Released on 27/07/2010

• Blizzard says StarCraft II is aimed at everyone

  Blizzard says StarCraft II is aimed at everyone

  In an interview with Eurogamer, Blizzard co-founder Frank Pearce has said that he believes there's something in StarCraft II for everyone, because the game caters to players on a variety of different levels.

  The highly-anticipated sci-fi RTS has a reputation for being intimidating, but Pearce thinks people may be surprised by how accessible it is.

  "It's just like World of Warcraft, right?" he told Eurogamer. "With WOW there's all these different types of play, and by far the most intimidating type of play is the PvP element, right? Whether it's open world or Battlegrounds or arenas, it's the most intimidating part. But StarCraft II should be a compelling experience for everyone, regardless of how deeply they want to partake of it, just as WOW has compelling experiences depending on how you want to play it."

  As an example, Pearce cited the game's single-player campaign, with each new map offering a unique kind of challenge. "If all we wanted you to do was build up your forces and sweep in and destroy your opponent's base, we don't need to do a lot to design that, and you can get that experience in skirmish against the AI of different skill levels anyway. We wanted to make sure that the single-player was different. I mean, it's 29 missions: if you had to play 29 missions of 'build your base and sweep in and destroy things', it would potentially get very boring. We wanted to make sure it was engaging throughout."

  StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is due out for PC and Mac on 27th July.

• Korean Air joins forces with StarCraft II

  Korean Air joins forces with StarCraft II

  Everyone knows that South Korea loves StarCraft - Blizzard's RTS classic is a regular feature on TV channels over there, and the best players are big stars ? but this is something else. Blizzard Entertainment Korea has just announced a co-marketing plan with Korea Air that will put StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, and its cigar-chomping hero Jim Raynor on the paint-jobs of two aircraft.

  According to VG247, both planes will fly domestic routes in Korea as well as international routs in US and European regions starting from early July. Keep an eye on the clouds and you might see them.

  The planes were unveiled yesterday during a StarCraft II press event in a Korean Air hangar in Seoul. It was also announced that Korea will be getting a Professional Edition of StarCraft II, specifically made for the eSports circuit.

  StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty will be released world-wide for the PC and Mac on 27th July. We've managed to get our hands on it, and it's got a fast-paced, inventive single-player to go alongside its fearsomely addictive multiplayer modes. In short: you're going to love it.

• Blizzard talks StarCraft: The Movie

  Some people, eh? It's not enough that StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is a huge critical and commercial smash, but Blizzard, the company behind the world-beating sci-fi RTS is chewing over the idea of a tie-in movie.

  Speaking to MTV Multiplayer, Blizzard exec Rob Pardo admits that, "we've always had an interest in seeing our stuff on film or TV. It's just tricky to find the right partners."

  "We probably could have made a ['StarCraft'] movie or something on TV years and years ago," he continued, ?but it's really important to us that we find creative people that are really talented but also really excited about our properties. That's always been the challenge for us. I think if Jim Cameron came to us tomorrow and said, 'You want to make a 'StarCraft' movie?' we'd probably sign that."

  It's not the only film being discussed by the developer. Blizzard's already signed with the Dark Knight studio Legendary Pictures to create a World of Warcraft movie, helmed by Evil Dead director Sam Raimi. He did the Spider-Man movies, too, but Evil Dead is way better.

  StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is available now for the PC and Mac. So is World of Warcraft. That game's pretty big too, you know.

• Blizzard: The next Starcraft II expansion will be

  StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was released on Friday. It's very, very good. It's huge, too: the Terran campaign of the world-beating sci-fi RTS taking days to hack through, while multiplayer will probably consume you for years to come. That hasn't stopped Blizzard, though: with the first instalment done, the developer is already hard at work on the next instalment.

  Despite the fact that it hasn't officially been announced yet, the next part - titled Heart of the Swarm - is already starting to consume the techies at Blizzard's HQ. Speaking to CVG, Blizzard's Carl Chimes said it's shaping up to "be as epic" as Wings.

  "We're still in the development process on that and we haven't even come close to announcing anything yet," said Chimes, when interviewed during Wings of Liberty's midnight launch, adding that the next expansion will focus on the Zerg rather than the Terrans.

  According to VG247, we should expect a formal announcement of the second game at BlizzCon in October. Beyond that, a third and final part of the StarCraft II saga, titled Legacy of the Void, and focusing on the Protoss, is also in the works.

  StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is now available for the PC and Mac.

• Deep in the Blizzard

  

  After making its name with the puzzle series Lost Vikings, and making an ill-advised detour into console action with limp fighting games like Justice League Task Force, Blizzard finally found its true calling as a developer of rich, deep PC games. That they happened to invent, or reinvent, several genres along the way is just one reason why the Blizzard name is enough to make PC gamers sit up and drool. Like a reclusive rock star dropping a long-awaited new album, the Californian developer has driven fans into a frenzy with not one, not two, but three major titles arriving in the next year or two.

  For many fans StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, out now, is Blizzard's holy grail. Arriving a mere twelve years after the original game, it builds on the real-time strategy bedrock that the developer set in place way back in 1994 with Warcraft: Orcs & Humans.

  On the surface, StarCraft II is much as you'd expect. The three races that form the game's finely balanced power struggle are still present and correct. Terrans are still the default option, exiled humans struggling to survive in a hostile universe. The Zerg are their evil insectoid enemies, hellbent on galactic domination. Lurking mysteriously in the corner is the Protoss empire, technologically advanced and able to use powerful psionic abilities in their quest for glory.

  Wisely, Blizzard has opted to refine and update rather than fix something that was never broken. A non-linear single player campaign is a break with tradition, but in terms of nuts and bolts play, with over 11 million copies of the original sold, and with its multiplayer component still in regular circulation on the professional gaming circuit, it would be foolish to tamper with such a successful formula.

  Instead, StarCraft II takes advantage of the advances in internet and social networking technology, not least in Blizzard's own Battle.net system. Originally incorporated into Diablo in 1997, Blizzard launched the revamped Battle.net 2.0 last year in anticipation of the gaming triple whammy planned for 2010 and 2011. StarCraft II players will be able to utilise more sophisticated matchmaking tools, as well as use cross-game messaging, buy and rate new maps in the Marketplace and progress up a more balanced and subtle leaderboard ladder.

  There's a good chance that the excitement surrounding StarCraft II will be dwarfed (literally) when World of Warcraft: Cataclysm launches later this year. Any new expansion to a game that now boasts a population larger than most real world nations is sure to cause a stir, and after The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, the ominously titled Cataclysm looks set to rock the world of Azeroth to its core.

  At the heart of this new multiplayer campaign is the return of the dragon Deathwing the Destroyer. Clearly, with a name like that he's not going to be popping in for a flagon of mead and a hearty sing-song. Last seen in Warcraft II, this leathery lizard rips his way back into the Warcraft dimension, unleashing all kinds of ruckus in his wake.

  In terms of new features, Cataclysm expands World of Warcraft's boundaries in many directions. New areas with new raids are a given. The level cap has been raised to 85, giving long-term devotees new goals to aim for. And for those starting out, or starting over, there are new playable races - Goblins and Worgen.

  As with any MMORPG, a new expansion is a chance to inject new life and new adventures into a virtual world that can become dulled by routine. Based on previous form, and knowing Blizzard's commitment to excellence, Cataclysm should be more than enough to lure back even the most jaded player.

  Which only leaves Diablo III, the dark horse of Blizzard's upcoming lineup. Almost as overdue as StarCraft II, this direct sequel to the 2000 smash hit refreshes the frantic role-playing action of old with modern twists like real-time physics and a fully 3D gameworld populated by enemies that will actively use the environment to get the upper hand. As with StarCraft II, Battle.net functionality will play a major role, not only in competitive multiplayer, but in drop-in cooperative play, allowing players to work together on a whim. Frustratingly, Diablo III is the furthest from release, with fans left looking at 2011 with hungry, curious eyes.

  Three games, three enormous fanbases to placate. For most developers simply maintaining one enormous franchise is a herculean task, yet Blizzard seems to manage it with ease. After seven years of concentrating on World of Warcraft, this giant is stretching its muscles once more, and that can only be good news for gamers.

• StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Review

  12 years in the making...

  The PC market has evolved radically since the original StarCraft launched in 1998, but some things never seem to change. World of Warcraft developer Blizzard is still making highly rated and massively popular games, and sci-fi real time strategy sequel StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty looks set to continue that trend.

  Going solo

  StarCraft II boasts an engrossing solo campaign that allows you to tailor the experience by choosing your own path and selecting upgrades to suit different playing styles, a fast-paced and wonderfully balanced multiplayer offering, and a new 3D graphics engine that adds visual flair to the excellent gameplay.

  Wings of Liberty's solo campaign focuses on the Terran race, while future expansion packs will centre on the Zerg and Protoss.

  The three playable races from the original StarCraft return. The Terran is a technologically advanced future version of humanity kitted out with large combat suits and oversized guns, the Zerg are a race of biologically advanced insectoid aliens that operate as a hive mind dedicated to the pursuit of genetic perfection, while the Protoss are a sentient humanoid race with advanced psionic abilities.

  StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty's solo campaign focuses on the Terran race, while future expansion packs will centre on the Zerg and Protoss. You take on the role of Jim Raynor, the reluctant Terran hero from the original StarCraft, who has a lot on his plate. Not only does he hope to topple the corrupt Terran Dominion led by Emporor Arcturus Mengsk, but he's faced with a galaxy-wide Zerg assault headed by a former loved one turned alien now known as the Queen of Blades.

  StarCraft II adopts basic RTS mechanics that will be familiar to anyone with experience of the genre. You begin most scenarios with a command centre and a few worker units with which to mine resources. These allow you to construct buildings and produce military units, which are used to attack your enemies or to defend your own territory from assaults.

  29 of the best

  The single player game features 29 missions including base defence, stealth ones and straight-up battles, meaning you'll defend territory by seeing off invading forces and sneak onto enemy ground to destroy opposition strongholds. There's a branching storyline that allows you to choose the order in which you tackle some of the missions, which are peppered with gorgeous CGI movies – and some cheesy dialogue - that move the plot along nicely. In between levels you spend downtime using money earned during missions to upgrade your army and weaponry.

  Serious StarCraft II players will spend most of their time engaged in online multiplayer skirmishes via Blizzard's updated Battle.net.

  While the solo campaign offers many hours of fun, serious players will spend most of their time engaged in online multiplayer skirmishes via Blizzard's updated Battle.net service, which features voice chat functionality, cloud file storage, leagues, ladders, achievements and stat-tracking. There's also a great map editor that allows you to create your own custom maps.

  It's fair to say that Starcraft II's multiplayer offering doesn't differ too much from its predecessor's, which we think's a good thing. The main objectives remain resource gathering and unit building with the goal of destroying your enemy's base first. Each of the three playable races has their own characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, but months of tweaking while the game was in open beta mean they're now perfectly balanced. This results in fair fights where every strategy appears to have an applicable counter strategy and no single approach dominates. Battle.net's smooth matchmaking system is also great at pitting you against players of a similar skill level.

  Modern classic

  It might take a bit of experimenting to learn which tactics you're best suited to and which abilities you favour, but even defeat can be useful. After each match you're presented with a battle report giving you a second-by-second rundown of what you and your opponent did during the game, while a robust replay system lets you review the match from a number of perspectives to further analyse performances and get to grips with enemy strategies.

  There's no doubt in our minds that the long wait for StarCraft II was well worth it. By opting to stick with a winning formula while refining, tightening and polishing it until it reaches a new level, Blizzard has lived up to the hype and overcome the pressure to deliver a great sequel. Perfectly balanced, and easy to learn but hard to master, StarCraft II's mix of a deep single player experience and genre leading multiplayer make it one of the definitive RTS experiences.

  GAME's Verdict

  

  • Perfectly balanced combat.
  • Great online multiplayer offering.
  • One of the best RTS games of all time.

  

  • It took 12 years to get here.
  • We have to wait for the expansion packs.
  • You need an internet connection to activate the game.

  Review by: Tom 'SpaceFarer' Ivan
  Version Tested: PC
  Review Published: 04.08.10

  Published: 04/08/2010

• StarCraft II: Midnight Launch

  StarCraft II: Midnight Launch

  On Monday 26th July our Oxford Street Store opened its doors to a veritable army of PC gamers for what many are calling the Real Time Strategy event of the century so far - the launch of Blizzard's sci-fi strategy epic StarCraft II. Here's our report...

  Midnight launches may happen a fair few times a year, but rarely had we seen one quite like this. With the cult status enjoyed by its predecessor thanks to over a decade of amazing multiplayer experiences, StarCraft II is a simply massive game, and this early-hours opening was an event filled with theatre and enthusiasm.

  We started by strolling past the GAME store on Oxford Street in London early in the evening hoping to catch a glimpse inside. We weren't disappointed! Usually closed so late at night, the shop was a hub of activity as the crew readily prepared and decorated, transforming the store into a StarCraft fan's nerdvana!

  Encouragingly, even at that time there was already a queue of 50 or so fans, assembled throughout the day just to be amongst the first to play StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty on PC - testament to the dedication of Blizzard's renowned following and the power of the StarCraft series.

  After grabbing a bite to eat we returned to the launch just ahead of midnight and were amazed how the queue had swelled - it now stretched along Oxford Street!

  Spirits were high as Blizzard promotional girls handed out StarCraft II branded cupcakes - delicious! - and fans discussed their expectations of the game.

  Throughout the night the crowd was treated to photo opportunities with Kerrigan the Queen of Blades and the Terran Marine, whom was patrolling the queue outside the store - just to keep the excitement nice and orderly. I wouldn't cross 'em, would you?

  At the stroke of midnight the store was officially opened by Blizzard's Vice President and Executive Managing Director of International Operations Mike Ryder, who was joined by Carl Chimes Lead software engineer, StarCraft II.

  As the tills began a ringing, the pair took great pleasure in talking with the fans and signed copies of their freshly purchased copies of StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty. Now that's fan service!

  After talking with the fans - many of whom bagged signed copies of the Limited Collector's Edition -soaking in the excitement and generally enjoying the spectacle of the StarCraft II launch event we left. Leaving the remainder of the eager queuing gamers to enjoy their StarCraft II experience and returned home to suit up ourselves and get ready for battle...

• Blizzard working on unannounced game?

  You wait years years! for each Blizzard game to arrive, and all of a sudden the legendary PC developer seems to be announcing new titles all the time.

  Well, not quite all the time, but we already know that the Warcraft creators are working on a brand new MMO, codenamed Titan, along with the amazing dungeon-crawler Diablo III, and two further instalments for the dazzling sci fi RTS StarCraft II. Oh, and there are two more World of Warcraft expansions on the way too. And a Diablo III expansion, even though the game isn even out yet.

  Well now there seems to be another game on the way, if a job listing, spotted by Eurogamer, is anything to go by. The job ad in question doesn give too much away, but it is encouraging applicants to come forward to work for an "unannounced game title."

  Digging deeper, it turns out Blizzard after a "software engineer, tools," to join Blizzard's "newest game team". The developer adds that, "this is a key role in a new and exciting project within the company."

  Well, it looks like the developers are going to busy for quite a while, then. More news on this one when we hear it.

• Better on PC

  You can pick up a beefy gaming PC for little more than the cost of a console.

  It used to be that PC gaming was for the more masochistic gamer: the constant (and costly) upgrades, having to configure your system every time you bought a new game and the hours spent tweaking settings for optimum performance. Not so any more. While the whole gaming world will be watching E3 in June (where we know we'll see more of the Wii U, possibly the Xbox 360 successor, and perhaps even the PlayStation 4) the truth is that these days you can pick up a beefy gaming PC for little more than the cost of a new console.

  You're no longer reduced to leaning over a desk after a hard day of leaning over a desk either. If you've got an HDTV then you need nothing more than an HDMI cable, a wireless keyboard and mouse, and maybe even treat yourself to a wired Xbox 360 controller - many PC games are now optimised to make use of console controllers.

  So, you've got your powerhouse PC, you've cabled everything together and nothing has blown up - so what was it all for?

  You get to play games the way the developers really want them to be played.

  Well for a start, you get to play games the way the developers really want them to be played. The extra grunt afforded by your brand new rig brings us to Battlefield 3. One of the best shooters we've played in years looks good on the home consoles, plays great with 24 players, but plays even better in a full-on, massively multiplayer 64 player combat battleground.

  It's not just about the sheer horsepower that makes PC gaming such a great experience. Everyone's an armchair critic, but many of those critics have a fair hand for designing game mods and content as well. In the award-winning Skyrim, Bethesda introduced their Radiant Story system to extend the life of the game. The party really starts though when the talented modders get to grips with the engine to bring enhanced graphics and brand new content - not to mention squashing a few bugs along the way.

  Then there are the games that you just can't get anywhere else. Some of the best gaming experiences of the last 20 years have come from Blizzard's acclaimed studios. World of Warcraft taught the world to play MMOs, while Starcraft competitions continue to dominate the real-time strategy gaming scene. Not only is there a huge amount of content to catch up on, one of this year's most anticipated games, Diablo 3, is shaping up to revolutionise the genre.

  Star Wars: The Old Republic is another must-play PC-only title that's thrilling Star Wars fans across the world. This story-heavy take on the MMO is the perfect single-player adventure tied up in the thrill and co-operation of a massively multiplayer world.

  PC games not only look better and play better, but the games themselves cost less.

  There's good news for your wallet as well. PC games not only look better and play better, but the games themselves cost less. Without the big three console manufacturers taking a slice of every game sold, you save money on that rig you treated yourself too every time you pick up the latest blockbuster.
  Just as you'll need to upgrade to a new console in the next few years, it's true that you'll find yourself having to upgrade your PC in the future. But things have definitely changed, and that awesome new graphics card will stand up to the challenge of increasingly high fidelity graphics far longer than it ever would have in the past. Not only that, when the time to upgrade comes you get to make only the changes that you want to make.

  With more and more titles being optimised for PC, there's never been a better time to get stuck into the choice, fidelity, and expanded world of gaming genres that the PC gaming scene provides.

• The Rise of Multiplayer Gaming

  It's hard to image there was ever a time when we couldn't assume our grimmest war-face, fire up our consoles and do battle with a global army of enemy combatants from the comfort of our armchairs. We're certainly come a long way from sitting hunched over our Commodores, battling as much for keyboard space with our siblings as we were on-screen! But where did it all start?

  Things really started to evolve in the 90s though when LAN parties were the in-thing for the hardcore gaming hobbyist. If the prospect of the violently seductive Doom wasn't enough to keep you up into the early hours by itself, there was no better way to bring the competitive minds of a whole generation of gamers together than by syncing up a few PCs and spending hours, even days, doing battle in the flesh.

  

  The blossoming Korean e-sports scene took the concept even further, and now commands a staggering national audience for televised championships. Blizzard's outstanding StarCraft series rules the roost in this domain, and not even the awesome sequel released in 2010 has put a dent in players' enthusiasm for the best-selling original. The competitive scene for StarCraft II is still buzzing in the West, and it's never too late to get stuck into a game that'll be around for years to come and still has two explosive expansions in the works.

  

  Then there's World of Warcraft, the game that really did change everything. Released in 2004, it arrived just at the right time as the mass uptake of increasingly fast broadband connections became the norm, unleashing a greedy clamour for the world of Azeroth - one so extreme that it saw Blizzard pull the game from store shelves at one point, their servers unable to keep up with the snowballing demand. It now enjoys a seven-figure subscriber count, and with three award-winning expansions under it's belt, there's more content for you to get stuck into than you'll know what to do with!

  

  While consoles such as the sadly-undersold Dreamcast teased gently around the potential for global gameplay, it was arguably Microsoft who broke new ground for console gaming with the launch of the Xbox LIVE service, putting a whole new world of gaming at player's feet - and long before PCs became a breeze to hook up for the living-room lounger!

  So while PC gaming might have dominated the early days of competitive multiplayer, it was titles like Halo 2 that brought the idea of mass gaming to the forefront of game design. While the single-player components of the Halo games continue to blow us away, the passion for Halo 2 was so extreme that players left their Xbox 360s running for days at a time to prevent the eventual switch-off of multiplayer support for all original Xbox games in April 2010.

  

  These days it's show-stopping blockbuster titles like Call of Duty that continue to change the way gaming is viewed and played online by the console crowd. For many, it's the only game they need to buy each year, and new services like Call of Duty Elite are doing even more to add greater depth to the experience, allowing gamers to track, log and show off their finest moments on the battlefield.

  

  No-one can guess what the next evolution in multiplayer might be, but we're already seeing some extraordinary innovation in the likes of Nintendo's StreetPass, allowing gamers-on-the-go to make new friends without ever saying hello, and the awesome potential of the augmented reality features in the upcoming PlayStation Vita. One thing's clear, multiplayer is here to stay and the future can only bring us even closer together.

• StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm - Preview

  Out for blood

  Blizzard returned to the real-time strategy genre in 2010 following a lengthy 12 year absence, bringing with it the sequel to one of the most popular video games of all time. The release of StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty saw the World of Warcraft and Diablo maker effortlessly take back its seat on the throne as the king of the genre, a position it hopes to retain with the launch of Heart of the Swarm, an ambitious expansion pack for the military science-fiction game.

  Heart of the Swarm's story picks up where Wings of Liberty's left off, with players assuming the role of Sarah Kerrigan, the betrayed former Ghost operative left to be consumed by the Zerg and now the self-styled Queen of Blades. As in the previous title, players will be asked to tread the line between hero and anti-hero.

  Kerrigan is attempting to regain leadership of the Swarm by uniting its various rival factions, each of which is led by a different Queen. She also plans to take revenge against Arcturus Mengsk, the revolutionary leader who left her to die, and aims to save the Zerg from being eradicated at the hands of General Warfield.

  Class Warfare

  Heart of the Swarm will introduce 20 new missions, plus numerous balance tweaks made since Wings of Liberty's release. Eight new units will also join the intergalactic fray. The three joining the Terran side are the Shredder, the Battle Hellion and the Warhound, while Protoss players will get to control the Replicant, the Oracle, and the Tempest.

  But it's the Zerg forces that get the most attention this time round, with new units that are surprisingly simple to use and extremely versatile in combat, fulfilling multiple roles. The first is the Viper. A snake-like unit that replaces the Overseer, the Viper is able to locate cloaked units and any enemies trying to dig their way into friendly territory.

  Along with observational abilities, Vipers also serve as Zerg spellcasters with abilities such as Blinding Cloud, which - as the name suggests - makes it hard for enemies to see, making them less effective at ranged combat. Meanwhile, their Abduct ability lets Vipers break through siege lines and pull in single units using an extendible tendril.

  The second Zerg addition is the Swarm Host, a unit that burrows underground and unleashes hordes of small critters that track down and claw at nearby enemies. It's particularly useful for overwhelming the enemy and quickly breaking down defences.

  A star in the making

  StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm looks set to offer something for all types of player to enjoy. For those who love Blizzard's storytelling and enjoy being utterly dazzled by the studio's amazing CGI cinematics, the expansion will almost certainly deliver in both departments. Meanwhile, those who prefer their StarCraft in an online multiplayer setting will be happy to see a number of smart gameplay tweaks introduced, alongside a range of new units and tactics to shake-up the current multiplayer dynamics.

  Published: 01/02/2012

• Epic Multiplayer Moments

  
  

  

  There's nothing like a bit of the old multiplayer, is there. From those early days of playing four-player Goldeneye on the N64 to travelling in guilds in World of Warcraft, there's just something about gaming with friends - whether you've met them or not!

  Those of you who've played multiplayer will know that, every now and then, something truly memorable will occur. So here's a few of our very own memorable multiplayer moments - including some we'd rather forget. Still, at least we have chicken...

  Jamie - Builder of Digital Dreamscapes:

  When playing GTA race online multiplayer, my mate was being a bit cocky about how good he was.

  Helicopters had been chosen as the vehicle class for this particular race, and it was pretty near the finishing line as most other players were now watching either him or his opponent. The other guy steamed towards him... tilted his helicopter to the side as he did a fly by and sliced my mates helicopter in half, mid air.

  Cue every other player on the game belly laughing down their mics as my mate's chopper span hopelessly to its doom.

  

  Carl - Design Doodler

  I have spent many hours playing Halo Reach - over 350 to be exact! And I would estimate that about 20 of those hours have been spent apologising to my fellow Care Bears after I have accidently betrayed them! Yes, I'm part of a clan, and yes, we're called the Care Bears. That's right, laugh it up!

  The most memorable of these unfortunate events is when I managed to take out our entire team of five with a single well placed, or rather badly placed, grenade. Reflection was the map and capture the flag was the game type. As always I ran for the shotgun on red ramp - if you don't know where I mean then learn your call outs! After the initial scurry for power weapons we all met up on the flag. With three of the enemy team dead and weeping in the headsets we grabbed the flag, and that's when it went very wrong!

  I saw one of the remaining blues running down over the window stairs and threw a frag grenade, just as a teammate walked across my path. The grenade bounce off his back and landed at my feet. At this precise moment another Care Bear spotted the same blue Spartan and fired a rocket. The grenade blast that just took down all of our shields sent the rocket off course - it went straight up, hit the ceiling above red flag spawn and wiped out all of us. Leaving one bewildered blue Spartan staring at all five dead Bears.

  Needless to say I wasn't the most popular Bear of the bunch after that. See you on the playing field!

  Ali - Queen of the Internet:

  My favourite multiplayer moments were in Gears of War 3. I regularly played Horde Mode with three friends and was definitely the cannon fodder of the group. We would choose the map with the river running through the centre and all hold our regular points around one of the houses. My section was the garden.

  For levels 1-9 I was pretty competent at ducking behind rocks to fire from cover and using the trucks to shield me from explosions. Around level 10, though, the calls over the headset would be less "Are we secure?" "Yes", and more "Where is Ali?" "She's here, here, here, a little bit over here too".

  However, nothing can beat the time we set the mortar off in the doorway of the house we were hiding in rather than outside of the house where the enemies were. Brilliant :S

  

  Glenn - Mad Mod

  Starcraft II. Qualification game for season 6, hoping to get promoted to Gold Division. Terran vs Zerg (TVZ).
  
  I was at about 140 supply, going for a Bio/Mech build. I had tried to go for a timing push, just as my Siege Tanks got +2 Attack. The Zerg was transitioning from Roach/Speedling (Lings with the Speed upgrade to Muta(Mutalisks)/Speedling) and I was lucky enough to kill the third in the transition, Wiping the Roaches and Speedlings in the process.
  
  Leaving with around 3 Medivacs, 5 Siege tanks and approx 30 Marines, and I felt pretty confident as I healed up, and advanced on the natural.
  
  Out of metaphorically nowhere, approx 12 Mutas approached. I hadn't expected any Mutas out at this point, however I leapt to action tapping keys in a frenzy of concern as I stimmed my marines and went on the offensive, victory felt certain and the heady heights of Gold loomed  BUT and in my haste I pressed the wrong hotkey and ordered my siege tanks to attack my Marines instead of my Marines to attack the Mutas.
  
  Devastated I GG'd as he nuked my siege line and hit my SCV's square in the face L
  
  Note to self: Scan more, don't order your Siege tanks to attack your own troops.
  Note to others: Demuslim is a boss

  
  

  Sound familiar? Feel free to share your own multiplayer memories with us in the comment boxes below!

• The Rise of Multiplayer Gaming

  
  

  It's hard to image there was ever a time when we couldn't assume our grimmest war-face, fire up our consoles and do battle with a global army of enemy combatants from the comfort of our armchairs. We're certainly come a long way from sitting hunched over our Commodores, battling as much for keyboard space with our siblings as we were on-screen! But where did it all start?

  Things really started to evolve in the 90s though when LAN parties were the in-thing for the hardcore gaming hobbyist. If the prospect of the violently seductive Doom wasn't enough to keep you up into the early hours by itself, there was no better way to bring the competitive minds of a whole generation of gamers together than by syncing up a few PCs and spending hours, even days, doing battle in the flesh.

  

  The blossoming Korean e-sports scene took the concept even further, and now commands a staggering national audience for televised championships. Blizzard's outstanding StarCraft series rules the roost in this domain, and not even the awesome sequel released in 2010 has put a dent in players' enthusiasm for the best-selling original. The competitive scene for StarCraft II is still buzzing in the West, and it's never too late to get stuck into a game that'll be around for years to come and still has two explosive expansions in the works.

  

  Then there's World of Warcraft, the game that really did change everything. Released in 2004, it arrived just at the right time as the mass uptake of increasingly fast broadband connections became the norm, unleashing a greedy clamour for the world of Azeroth - one so extreme that it saw Blizzard pull the game from store shelves at one point, their servers unable to keep up with the snowballing demand. It now enjoys a seven-figure subscriber count, and with three award-winning expansions under it's belt, there's more content for you to get stuck into than you'll know what to do with!

  

  While consoles such as the sadly-undersold Dreamcast teased gently around the potential for global gameplay, it was arguably Microsoft who broke new ground for console gaming with the launch of the Xbox LIVE service, putting a whole new world of gaming at player's feet - and long before PCs became a breeze to hook up for the living-room lounger!

  So while PC gaming might have dominated the early days of competitive multiplayer, it was titles like Halo 2 that brought the idea of mass gaming to the forefront of game design. While the single-player components of the Halo games continue to blow us away, the passion for Halo 2 was so extreme that players left their Xbox 360s running for days at a time to prevent the eventual switch-off of multiplayer support for all original Xbox games in April 2010.

  

  These days it's show-stopping blockbuster titles like Call of Duty that continue to change the way gaming is viewed and played online by the console crowd. For many, it's the only game they need to buy each year, and services like Call of Duty Elite are doing even more to add greater depth to the experience, allowing gamers to track, log and show off their finest moments on the battlefield.

  

  No-one can guess what the next evolution in multiplayer might be, but we're already seeing some extraordinary innovation in the likes of Nintendo's StreetPass, allowing gamers-on-the-go to make new friends without ever saying hello, and the awesome potential of the augmented reality features in the upcoming PlayStation Vita. One thing's clear, multiplayer is here to stay and the future can only bring us even closer together.

  Published: 25/01/2012

• Blizzard chief suggests eSports reality show to get gaming on TV

  In the Far East, competitive gaming is big business. In Korea, millions tune in to watch primetime broadcasts of professional gaming contests. Over in Europe and America, it's still seen as a nerdy niche. Can the situation be changed?

  According to Blizzard's Chris Sigaty, the answer is yes, and as the design production chief on top eSports title StarCraft II, it's fair to say he knows what he's talking about.

  "Ultimately what needs to happen from my perspective for eSports to take that next step or hit the tipping point is the realisation by advertisers that it does have the viability of other sports, that it's worth putting the same sorts of investments they do into other sports into this," Sigaty told Eurogamer.

  "I feel we've been extremely close. It's done much better than I had hoped with StarCraft II but there's still an additional tip that can happen."

  That extra push, he thinks, could come from reality television and by way of example he cites the 2005 show Ultimate Fighter, largely credited with pushing mixed martial arts tournaments like the UFC into the mainstream.

  "Getting these fighters together in a house and watching them learning their martial arts and trials they have to go through to get to their fight, to make it to number one, that sort of programming," says Sigaty. "People would eat it up about a pro-gamer and StarCraft II or whatever. That I think ultimately would be where we would see the really significant tip."

  What do you think? Will we ever see games taken as seriously as sports on TV? Maybe you should get some practice in on StarCraft II - out now for PC, with expansion pack Heart of the Swarm due in March - just in case.

  Published: 30/01/2013

• StarCraft II prize pot rises to $1.6 million

  In case you weren't convinced that the world of professional gaming and e-sports is serious business, wrap your eyeballs around this figure: $1.6 million. That's the sum that will be dished out to the winners of Blizzard's StarCraft II World Championships.

  The tournament will last for most of 2013, and will be split across three territories: Europe, America and South Korea, where e-sports is so popular that it is televised with the same pomp and circumstance we reserve for the Premier League.

  There will be three seasons for each region, each lasting up to ten weeks. Players will compete in multiple events across the season, earning points and rising up the leaderboards. Once all seasons are completed, the contestants will have been whittled down to the final sixteen from across the world. These skilled few will then take part in the BlizzCon Global Final to crown the world champion and divide up that staggering prize. All matches will be streamed online in HD, free of charge, by TwitchTV.

  "We're hoping that by giving the North American and European players their own league, it will make it so they don't have to travel as much and can focus more on practice," Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime told Gamespot.

  StarCraft II is out now for PC. New expanion, Heart of the Swarm, came out in late March and sold over a million copies in just two days.
  

  Published: 03/04/2013

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