Starcraft Fanboyism

So.

It seems like I begin every blogpost I make with the word "So." I think this is a fault rather than a virtue, but what the heck, it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. In any case, it doesn't have any bearing on what I'm going to be talking about.

But yes. Starcraft. One of the best games ever created, and the best RTS in existence, in my honest opinion. It says a lot that Starcraft is considered South Korea's national sport, and there are at least 5 different major competitions being held in South Korea even as I speak. Write. Whatever.

For the uninitiated, let me talk about Starcraft in general. Starcraft is a Real-Time Strategy Game, also known as RTS genre. It comes from the same category of games as Company of Heroes, Dawn of War and the Red Alert series. The only difference between them? Starcraft is about a decade older.

Part of the reason why Starcraft has lasted so long is due to the seeming lack of imbalance. Even in the most recent RTSs, you can always hear screams of "That's Imba! F***ing Kangaroo!", the infamous Armoured Car rushes, and the complete and utter impossibility of balancing 10 different races a la Dawn of War: Soulstorm. The supposed scissors-paper-stone arrangement between Terran < Zerg < Protoss < Terran can't be seen at all at the pro-level, and it says a lot that the top three players in the world are Jaedong (Zerg), Bisu (Protoss) and Flash (Terran).

Yet another reason why Starcraft is such a draw is because of the amazing atmosphere that you can get playing the games, as well as the completely different feeling that the three races give off.

The Terrans, the human race in the game, are exactly what you'd expect from a bunch of humans trying to scrape out a living in the backwater regions of the world. The Terrans have by far the best defenses in the game, but this can easily turn into an attacking option (contains, anyone?) and are the only race capable of surviving the entire game on nothing but two bases. Their strength, like all humans, lies in their adaptability, and with the flick of a button (literally), the Terran can easily switch tactics to respond to an opponent's attacking style. Unless, of course, you're iloveoov, in which case you just spam him to death.

The Zerg are perfect as the disgusting, all-consuming, biological alien plague. Unashamedly taking ideas from the Tyranids in Warhammer 40k, the term Zerg Rush is still used to describe a powerful, merciless, all-in move from one player to another. The Zerg will often outnumber you, and their flank attacks can be especially devastating due to the advent of Lurkers. The Zerg play exactly how their lore works - expand everywhere on the map, so that you're rolling in the cash and can outproduce your opponent to high-heaven.

The Protoss are the stereotypical, hyper-advanced alien race that seemingly dominates all. Several people say that the Protoss are the most imbalanced race in the whole game - at first, it might seem that way - it requires 4 Marines or 6 Zerglings to kill 1 Zealot, making the Zealot the most fearsome Tier 1 unit in the game. Reavers deal insane amounts of damage, High Templars have the ever powerful Psionic Storm, Dark Templars wreak havoc on unsuspecting bases, and who can forget the Carrier. And yet, despite this almost complete domination one for one, the Protoss suffer because they are like fuel-guzzling car. Without the cash rolling in, the Protoss can't do nuts. And when your opponent is containing you (Terran) or has taken every other expansion on the map (Zerg), you're pretty much screwed.

Unfortunately, it's getting a bit late, and I can't really talk more about this. I think I shall speak more on this subject tomorrow.