StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Released

March 13, 2013 — by Per Christensson

Blizzard released "Heart of the Swarm" yesterday, the much anticipated expansion pack for StarCraft II. If you are thinking this article is a day late because I was busy playing StarCraft all day yesterday, that would not be a bad guess. However, I haven't even bought Heart of the Swarm yet.

The reason I didn't buy HOTS is not because I don't like StarCraft II. It's because I like it too much. I've played over a thousand StarCraft II matches since the game was released in 2009, which IMO is too much time. If I buy the expansion pack, it will only exacerbate the problem.

So why is StarCraft so addictive? Well, I like to say it is similar to chess, but with many more different strategies. The three different races (Terran, Zerg, and Protoss) multiply these strategies, making each match highly unpredictable. Additionally, online matches are often as short as 10-15 minutes, so it's not too hard to play several games in row. When you lose a close battle, the thought of "just one more game" is almost automatic.

I have found that SC2 is great at both relieving and inducing stress. It's an effective way to take my mind off other things, but the real-time strategy (RTS) aspect of the game is the opposite of relaxing. Since playing StarCraft often produces more stress than it relieves, I've decided to put my StarCraft gaming on hold for awhile. Perhaps I'll watch some pro replays instead.

For those who care, I play Terran and am a Top 8 Platinum player. I finished number one last season, which was pretty exciting, especially since I beat a Diamond Protoss player to squeak out the top spot in the ladder. I'm not a big fan of Zerg, but I loathe Protoss. They are OP in the late game and I think Blizzard should nerf both Colossus and Storm. All a Protoss player has to do is A-move with a 200 army and roll over the other player. I've seen it happen to the pros several times. The new Widow Mines and Medivac buff should help Terran, but if Toss units are still imba in HOTS, I'm 2-raxing every time. /endrant