Gaming Target - GameCube: StarCraft: Ghost

Written by Tim McGrew on October 02, 2002

First Impressions: Finally! Console playing Starcraft fans can rejoice.

Nearly five years ago, PC gamers were treated to something extraordinary. It wasn't a ground breaking new genre that would completely explode onto the PC market causing hundreds of clones from developers to be made. Nor was it some type of new technical achievement that dwarfed every other engine ever created. It was an exciting and deep multiplayer experience presented by a rather simple looking real time strategy title. That game was Starcraft.

It wasn't something that had never been done before, but it was rather something that exploited a great deal of factors that appealed to gamers. Highly detailed game play, a back story filled with lush environments, complicated characters, and of course, some of the best storytelling an RTS has ever seen all helped to drive the title to success. Starcraft set the standard in all modern RTS titles and it still arguably carries the title of best RTS ever created as it is still played in almost every country of the world today despite the fact that it is four years old.

However, given this incredible universe and cast of characters, one would expect a sequel to have been announced years ago. Instead there has been silence. Blizzard, the creators of Starcraft, has not even hinted at a sequel to the series for quite some time. In fact, their two other key franchises, Warcraft and Diablo, have both seen super popular sequels and additions to their universes, but Starcraft has been somewhat of an echo in the offices. At least, that's how it seemed.

A mere week ago, Blizzard announced a new title in the works for console gamers. A game that would be announced at the Tokyo Game Show this past September. Low and behold, Blizzard announced what we have all been waiting for, a new story based on the expansive Starcraft universe in the form of Starcraft Ghost. Although the title is not actually a sequel, Ghost builds on the previous installment by planting the player in the middle of Hell as a ghost with orders ranging from infiltration to support in order to complete objectives for the Terran Confederate forces.

Although this is a huge departure from the traditional RTS style game play we have come to associate with the Starcraft brand name, it's no less welcome seeing how it already holds a great deal of promise and intrigue and adds a whole new element to the forces who you would traditionally play overseer with giving them a much greater scale and feel.

In typical RTS games, the units themselves are out of proportion in order to fit many different unit types on screen at once. No one could ever understand the scale of a Yamato battle cruiser if they saw a screenshot from the game, but in all actuality, the cruiser has hundreds of crewmembers on board. Until now, your perception has been deceived when a Terran marine is almost ╝ of the cruisers screen size. By putting players up close and personal with their character, Ghost will make the players see how big a Hydralisk really is and how fearsome a Protoss warrior truly looks up close and personal.

Even though the scale itself is one that must be seen to be believed, it's still but a small observation on the game as a whole. In Starcraft, Ghosts are a mysterious bunch of soldiers that play a pivotal role not only in story, but in actual game play as well. With a number of different attributes that include personal cloaking fields, technological lockdown fields that disable any mechanical units, and super speed, Ghosts are the commandos in a well-rounded marine army. The Ghosts themselves are highly trained, highly agile, and incredibly skilled with almost every weapon known to the universe and can find a way to beat any odds. Couple this with their unique telepathic abilities and the Ghosts are formidable characters.

The particular Ghost you play as, Nova, is fairly new to the intergalactic war. She has some experience, but nothing as extensive as Kerrigan from the original Starcraft. In her journey, Nova will infiltrate several different structures and help marine units with tactical nuclear strikes and several other vehicle based objectives against the Protoss, rogue Terrans, and of course, the menacing Zerg. No fourth race has been hinted at and the creators agree that the Starcraft universe is diverse enough as it is, sporting so many great characters and planets that a fourth race isn't necessary.

Graphically, Ghost has some beautiful backgrounds, not because of polygon count or because of some new high tech lighting effect, but because the backgrounds and the world is shaped in the same detail and atmosphere as the Starcraft universe with a sick sense of humor tossed in to break up the game play and ease down the player after a difficult hair raising mission. Also, there are several awesome graphical effects already being displayed in the early builds. The lighting is of particular note and is creating a dark and moody atmosphere well suited to this style of game. The models are also highly detailed with high polygon counts and plenty of richly detailed textures that pay homage their original 2D brethren.

As any good action game should, missions will have a variety of objectives, but Nova's abilities are diverse enough to make quick work of most situations. Her УsightФ ability, which allows her to see through walls, comes in handy when clearing rooms. One quick check with this ability and the position and types of guards becomes immediately apparent through a highly detailed transparency effect. Additionally, using the super speed feature, which looks similar to the Dead to Rights slow motion effect, causes all other objects in the game to slow down to a crawl while you complete your task either by outrunning the guards or by simply slicing them to pieces with Nova's psyonic blade melee weapon.

The title is boasting a vast number of different AI routines as well, displaying different reactions from each species roaming the terrain. Marines fully alerted to your presence will lower their blast shields on their helmets to protect their faces while Zerg will burrow into the ground until you walk over them and they attack you from behind. Your radar will show the different levels of alertness of your enemies based upon their perceived threat of danger. If they spot you running around, they will go into high alert and call for reinforcements. On the other hand, if they just hear a pin drop, they may just casually investigate and see what the noise was and shrug it off if they don't find anything.