"WANTED: Jim Raynor


For treason. Scoundrel, known collaborator with criminal Tychus Findlay and the enemy Protoss.


REWARD: $500,000."


Yeah, that's me all right. They won't find me in this bar on Mar Sara, although I guess if Tychus could find me, the rest of them won't have much trouble. Tychus had some crazy idea in his head that freelancing some merc missions would be good for us. That was, until we found that the Zerg had come out of hiding ? and that Kerrigan was back in all her treacherous glory.


I need a drink. If I only hadn't been too late to save her ?things coulda been different.


That's the premise for the new StarCraft II campaign, unveiled by Rob Pardo, Blizzard's executive vice president of game design, during a panel discussion on StarCraft II gameplay at BlizzCon. Any fan of the futuristic real-time strategy game is familiar with Raynor and his fight against the Terran Dominion, the Zerg and the Protoss. So it wasn't much of a surprise that Pardo said the new game will revolve around him.

One of the new characters that Raynor can meet in the Terran campaign.

What was a bombshell is that StarCraft II will consist of three standalone games -- starting with the Terran campaign, dubbed Terrans: Wings of Liberty. The Zerg will get their own product -- much like an expansion, but a standalone game -- entitled Zerg: Heart of the Swarm, focusing on Kerrigan and her transformation from trusted Terran lieutenant to the hive leader Queen of Blades. Finally, the third product, Protoss: Legacy of the Void, will focus on Zeratul, the Dark Templar trying desperately to reunite his people while fighting off the swarming Zerg. Each of the games will be self-contained, and they will have definitive endings.


So Blizzard's going to have me as the focal point, huh. Can't say as I blame them. They need me, just as much as Tychus needs me. I don't really care, though. I just want my shot at crushing the Dominion. If I can take a bunch of Zerg and Protoss with me, all the better. It ain't going to be no picnic, either. Apparently, there will be 25-30 missions I'll have to slog through to bring this damn campaign to a close. Good news is, I don't have to do all of them and there won't be any of the cliffhangers that always piss me off. I can be choosy -- weigh the odds, you know. Maybe if I choose this mission over here, I'll get a new ally who will offer me more work. If I choose this mission, maybe I'll get more cash for new upgrades for our troops. Either way, I make the call. I like that. And in the end, I'll know the final score.


Pardo said the reason for dividing the game into three separate campaign products was Blizzard's commitment to building out an incredible backstory that the player can become immersed in. The campaign as a whole was shaping up to be three to four times larger than the original StarCraft and Brood War expansion. They were building a larger story, more characters, alternate missions and more in-game cinematics -- so much so that the project was growing out of control. In the end, they had to make a choice: Simplify the campaign; compromise the game and delay its release; or divide it and focus on the different races.

Raynor (right) talking to Tychus in the bar.

Pardo demonstrated some of the story for the Terrans within a cantina. The cantina, and the bar on Mar Sara, are spots where players will be dropped between missions. This is a setting where players can play music, look at a bulletin board that gives them extra information or chronicles player deeds, or watch television, where the news agency of the day adds to the backstory or lays the groundwork for some future missions.


Yeah, it's going to be good to get back into the fight. I've still got my ship and a good crew. It woulda been pretty difficult to carry on the fight without keeping these things in reserve. The star maps are up to date, so we can go wherever we're needed. They kept the armory stocked as well, so we'll be able to do whatever upgrades we need to stay ahead of the enemy. We'll be able to gather up some new allies along the way, if I play my cards right. Tychus is reliable, but he's still a pain in the ass. I'll need more than him to get me through this mess.

The Protoss Dark Templar Zeratul.

Three separate games will mean more sets, more characters, more props and more branching missions than previously planned. And more of the cinematics (both in-game and pre-rendered) that fans seem to appreciate so much. But regarding the most important factor for some players: Multiplayer will be fully implemented for the first game, allowing players access to all three races., despite the fact that the first game's single-player mode will only revolve around Raynor and the Terrans.


Pardo did mention that the terran game would have a Protoss mini-campaign as part of the package. The campaign would focus on Zeratul and be timed with what was happening with the Terrans. He couldn't comment yet whether mini-campaigns would be part of the future packages.


He concluded the presentation with a sketched out cinematic of Kerrigan's capture by the Zerg and the treachery in leaving her behind on the planet Tarsonis. He followed that up with a one-minute segment of what will be the four-minute opening cinematic for the game, showing a ragged Zeratul examining an Protoss artifact, then getting ambushed by Zerg hydralisks. He battles them alone, killing them all. And as he turns from the carnage, he comes face-to-face with Kerrigan. Her final ominous words: "I knew you would find your way here eventually."