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Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void to debut as standalone game
Like two High Templar Protoss merging to form an Archon, the third installment of the StarCraft 2 saga, StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void, will be comprised of two identities: that of an expansion, and that of a standalone game. In non-game jargon speak, this means that although Legacy of the Void will act as a continuation of the series' plot up to now, you'll be able to purchase and enjoy it regardless of whether or not you own Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm. Comparing the new game to an Archon unit is more accurate than you may think though, as the game will feature something called "Archon Mode," where two players cooperatively manage a single base as they face off against another duo of players doing the same. Blizzard revealed the news during the opening ceremony for BlizzCon 2014, which is happening this weekend in Anaheim. [Image: Blizzard]
StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm review: Zerg rushing towards resolution
In music theory, there's a series of notes called a tritone interval. (I'm a writer and a Rock Band player, not a musician, so bear with me, band members.) The tritone consists of three different whole tones: The first sets the stage, marks the spot on the musical scale that our ear can attune itself to. The second note is actually dissonant – it throws off the harmony, and introduces new elements so distasteful that the chord used to be called "The Devil in Music."The third tone, however, finishes off the chord in exactly the right way, and brings resolution to all of the dissonance. Leonard Bernstein famously put the tritone to great use in the song "Maria" from West Side Story: "Ma-" is the beginning tone, "-ri-" shakes things up with some disharmony, and "-a" resolves the melody, justifying the lead couple's forbidden love.Now, using that theory to talk about Blizzard's StarCraft 2 trilogy is a little unfair. The second campaign, Heart of the Swarm, isn't anywhere near "distasteful." But it does introduce plenty of new elements to the series, spinning off the RTS classic into places that Wings of Liberty never dared to go. And like that second note of a tritone, it makes sure to leave plenty of ambiguity and promise out there, making sure we're all ready for the big finale in Legacy of the Void.%Gallery-176756%
Blizzard talks Heart of the Swarm multiplayer, and what's next for Starcraft 2
Just as E3 was ending last week, Major League Gaming's Spring championships were getting underway in Anaheim, California. Blizzard held a press preview during the opening hours of the tournament to show off the new units and features coming to Starcraft 2's multiplayer component in the upcoming Heart of the Swarm expansion.Each of the three races in the game has a few new units and abilities to study (which you can see in the included trailer), and hardcore players will no doubt be combing through them as the expansion goes into beta. But Heart of the Swarm's multiplayer represents an interesting change in Blizzard's original plan for the three-part series that is Starcraft 2.As lead producer Chris Sigaty (who doubles, by the way, as the lead guitarist for Blizzard's in-house metal band L80ETC) tells Joystiq, the new units are all about adding something to the game without removing what's there.%Gallery-157828%
