This is so one hour ago. I can wait though [for this game], more than enough coming out this year.

Jesus... just watching that video makes me cry. There's no way my crap computer can run all that prettiness.

@Krytha:

It'll probably at least port to 360

That battle was like two rhinos fighting it out in molasses... Was really boring looking and the nukes didn't look all that great either... CnC3 did nukes amazingly well...

Oh well, it will still be a good game I guess, but not really all that interested, it just looks like an exact copy of SC, with a face lift... and not even a good one at that...

If the game is played at a decent resolution (1280x960+) its gonna be the greatest game of all time. WTB release date that isnt 2009!

Looks very pretty. I wonder how long it will be, though, until someone makes an RTS that has units that automatically strafe or move around upon encountering enemies instead of just planting and having a war of attrition.

I don't play any RTS games these days, so if something already does that feel free to correct me.

I'm anticipating Universe at War more than I am this. But this will be fun too, I'm sure.

i'm giddy like a schoolgirl right now. looks amazing!

@Scazza:

As far as the game "only getting a facelift", well I dunno when your prior title is consider the best RTS of all time, you would be pretty dumb to start messing with its formula. The graphics are, imo, amazing if you check the screenshots on ign, and they are adding a bunch of new units that will bring the gameplay to a new level. Im SO glad they didnt make SC2 a MMO or any other type for that matter.

Well, they can practically do whatever they want (in a certain perimiter of fail) and people will still buy it in huge loads.
Never played SC, so I don't understand what the fuss is about. GG? WTF?

So...

Blue, everywhere! I feel like I'm wearing goggles or something.

Wont be coming to consoles. Blizzard does what they want. They finished Warcraft Adventures and 2 different versions of Starcraft Ghost and never released those period. And they've made it clear they arent interested in any of their games coming to consoles.

But man. This game is greatness. One of the best selling games of all time finally getting a sequal. Command and Conquer and Starcraft back in action I could almost cry in joy.

Great time to be a PC gamer. And especialy an RTS fan. Between this and the Company of Heroes expansion and some others. Great times ahead.

And this game looks a lot better then the first Starcraft 1. I have no idea why someone said that.

Easily now my most anticipated game. Right before Mass Effect and Metroid Prime 3.

Epic.

I'm glad that I recently got a new PC. If this comes out this Q4, 2007 will be the best year of my life. Though, knowing Blizzard I'm guessing SC2 will probably be a 2008 release.

Either way, its my #1 most wanted game, beating Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

http://www.StarCraft2.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJB-Z54R61s

First time poster, but figured I'd let you guys know that it's already on YouTube as well :)

This comment has the picture of Nicholas Cage in the priest outfit from Face/Off with "I came!" superimposed on it.

Do want.

@sanskrit:

Finally the website's up. I was going nuts refreshing. Thanks.

I never heard people cheer nukes so loudly.

"There's no way my crap computer can run all that prettiness."

The graphics looked very similar to SC, so I wouldn't worry about it. The reason SC is so popular (one of them anyway) is that it has base line specs the average PC can meet. Same with WoW, so you know they'll be shooting at spec.s that are "out of date" so the game can meet a max audience.

I predict that 2ghz + 512mb RAM + 128 mb graphics memory is about right.

SCII looks like a big expansion rather than a true 'next-gen' sequel. This is the smartest thing they could do, change the gamplay and presentation too much and you risk alienating the fan base.

@neuromancer: Starcraft is an entirely 2D game. Starcraft 2 is entirely 3D. The system requirements are going to be drastically different.

Did you see that video. It looked on par with Command and Conquer 3 easily. And will probably be even better when done. Possibly up as high as Company of Heroes.

Base line will be low so anyone can play sure but thats not to say put to max it won't be gorgeous.

GG

Good bad or ugly, I must have typed that 1000 times

"The graphics looked very similar to SC" ?!?! Maybe in style but I think most average PC's will be needing a facelift to run this.

Way too early to be sure but looking at the screenshots and video, it's looking increasingly like the graphics are the main change, doesn't look like we can expect something like warcraft 3 which introduced major alterations to the formula.

New units spotted from screenshots and on website:

Flying protoss tripod and more typical attack craft (no sign of carriers)
Protoss transport unit (phase prism)
"imortals" heavy protoss unit
"Stalkers" Dragoon replacements.
protoss Super flying weapon (may be a defensive building)

Looks like Protoss have a complete overhaul compared to terrans (who I haven't spotted anything new for). Zergs also don't seem to have much new but I suspect they're hiding their new units as they're only showing zergling rushes

@ Athiest jew

Yes the sys reqs are going to be totally different

SC needed a p90 and 16mb ram, and I was estimating 23x as much processing power and 32x as much RAM.

The art style is similar (despite the 2d-3d transition), and I think they will keep the req.s modest like with WoW.

So not a 3.0 gz dual coure with 2gb ram and a 8800GT.

Great! hopefully it comes out within one year.

@neuromancer: The game looks at least as graphically impressive as C&C3 does now, and it probably won't be out for a year at the least. It's nice to be optimistic, but not recklessly so. Blizzard took a lot of shit due to Warcraft 3 looking like crap, they arn't about to make the same mistake again.

I'm just hoping that it'll have a slightly higher system requirement than WC3, but lower than C&C3.

I was hoping the art style would retain some grittiness, but it seems to have taken the colourful WoW vibe.

For some reason, I predict surprises as time goes on. Maybe a new race, maybe some smaller change. It's early - things change in development. Remember, War3 originally had six races and they dropped two as time went on.

@Atheist Jew: I bet that's all the execs can think of, as they wipe their butts with benjamins all day. If only they hadn't made that mistake...

@GrimPil: So they'll drop two, and we're left with Terran v Terran every time! SWEET!

Is it just me or does the game look just like a slightly modified Warcraft III engine with old Starcraft interfaces? I mean, the video is orgasmic and pretty, but somehow I had hoped more than just this.

Anyways, I ain't complaining. SC2 will come soon enough.

@Toasticus: Company of Heroes does that with infantry and that's why it truely feels like a step up from the typical RTS. Now any RTS where units don't automatically take cover, dodge vehicles, and shout relevant tactical commands at each other feels stale and old to me.

cmao. Yup, it ís about time. Excited. Waterproof. Furry.

Why has no one mentioned the Zeratul?

http://eu.starcraft2.com/wallpapers.xml

Is that part of the protoss faction? Or a new race?

Nevermind, i just realised that he's part of the brood war story... i didn't play that. :)

1) CG looks detailled and well thought through.
2) In game graphics in general look average for such a big game.
3) The Zergs look like they will have the upper hand again... I hate Zergs... hoping the Protoss will be the best this time round.
4) The nukes look crappy... no WOW factor.
5) All in all, this needs atleast another year of work to have a hope of meeting the quality this game should have.

I'm excited even though i never really got into SC, I was more a C&C guy. But from what little they've shown I get the feeling that I'll have the same problem with it as I have most every other recent rts game, the units just plain aren't smart enough in their own.

Looking good.. but nothing new till now, just SC with better graphics.. I'm a little disappointed..

This is StarCraft, remember. It has to cater to the millions and millions of existing fans, which means units will be dumb. If they aren't it destroys the micro game, which is easily a quarter of the skill in StarCraft.

SC has no reason to come down and play in the same market as newer RTSes like Company of Heroes, and it would lose something unique to it if it did. After all, there's Company of Heroes for those as prefer it. Why compete, when SC2 can dominate just by servicing SC's current fanbase?

Oh.

My.

God!

Looks absolutely beautiful.

To be honest I hardly played SC when it was originally out, but I was addicted to Warcraft, in every sense of the word.

Blizzard just destroys my expectations when it comes to games. I can't even think of a better developer.

How different do you think the game-play will be between CS2 and WC3? I noticed that there aren't heros and such. Creeps? Entirely different game? Can my new iMac run it? =D

Hmm...so do ya think a 1.46 GHz PC with half a gig of RAM has any chance in hell of running this?

Ahh, back to Warcraft III then. At least that runs like butter on my laptop.

Toasticus- the Kohan series does that. The first Kohan game was great, but a tad buggy. The second made me distrust timegate forever.

@Narsil: I'm thinking yes, every Blizzard game has really low system requirements so that they can get as many people as they can playing it. I doubt the system specs will be that high since they will have to make sure that the majority of korean internet cafes can also run the game.

I mean, you only neede a 400mhz processor to run WC3, and WoW's minimum processor req is still only 800mhz.

@Scazza:
I'm glad I wasn't the only one not impressed with the video.
I'm sure it will be a good game, and tons of people will buy it, but I don't think I'll be upgrading my computer just to play it. (I'm mostly a console gamer, but I do like playing old games on PC)

I really can't wait for SC2!

Reading all the comments here it seems that everyone's forgetting what sub-genre SC really was.

SC really concentrated more towards the "build-an-army-with-a-zillion-zergs-n-rush-kekeke" type of game play. Fight where you see swarms of marines/zerglings and stuff. Big, Badass fights. In RTS terms, I guess it would be labeled as taking a more 'Macro' approach.

I guess it's a different approach to Wc3, where you had a unit limit and thus had to use the same squad combination of one to two heroes + a couple of support units.

Likewise to Company of Heroes, even though it totally slaughters my system right now - from the gameplay trailers I have seen, the game seems to take a more Micro approach in determining the different unit type and special units with smart unit actions.

I guess the reason that Blizzard couldn't really create a 3d engine similar to that of Company of Heroes, would be the fact that if they did that, we probably would never be able to see epic battles online with 8 players brining 150+ units into the middle of the map and duking it out there.

Looking forward to this game, and I'm sure all of us Starcraft players are too!

Im kinda hoping for something new and interesting like how I had fun with Dawn of War and Company of Heroes.

But Starcraft was fun in its own twitchy little way, although this time I might pass it up.

Am curious to see if they made a more solid story this time around though. :)

Ah damn, I gotta change my pants again...

This game is completely unnecessary.

This explains the cease and desist to that crew that was making a version of SC on (memory fails me) the WarCraft 3 or C&C Generals engine.

lmao that "GG" at the end was a nice touch ^^

@Loyal2none:

How do you figure? We RTS nuts have wanted this since the turn of the century.

i hope the game looks like crap. then my PC can run it.

@Americana: ill almost guarantee im an older and bigger rts nut than anyone on here, and i havent wanted it. i never liked starcraft as much as other franchises, im almost completely disinterested in a sequel.

isnt it funny how this was announced in korea, and korea is where this game is a national sport... and yet kotaku has 0 koreans posting about this good news. seems theyre just as nationally insular as the rest of their continent.

@aestheticity:

That's fine. Doesn't change the fact it's their best franchise.

This is the best gaming news I've heard in years. I cannot wait!

Direct feed gameplay footage is now on the IGN site