StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
| StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm | |
|---|---|
Heart of the Swarm cover artwork,
depicting protagonist Sarah Kerrigan |
|
| Developer(s) | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Designer(s) |
Dustin Browder Matthew Morris |
| Artist(s) | Samwise Didier |
| Writer(s) |
Chris Metzen Brian Kindregan |
| Composer(s) | Glenn Stafford Jason Hayes Russell Brower Neal Acree Derek Duke |
| Series | StarCraft |
| Engine | Havok |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X |
| Release | March 12, 2013 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Soundtrack | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Glenn Stafford, Derek Duke, Neal Acree, Russell Brower, Jason Hayes, Cris Velasco | |
| Released | March 12, 2013 (CE/Digital) November 8, 2013 (Volume II) |
| Genre | Video game soundtrack |
| Length | 74:33 (Volume I) 49:45 (Volume II) |
| Label | Azeroth Music |
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 86.39% |
| Metacritic | 86/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Edge | 90/100 |
| Eurogamer | 9/10 |
| Game Informer | 8.75/10 |
| GamesRadar | 4.5/5 |
| IGN | 8.6/10 |
| Joystiq | 4/5 |
| PC Gamer (UK) | 91% |
| VideoGamer.com | 9/10 |
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is an expansion pack to the military science fiction real-time strategy game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty by Blizzard Entertainment. Heart of the Swarm is the second part of the StarCraft II trilogy, with the final part being Legacy of the Void.
The expansion, released on March 12, 2013, includes additional units and multiplayer changes from Wings of Liberty, as well as a continuing campaign focusing on the Zerg race, following Sarah Kerrigan in her effort to regain control of the swarm and exact her revenge on the Terran Dominion's emperor, Arcturus Mengsk. On July 15, 2015, Heart of the Swarm was made a standalone title, allowing play without having first purchased Wings of Liberty.
Heart of the Swarm has 20 missions in the campaign (plus seven evolution missions which allows the player to upgrade its units), and continues the story from Wings of Liberty. The player plays from the perspective of Sarah Kerrigan, recently returned to her human form by Jim Raynor. Similar to Wings of Liberty, the briefing room is replaced with an interactive exploration of the Leviathan, an enormous Zerg breed which functions as a bioship. Kerrigan and her allies are located in the nerve center. She has a personal chamber for altering her abilities, and there is an evolution pit where she can upgrade her units and perform evolution missions with the evolution master Abathur.
At Blizzard's 2011 BlizzCon conference, it was revealed that Heart of the Swarm will feature seven new multiplayer units, while removing three units and changing the abilities of existing units and buildings. The exact modifications have since changed. In a blog post, game director Dustin Browder explained the current status of the units.
The Terrans were originally expected to feature two new units: Shredder and Warhound. The Shredder was a mobile, burrowing turret based on the design of the Zerg Spine Crawler, attacking via clouds of toxic gas that were devastating to biological units. Internal testing revealed Shredder was too flexible and powerful, and it was therefore replaced by Widow Mine, a mobile burrowing unit that fires missiles, causing splash damage. The Warhound was a bipedal combat walker with an arm-mounted high-calibre cannon; it also possessed a missile for use against mechanical units. During the closed beta testing phase, pro gamers decried the Warhound for failing to function as intended; it was ultimately removed from multiplayer gameplay although it can be fought in single-player campaign.
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Wikipedia