StarCraft Remastered: the risks of nostalgia

There is no excuse for never having played StarCraft: the Blizzard series is at the same time one of the high points of real-time strategy, and a universe full of evocative characters and events. A classic appreciated and imitated for two decades, a phenomenon that has crossed the boundaries of the videogame to become something special and perhaps unrepeatable. Everyone should play StarCraft at least once and that's why the second trilogy was created, to modernize, expand and refine the original. Wings of Liberty, Hearth of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void are three excellent games that may not have had the competitive luck of the original (and above all of Brood War) but for the common player they remain essential points of reference. Considering the nature between sequel and remake of the second trilogy, it is questionable what is not so much the value in itself of StarCraft Remastered , but the audience to whom it really makes sense to recommend it.



The complete package

Installed StarCraft Remastered we are faced with a menu divided between single and multiplayer, with each of the two choices in turn asking us if we want to access the original or Brood War. If you only have fifteen euros in your pocket this summer, you have never touched the series and you want a mountain of hours of gameplay, you can be on the safe side: the two campaigns show the weight of the years a little but are still fun and full of memorable characters, while the multiplayer, especially that of Brood War, will ask you enormous commitment for months if not years before being mastered at best. The challenge rate based on the type of experience you are looking for varies from "walking with friends" to "climbing Everest in shorts", especially if you venture among the multiplayer servers on the Asian shores.



StarCraft Remastered: the risks of nostalgia

Fish has even been kept, the historic third-party server that has hosted some of the strongest players in the world for years and where even today people like Bisu, Free and ZerO enjoy streaming on Twitch or Afreeca TV. In strictly content terms, the only real novelty is the ladder and matchmaking system, initially announced also for the StarCraft Anthology, then became in the course of development exclusive for this Remastered. An interesting novelty of course, which still seems to have some problems but which is still aimed at those who already have experience with the product or to those very few who will not buy it just to overcome a bit of hot summer days but will make it a pastime to cultivate. in time. Everyone else is likely to be limited to the many missions of single player campaigns and a few online skirmishes with friends.

StarCraft Remastered: the risks of nostalgia

Change of dress

The flagship of this remastered edition lies in the important work of modernizing the visual component, done however keeping faith with the values ​​not only technical but also playful of the original. In practice, the units, maps and effects have been redesigned to support modern screen resolutions and aspect ratios, while maintaining the exact same size, orientation and every feature of their then counterparts. This is not so much to allow us to switch on the fly from one visual form to another (which is also quite fun, just press F5) but to not alter a gameplay and a sports scene that has lived and in part still lives on very delicate balances. For the same reason the imperfect path finding of the drives has not been touched, for example, and the small bugs or problems that millions of users have gotten used to live with occupy the same place they occupied even then. A blast from the past that will please the nostalgic but that after a few hours risks becoming indigestible.



StarCraft Remastered: the risks of nostalgia

Being able to select a maximum of twelve units at a time, having to direct the collection ones towards the fields manually and having big limits in the creation of control groups is not easy if you have never done it and it is perhaps no longer as fun as it used to be. if then you had already committed to skyrocket your shares per minute. There is a solution to all these difficulties and is called StarCraft II, which basically changed in order to facilitate and make the experience more fun for everyone. The result is that to decide whether to recommend StarCraft Remastered or not, you need to profile the user to whom you are addressing well: anyone who has always wanted to get their hands on the series, loves real-time strategy and wants to have fun with a title in step with times, better throw yourself on the StarCraft II trilogy which also enjoys better structured and more fun campaigns; on the contrary, those who want to experience the thrill of something old polished or see what happens to challenge the very strong Korean community, can buy this slightly revised and (deliberately) incorrect version. One last note about the Koreans: at the time of writing the two servers / region of the country of the "morning calm", Korea and Fish, count about fifteen times the number of users of the second most active, the European one, a sign that the operation arises precisely from a specific need. In a few months we would not be surprised if the gap became even more marked.


StarCraft Remastered: the risks of nostalgia

Comment

Digital Delivery Official site Price 14,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

8.0


Readers (21)

8.6

Your vote

StarCraft Remastered offers a beautiful graphic reissue and matchmaking (perfectible) in addition to the amount of content we already know and have been celebrated on every possible occasion over the past twenty years. As a counterpoint, he asks to bow to an anachronistic gameplay that is not for everyone and that, for those who have not yet tried it, requires thousands of hours of training in multiplayer to compete with the community that will be permanently transferred to the game once it is exhausted. the initial thrust of new recruits. A timeless masterpiece that today cannot be recommended to everyone without reservations, especially since many will find StarCraft II more fun.

PRO

  • Brood War is a true piece of history
  • Very effective renewed graphics
  • The new matchmaking options are welcome ...
AGAINST
  • ... but at the moment there is some problem
  • The experience risks being anachronistic for many
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