One thing we all love in sci-fi is a fleshed out story, in an expansive and imaginative universe. 8. Mass EffectĪndromeda never happened (Picture: BioWare)
After 13 years, StarCraft II can be played by all.For such an expeditious shooter, the game provides a staggering amount of depth with its story, and continues to flesh out the conflict between the Spartans and the Covenant, as well as the ever looming dangers of 'the Flood'. The trickle of people turns into a flow as the path to get a copy of the game becomes obvious. The blackout curtain is flung open now, and the air is clearer. Such advanced tactics can only come from the multi-tasking mind of a set of StarCraft veterans.ġ2.15pm: Christopher departs, victorious. They'd utilised a complicated chaining technique – alternating food and booze runs – to survive six hours of standing around. He was there with his friend Terence, who had been second in the queue. The military really are resorting to underhand tactics to recruit these days.ġ2.10pm: After he'd escaped from Kerrigan's chitinous clutches, I grabbed the first man to snare a copy of the game: one Christopher White. That is his reward.ġ2.05pm: People are having their pictures taken then digitally placed inside a marine mask. He looks pleased to receive armfuls of Blizzard stuff, and is wheeled away to talk to KERRIGAN and some ladies. Not literally – it's more handed to a very tall man in a StarCraft t-shirt, who was first in the queue. People snake around the inside of the shop like a big snake made of people and queueing.ġ1.59pm: The nuke is about to launch deploy the countermeasures now!ġ2.00am: StarCraft II launches. They're all chittering their mandibles together and oh god what is in this smoke. If every surface wasn't covered in StarCraft II emblazoned junk, and there wasn't a giant plastic woman tottering around, you'd be convinced the world was about to be destroyed.ġ1.41pm: After spending too much time in the shop breathing the strange air, I am convinced the world is about to be destroyed.ġ1.50pm: Ten minutes to go, and the crowd is audibly excited. One of the two.ġ1.40pm: There's a very disconcerting 'NUCLEAR LAUNCH' countdown on a large television. Either to cool down, or to feed more humans to the brood queen. Now she looks all uncomfortable and wobbly on her three inch heels, and is quietly escorted to the back of the shop. She screeches once, then takes to the sky, flying down the length of the queue before picking up an unlucky queuer and infesting them with horrible zerg larva.ġ1.32pm: KERRIGAN UPDATE. She has a powdery green face, bouncy plastic dreadlocks, and spiny wings. They required more pylons, I think.ġ1.30pm: KERRIGAN SIGHTING. He also looked stoic in the face of yet more queueing. He was a big Blizzard fan, and trusted the company to produce with StarCraft II.
Out in the night air and breathing free again, I wonder if they might be real humans after all.ġ1.15pm: I collared PCG reader Alex Knight – hello Alex! - who'd been in the queue for six hours. They were excited for StarCraft II's singleplayer modes primarily – less of their focus was on hyper-competitive multiplayer. 11.07pm: It turns out that wasn't slime, and for zerglings, they're very nice.