC2 at all. Playing SC1 at my monitor’s resolution without a hugely blurry pixellated mess of graphics would be so sweet.
I still remember hot debates “Starcraft vs TOtal Annihilations” in Fidonet. I was always on starcraft side. Awesome game, might replay with new graphics
Age of Empires 2 HD has done really well for itself, so I am not surprised.
It makes perfect sense.
It’s awesome they are making the original starcraft into an MMO
gotta say, those modernized graphics seem kinda ugly. Can’t tell if it’s because the video is compressed.
Also a shame that Blizzard isn’t going to modernize the gameplay. I pretty much take for granted better pathfinding/queuing orders/multiple building selection/unlimited unit selection/etc.
But I sort of understand why. Starcraft 2 essentially modernized Broodwar while adding and subtracting new/old units. No longer did you have to click your mouse and keyboard like a Korean on crack. Problem was that ALOT of matches had huge waves of armies just crashing into each other. Fucking deathballs weren’t really fun to watch or play against.
I just wish that Blizzard found a way to modernize Broodwar WITHOUT turning it into Starcraft 2 deathball fest. Is there such a way possible to create Starcraft 1.5? I hope so.
Worse comes to worse. Blizzard can always create 2 different game modes. Classic Broodwar mode, and the New Coke version with modernized controls.
Best way to see the actual difference between the original and new is to go to the actual website https://starcraft.com/en-us/ and scroll down, and they have animated GIFs with a slider to go from SD to HD. It’s pretty funny, because it looks like somebody going over the blurry image and saying “Enhance”. They look much better than the old textures, but still look meh because they’re in a janky old 2D engine with no lighting or shaders, or whatever else we take for granted these days.
Yea, disappointed that this is a REMASTERED instead of a REMAKE.
But I guess a building from scratch would be too expensive for Blizzard.
I want original Diablo. Dammit.
I knew the second I saw this mentioned elsewhere that it was going to be $$$ and not free. The price will be a make-or-break moment. Hopefully they don’t try to price it like the execs need a massive infusion of cash to buy a private island. LOL
Ah, yes. No$talgia.
Every “remastered” game that I’ve seen hit the markets isn’t all that. Like with the Baldur’s Gate remastering. Save your cash and just re-install the original if you have it.
the original version will be free when this releases.
Right, but the HD remastered version is a paid for product.
Heh, I never did finish Brood War and ended up breaking the pirated disc I had (where I made a copy of a friend’s disc). It might be time for me to actually pay for and finish this game.
Finally, this rumor has been kicking around for long enough that I’m glad it’s finally going to die.
This is about the only thing that has a chance to revive competitive Starcraft in any serious way after Blizzard letting the SC2 pro scene fall apart. I’ll probably not bother (I’ve not interest in financially supporting Blizzards ongoing direction, which I strongly disagree with), but hopefully it will at least revive the pro scene a bit. Despite sucking at SC pretty bad (I was almost decent at Brood Wars for a while), I’ve always enjoyed the shit outta watching pro tournaments. If those come back in a serious way, I’ll consider this a success.