How to play Starcraft II

Shun-Je BharkGold League player

What is it?Starcraft II is a real time strategy game created by Blizzard entertainment and rated for teens. It is one of the most popular E-sport games in the world, played by millions of people. Since it’s release in 2010, Blizzard has sold over 10 million copies of the game world-wide. Play range is anywhere from casual gaming, all the way up to hard core gaming tournaments. Starcraft II is considered the E-Sports gamer’s choice game in 2012.

How do you play?Like most real time strategy games, Starcraft II is quite simple. You gather resources, construct building and create armies to beat your opponent before he beats you. But it isn’t just two huge armies clashing against each other, you have to use superior battle tactics and strategies to outsmart and outmaneuver your opponent and build a stronger economy to destroy your opponent before he destroys you!

Specifics?

There are three playable races in Starcraft II. Each with it’s own unique buildings, units and strategies. One race are the Protoss. These techonlogical humanoid aliens use superior technology and astonishing psionic power to defeat their enemies. The second race are the Terran. Humans 500 years into the future, these humans use overwhelming firepower to flatten anything in their path. And finally, the Zerg. These biological monstrosities use huge numbers to steam roll entire planets in their path. Whichever race you choose, each race has it’s strengths and weaknesses.

Why all the Trouble?Right now, to you Starcraft II may just seem like a stupid game where all you do is build huge armies and throw them against each other to see who wins right? Wrong. There is a lot more mechanics and very little details that make Starcraft II the intense game that it is. To be truly good at Starcraft, you need to think like a chess player, and have the fingers of a concert pianist, and you have to be a multi-tasker. Yes. It doesn’t seem likely, but there is a lot of pre-thought strategy that goes into each game. Where it’s deciding what build order you’re going to use, to choosing which units to counter the “Deathball” your opponent’s making. And yes, there is a lot of fingerwork in Starcraft II. Using “Hotkeys” to increase your operformance, Every action you take in Starcraft is recorded, and you are told how fast you can do these actions. This is called APM (actions per minute) among pro gamers, their APM ranks around 300-450! That’s around 5 actions a second! So you need to have strong fingers when you play Starcraft. Multitasking is also in essential skill in Starcraft. You have to keep track of your opponent and see if he’s going to attack anytime soon, you have to keep track of your production and make sure it’s not plummeting you have to keep track of your ecomony… There’s a lot that goes into a Starcraft game that makes it intense.

Micro vs. MacroWhat’s the difference? They both sound the same! Even if they do sound the same, micro and macro are two VERY different things. Micro is something you use when you are in battle when you pull out an injured unit so they don’t die and they can keep on fighting. Macro is process of keeping your economy and your income up and keeping your unit production consistent without and major declines. Both are very important and very essential skills in any Starcraft game.

Girls!Starcraft isn’t just a game for boys only, there are also a lot of girls who play Starcraft. Some of the biggest names are Smix, Megumixbear, and Scarlett. All three of these girls play Starcraft II for a living and are very successful.

Start Playing!Starcraft II is a game for everybody (unless you’re not a teenager yet) and anyone can play! Don’t be fooled by all the complex sounding mechanics and everything, even as a beginner it’s a really fun game to play.

Thanks for Watching!!

Bibliographyhttp://farm7.static.flickr.com/6051/6262116264_8b2d6e5bb6.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/jp9UF.jpghttp://www.eclypsia.com/public/upload/news/2012_04/slider_scarlett.jpghttp://www.geekologie.com/2010/02/24/starcraft-2-beta.jpghttp://shokzguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/MicroandMacro.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8f/Zealot_(StarCraft).png/250px-Zealot_(StarCraft).pnghttp://www.wallpaperez.org/wallpaper/games/s/StarCraft-2-zerg-wallpapers-619.jpghttp://www.myfreewallpapers.net/games/wallpapers/starcraft-terran-warrior.jpghttp://www.theuen.com/images/starcraft-2-uen.jpghttp://us.blizzard.com/_images/games/sc2/wallpapers/wall2/wall2-1024x768.jpghttp://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080511221661/starcraft/images/c/cb/Screenshot_SC2_DevGame1.jpghttp://starcraft2shokzguide.com/shokzguide2.jpghttp://digitalbattle.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/starcraft-2.jpg