From TechRadar · · 1m 30s
StarCraft goes first person with higher stakes
Blizzard is turning StarCraft into a story-driven shooter where survival replaces top-down command.
In brief
Blizzard is turning StarCraft into a story-driven shooter where survival replaces top-down command. The new StarCraft aims to keep the series' pressure, but make it personal by putting the player alone inside the fight. Originally reported by TechRadar.
A new StarCraft angle
Blizzard's next StarCraft is not an RTS. It is a story-driven, open-world first-person shooter, built as a fresh turn for the long-running series.
The old feel still matters
Dan Hay says the team has to rethink combat, enemies, and the world from ground level while keeping StarCraft recognizable to longtime players.
Combat must bite
Hay wants fights to feel clean, dangerous, dark, and heavy. The game has to sell the fantasy of moving and shooting inside huge powered armor.
“The combat has to feel very, very clean and dangerous and mean and dark”
Enemies need weight
The threat cannot feel abstract from first person. Hay describes attackers as something that can tear through armor, forcing every movement to feel physical.
“it has to feel real”
Tension is the key
The design goal is tension. The RTS version came from seeing a wall of Zerg from above, but the shooter has to create that pressure up close.
“it's the same tension from the RTS "but it's subtly different"”
No army around you
The top-down view is gone. Instead of directing many marines, the player is on the ground, exposed, repairing armor and holding back the attack alone.
“It's you. You have to protect yourself.”
Every shot counts
Hay says the new perspective raises the stakes because each action is personal. StarCraft is now in development and is planned for 2030.
“Every shot matters. Everything you do matters.”
What it means
The new StarCraft aims to keep the series' pressure, but make it personal by putting the player alone inside the fight.
