Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm

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Posted on 24 October 2011 in PC, Promoted videos

Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm – Blizzcon 2011 teaser

Heart of the Swarm is the first expansion set to Blizzard Entertainment’s sci-fi real time strategy game, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Heart of the Swarm continues the epic story from Wings of Liberty with an all-new campaign that focuses on Kerrigan, the former Queen of Blades. New multiplayer content will also be included in the expansion, as well as new features and upgrades to the Battle.net online platform.

“lots” of screens from Heart of the Swarm

Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kaldir, planetary view.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Charex, planetary view.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Mission select
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Mission select
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Mission select
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Mission select
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan, upgrade. Each battle focus has a different set of abilities.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan, upgrade. You can slect a different battle focus before each mission.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kaldir
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kaldir
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kaldir, destroying these communication devices is your objective.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kaldir, under shield during flash freeze.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Protoss base on Kaldir
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - The flash freezes on Kaldir are the perfect time to attack.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kaldir
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - fighting native beasts on Kaldir
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan leading raptors and roaches on Kaldir
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - On Kaldir the frozen Zerg can be rescued
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Destroying Protoss communications on Kaldir
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - During flash freezes the Protoss shut down activity.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Native fauna play a role on the planet of Kaldir
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Evolution chamber
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Evolution chamber
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Evolution chamber, Roach upgrades
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Evolution chamber
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Evolution chamber, Zergling upgrades.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Evolution chamber
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan surveys the scene on Char
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Evolution chamber, Baneling upgrades
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Abathur manages the evolution of your swarm.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - The background of each set updates dynamically between missions.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Izsha is your advisor.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Sooooo many banelings
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm -
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Zagara in her base.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Hatching banelings
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - This area is full of acid pools.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan and her swarm overwhelm Zagaras base.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Swarmlings and banelings
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan must race to capture Baneling eggs,

Heart of the Swarm’s campaign will include approximately 20 new missions. Players will be able to evolve their swarms with unique, campaign-only units and abilities, and this evolution will happen in an organic manner befitting of the expansion’s Zerg theme. As an example, zerglings can be induced to evolve the ability to split into broodlings upon death. Further evolution can yield specialized sub-species of zerglings such as the swarmling, a variant that spawns three swarmlings per larvae instead of the standard two zerglings. The fearsome raptor is another evolutionary offshoot of the zergling that has more health, and the ability to leap short distances to quickly close the gap on an enemy.

A set of campaign screenshots

Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - The evoliution pit is where you can check on mutations and evolutions.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Zergling mutations
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Protoss npc
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - On the surface of Kaldir
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - On the surface of Char
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan, battle focus - swarm
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan, battle focus - destruction.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan and Abathur
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Izsha
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Izsha, in close up.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Izsha, in close up.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Expedition, overrunning the Protoss on Kaldir
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Expedition, flash freezes are an opportune time to attack.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Expedition, Dominating native fauna on Kaldir is the key to survival
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Mission select
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Melting the ice to make use of the base.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - mission select
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Char, mission select
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - A frozen zerg base on Kaldir
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Char mission select
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Attacking infested Terran on Char
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigans abilities can swing the tide of battle.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Kerrigan leads Zerglings and Banelings into battle;
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - The acid wastes of Char are a desolate place.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Abathur assists you with evolving your swarm.

Another aspect of Heart of the Swarm that makes it unique from Wings of Liberty is that Kerrigan will play a major role in each of the battles as a powerful hero. Over the course of the campaign she gains in strength as well as new capabilities. Players will choose what abilities to enhance and powers to use from mission to mission.

Heart of the Swarm will also include a wider variety of sets for players to explore between missions — these sets change dynamically as players complete missions, giving a sense of a changing world as Kerrigan makes her presence felt throughout the galaxy. Fully-voiced cut-scenes will round out the cinematic gaming experience in Heart of the Swarm’s campaign, while a new array of achievements will unlock in-game rewards such as portraits and decals.

Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm – The second Blizzcon teaser

Blizzard will be making some improvements to the graphics, including upgrades to the look and behavior of zerg creep, as well as some changes that allow their artists to better showcase the new types of planets that Kerrigan will explore in Heart of the Swarm. They still plan to keep the minimum hardware requirements the same for this expansion set as they were in Wings of Liberty.

While they’re not quite ready to go into detail about the new multiplayer content in Heart of the Swarm, we can say that this expansion set will include new units and new maps.

New units

Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Warhound
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Viper
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Tempest
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Shredder
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Swarmhosst
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Replicant
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Battle Hellion
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Oracle

New maps

Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Winter
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - City
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Jungle

As far as Battle.net improvements, one primary focus will be on getting the StarCraft Marketplace up and running at some point around the launch of Heart of the Swarm. The maps and mods community in StarCraft II has published tens of thousands of custom maps using the StarCraft II editor. The goal with the new Marketplace design will be in upgrading the custom map UI to better showcase the wide variety of great new maps and mods to players who are looking for fun new gaming experiences. Blizzard want players to be able to more easily find, rate, and sort through all the great custom maps that have been created.

The Marketplace will also eventually include a commerce element that will allow mapmakers to charge a fee for their work. While there will always be a wealth of free content, Blizzard believe that allowing content creators to profit from their work will foster an environment for more complex and higher-quality custom maps. Their ultimate hope is that the StarCraft Marketplace will function and thrive in a similar manner as mobile “app-stores” — tons of free and premium content for players, and a limitless source of entertainment through StarCraft II and Battle.net.

Multiplayer screens

Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Zerg Vipers can use blinding cloud to break through entrenched positions.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Zerg Vipers can use blinding cloud to break through entrenched positions.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Zerg Vipers can use blinding cloud to break through entrenched positions.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Vipers can pull units towards themselves
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Terran Warhounds have splash damage to defend against mutalisks.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Terran Warhounds have splash damage to defend against mutalisks.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Terran Shredders get in position against a Zerg siege
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Terran Shredders - close up.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Swarm hosts lay siege to a Protoss position.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Swarm hosts lay siege to a Protoss position.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Redline reactor allows Battlecruisers to speed into battle.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Protoss Tempests devastate Mutalisks as Zerg Vipers use blinding cloud on Stalkers.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Protoss Tempests devastate Mutalisks as Zerg Vipers use blinding cloud on Stalkers.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Protoss Tempests devastate Mutalisks as Zerg Vipers use blinding cloud on Stalkers.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Protoss replicants in the process of cloning Terran units.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Protoss replicants in the process of cloning Terran units.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Protoss Replicants clone themselves into Terran units
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Protoss Replicants clone themselves into Terran units
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Protoss Oracles entomb minerals preventing them from being harvested while Terran Warhounds defend.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Protoss Oracles entomb minerals preventing them from being harvested while Terran Warhounds defend.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Protoss Oracles entomb minerals preventing them from being harvested while Terran Warhounds defend.
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Hellion battle mechs lay waste to Zerglings
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Swarm host siege
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Swarm host siege
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Swarm host siege
Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm - Swarm host siege