Mmm…challenging.
If you’ve never played multiplayer Starcraft, you’re certainly going to get one if you try it.
Also, if you’ve never seen Homestar Runner or know that the above line is a reference, go check it out here. Then, because that made no sense, watch this. Explaining the site would take to much time – simply let it flow.
Seriously.
Go.
Right now.
Ok, you’re back and laughing uproariously, and that’s always a good way to start a post. Even if you didn’t bother, you can still enjoy the goodness that is toady’s Starcraftian musings.
To be blunt, there is always going to be some level of disparity between the single and multiplayer versions of any game, mostly because gamers alone in their basements playing against the AI are at least moderately intelligent and considerate individuals, but once you allow them access to the Internet, many of them become unmitigated jerkwads because of the lack of accountability.
For multiplayer gaming, this means that these same docile nerds will suddenly turn into spawn-campers, who bend every rule of the game to their ultimate advantage. We’re not sure if it’s nature or nurture that breeds these specimens of humanity, but perhaps a third N, neuter, should be added to the age-old question.
Every game will offer a distinctly different experience in multiplayer as opposed to singleplayer, which is a good thing, as it adds another level of value to many games, and all too often new games don’t have much to recommended them at even a basic level.
This multiplayer/singleplayer disconnect is felt nowhere so keenly as in Starcraft II. With Blizzard gearing up to be an E-sports powerhouse, the multiplayer component really is designed for those who love to play Starcraft, and play it a certain way.
Even in the copper league, matches can be over in a matter of minutes, and a good portion of the leaguers have a large chip on their shoulder – which is often cool ranch or zesty nacho, whatever they have leftover from their breakfast in earlier that morning, eaten right before they didn’t go to work or have a real life.
Recognizing that singleplayer gamers might actually want to try the multiplayer and like it, Blizzard has created a series of “challenge missions” within the game that will allow players to get the feel for a multiplayer battle without the unnecessary stench of even electronically-aided human contact.
According to SC2 Blog, the challenge missions are divided up into three difficulty categories, and each category contains multiple missions. These can include things like defending a platform from incoming waves of enemies using only Protoss ground units that have an AoE damage ability and a shield, or managing several battlefronts at once, while figuring out what type of unit best counters another.
The missions are scored based on how many kills are achieved, and some, like the multi-front battle mentioned above, actually go so far as to disable mouse clicking and force players to use the keyboard, which is must for any serious Starcraft II player.
While these missions will hardly make a pro out of a noob, and really can’t simulate the level of jackassery that real people bring to the virtual table, they will at least mitigate the cold-water shock of being dumped into a multiplayer universe where the rules to your favorite game suddenly change.
It’s like playing Monopoly. If you play alone, you’re the banker and the owner of everything on the board, and you always win. Singleplayer missions are just like that – you might not win the first time, but the board is yours, and you can keep trying until you get everything on the map.
As a side note, if you’ve ever played Monopoly alone and lost, you’ve got bigger problems than being terrible at Starcraft.
It’s once you add people to your Monopoly game that things get tricky. If you play with kids, they whine and smash the pieces when they don’t get their way. If you play with adults, they will not only whine, but will seek to destroy you. They may also actually choose to hurt their own chances of victory in order to see someone else win and beat you instead. They will also cheat.
The fact is, multiplayer Starcraft is a universe unto itself, and will always remain that way. Kudos to Blizzard for adding these challenge missions – they are useful to players and will only help to strength the games hopeful stranglehold on the RTS market after its release.
Now…if only we had robot boots. And maybe blue hair. You gotta have blue hair.
