Starcraft 2

Reviewing Starcraft 2, if you’re old enough to have played the original, is like reviewing your daughter’s school play: you’re biased no matter what. If Starcraft 1 hit you at the right time, it took over your free time like a Zerg infestation and made “En Taro Adun!” part of your geek-speak.

Twelve years later, and we finally have the sequel, which is so thoroughly deep-fried in nostalgia that it’s hard to treat it like something new: to be honest, it isn’t. The gameplay is very similar to the original, the strengths and weaknesses of the three races are still much the same, and though everything has a shiny new coat of paint and some very slick cutscenes in the single-player campaign, the game is still basically the same.

Wings of Liberty is the first of three games in the Starcraft 2 series (confusing much?) following Jim Raynor and the Terrans as they fight to save the galaxy (again). The new units are pretty well balanced and there are more pronounced advantages to each play style. The tide of the game really can turn on one well-placed unit or area effect. Build order, resource management and early recon are essential, and there are some genuinely heart-stopping moments as you defend your base from wave after wave.

For all its lack of innovation and the general dated-ness of real-time strategy, Starcraft 2 reminds us why we like the whole thing in the first place. It’s massive fun. If you don’t love, even a little, building up an army of siege tanks and leveling your enemy’s base, then you probably have no soul. [Alex Cole]