Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #39 in Video Games
- Brand: Blizzard Entertainment
- Model: 72855
- Released on: 2013-03-12
- ESRB Rating: Teen
- Platforms: Windows Vista, Mac, Windows XP, Windows 7
- Format: DVD-ROM
- Original language:
English - Dimensions: 1.50" h x
5.25" w x
7.50" l,
.55 pounds
Features
- The first expansion for Starcraft 2
- Campaign with about 20 new missions
- Evolution of the Zerg - Design your swarm individually, due to specific units and skills
- Improved graphics
- New units and maps for multiplayer mode
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Expansion Pack
Product Description
STARCRAFT II: Heart of the Swarm for PC
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
37 of 47 people found the following review helpful.
By Jack Fox, Badgerlord
First off I would like to say that While i love Starcraft 2, I was never much one for the eSports competitive side, so I cannot comment on super balance of everything and how the new units figure into it all and what not. I am more interested in the Campaign, and playing with friends against AI. So that is what My impressions are on!I have only played the game for 4 hours so far (finished 5 levels), I woke up at 3am just to play it! And I feel like I have fallen in love with Starcraft II aaaaall over again.The Campaign starts right where wings of liberty finished, if you haven't finished that campaign you owe it to yourself to do so! It's still an amazing campaign and well worth the time to play.The campaigns starts out a tiny bit slow for veterans, but for new players it quickly shows you the ropes of how to build up a zerg army and other necessary tutorial based things. After the first 2 missions you get to really get into building an army of zerg and stampeding over your enemies. And I am loving every second of it.Zerg being my favorite race in Starcraft II does help my love for this game, but even still the game is done so well. The Graphics in and out of actual gameplay are great, the story is amazing, and the voice acting is top notch (All things you expect from the SCII Saga).What's new:They added a few things to make the campaign more... interesting. First of all is the leveling. Kerrigan can gain levels by completely story missions and extra side missions, every 10 levels or so she gains a new (and often extremely overpowered ability). For instance at level 10 you get the ability to either have Overlords build instantly and provide 50% extra control, or, whenever a zerg unit dies it revives at your hive after 10 seconds. You can only chose one, but you can switch them around between every mission.Evolving Units is not something new but it is handled differently. Each unit has 3 different choices, for instance zerglings can be Faster, Have more health, or Attack faster. Again you can switch between them between missions freely, each unit also evolves into a more advanced unit. Zerglings can become a leaping Raptor for example. You get an amazing amount of customization choices in this.The Achievements in missions are done the same in this as was in WoL and I enjoy that. There are 3 achievements for normal mode, and 1 for Hard mode, and some of them are quite difficult but rewarding. One of my favorite things to do in WoL was to try and get the achievements, some of them really made you think or change your strategy completely in order to complete them, and added a great deal of replay value for me.Vs AI Mode has been added, and by that I mean you and your friends will be pitted against AI that is balanced to meet your level of skill. And it's awesome. It will chose the varying levels of difficulty automatically based on how you play so you don't have to think "Well maybe I can do hard...I don't know" You can still chose if you want but only in custom game mode. I find the auto choice to be more fun!There are also added tutorials and things for new players, show them the ropes even get into some of the more advanced skills to learn for SCII, and the Challenges are back to teach you the REAL hard things.New Units:At this time I cannot comment much on any of the new units as I mentioned above I don't play Multiplayer so the whole balancing issues and such are lost on me. I can say that the new Zerg units are cool and offer a great deal of versatility, particularly with the Viper's pull skill. But that's sadly all I can really say for now on it. I only watched videos of them in action (and they all look awesome).All in all, I think the game so far has been amazing. I feel that the campaign this time is shorter, but with more re playability than WoL even had, considering the amount of variations in evolution and skills you can go into missions with. I have been reminded how much fun SCII is to play and how well it's made. You aren't just getting a small expansion, like brood war was to SC1, you are getting a whole new game.
32 of 42 people found the following review helpful.
By TW Brown, Author, Editor, and Reviewer
I am a child of the 70s, so that puts me just outside the target demographic of these games, I walked away from them about 15 years ago when life just got in the way (my kids wouldn't let me play...and if I did, they slaughtered me...that is probably closer to the truth.) Anyway, about 6 months ago, I started playing again. My last kid moved out and I found a copy of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. Oddly enough, the last computer game I played was Command $ Conquer: Red Alert. While the mechanics were similar, the visuals blew me away.So, if you want a bunch of technical gobbldygook, you should read one of the other reviews that I am sure will be loaded with that sort of thing. Here is what I can tell you after just a few hours. ..This game is visually stunning, has more depth than we even thought possible when we were playing games like Defender and Asteroids at the arcade. If you want to be drawn in and forget everything around you for a while...this game is for you. Simply put...it is fun! I realize that there will be plenty of reviews that tell you all sorts of things...but really, what you want to know is if this game is worth the money? Yes. Is it incredible to look at? Yes. Will a lot of your personal life be sucked away from you in the blink of an eye? Ask my wife...I never did make it to bed last night.
15 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
By Brian Long
Starcraft 2 continues the overarching storyline, obviously centering on Kerrigan, who flees Prince Valarians remote research lab when its attacked by Emperor Mengsk, and vows to kill Mengsk to end his meddling in her life.Graphically stunning, this pushes even the earlier boundary of starcraft 1. Flawlessly voice by Tricia Helfer, during some of the closeups, Kerrigan even looks photorealistically like Helfer. Some of these cutscenes have to be seen to be believed. Granted, your box does have to have some horsepower, but even a 3 year old computer can run graphics at or near High settings.Gameplay is what you know and love, with well designed missions, especially some of the lone owlf missions. Each one is thoughtfully laid out, and I can't think of but 2 that felt even remotely like grinders. You can beat yourself bloody against all comers if you so choose, but theres always intelligent planning that can simplify things tremendously. The space mission was especially fun, and I wish that there'd been more of thsoe, but hopefully the final chapter will have more of that.Multiplayer has a sprinkling of new options, but is otherwise the same well nailed down system, and it now includings a vs AI option that seems to work well, though you really ahve to pick your difficulty level well.The only real gripe is the Battlenet. While it may just be going through the startup jitters, nothing is annoying as getting a hard difficulty achievement, then losing it because the Battlenet connection hiccuped at the last second.Unit evolution is neat, and you'll love being able to mix and match, rather than be stuck with every purchase made. The specilization of each Zerg type is especially nice, as you gte to see both in action, rather than having to make an irreversible choice blindly. The incorporation of some of the aspects of the Zerg Hive are really clever and enjoyable.Overall, worth the wait. While everyone was annoyed at the delay between chapter 1 and 2, the added polish and depth of feel to this shows it wasn't a waste. Gorgeous graphics, great plot twists out of the gate, and enjoyable gameplay make this a rare 5 stars.All told, this was worth the wait. Stunning graphics, great plot twists right out of the gate, and enjoyable in and out-of-mission play make this a rare 5 stars.
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