StarCraft: Brood War | |
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Box art displays Kerrigan, one of the series' main character.
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Developer(s) |
Saffire Blizzard Entertainment |
Publisher(s) |
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Producer(s) | Shane Dabiri |
Designer(s) | Rob Pardo |
Artist(s) |
Samwise Didier Duane Stinnett |
Writer(s) | Chris Metzen |
Composer(s) | Tracy W. Bush Jason Hayes Glenn Stafford |
Series | StarCraft |
Engine | Warcraft |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Review scores | |
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Publication | Score |
CGW | 5/5 |
Game Revolution | B− |
GameSpot | 9.1/10 |
IGN | 8/10 |
PC Zone | 8.9/10 |
The Cincinnati Enquirer | 3.4/4 |
Awards | |
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Publication | Award |
Computer Gaming World | Add-on of the Year |
GameSpot | Best Expansion Pack |
StarCraft: Brood War is the expansion pack for the military science fiction real-time strategy video game StarCraft. Released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS, it was co-developed by Saffire and Blizzard Entertainment. The expansion pack introduces new campaigns, map tilesets, music, extra units for each race, and upgrade advancements. The campaigns continue the story from where the original StarCraft ended, with the sequel StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty continuing from the conclusion of Brood War. The expansion was released in the United States on 30 November 1998.
Brood War was critically well received, with reviewers praising it for being developed with the care of a full game rather than as an uninspired extra. As of 31 May 2007, StarCraft and Brood War have sold almost ten million copies combined. The game is especially popular in South Korea, where professional players and teams participated in matches, earned sponsorships, and competed in televised matches.
StarCraft focuses around three distinct interstellar species: the psionic Protoss, the adaptable Terrans, and the insectoid Zerg. The game revolves around players collecting resources to construct a base, upgrade their militaries, and ultimately conquer opponents. Brood War's gameplay remains fundamentally unchanged from that of StarCraft, although it made small alterations to unit costs and some abilities. These changes make rushing tactics—a factor that gained some criticism in the original StarCraft—less practical. The single-player campaign has an increased difficulty; missions are no longer entirely linear, and a greater focus on strategy is needed to complete missions. In addition, the game's artificial intelligence (AI) has been augmented so that AI-controlled players are more intelligent and tend to use tactics more effectively.