StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm

Heart of the Swarm features a single-player campaign with 20 missions (plus seven evolution missions which allow the player to upgrade units), and continues the story from Wings of Liberty.[5] The player plays from the perspective of Sarah Kerrigan, recently returned to her human form by Jim Raynor.[6] Similar to Wings of Liberty, the briefing room allows interactive exploration, this time on the Leviathan, an enormous Zerg breed which functions as a bioship. Kerrigan and her allies are located in the nerve center. She has a personal chamber for altering her abilities, and there is an evolution pit where she can upgrade her units and perform evolution missions with the evolution master Abathur.

At BlizzCon 2011, it was revealed that Heart of the Swarm would feature seven new multiplayer units, while removing three units[7] and changing the abilities of existing units and buildings. The exact modifications have since changed. In a blog post, game director Dustin Browder explained the current status of the units.[8][9]

Following the events of Wings of Liberty, Terran Dominion forces attack Sarah Kerrigan and her allies in a research facility in the territory of the Umojan Protectorate. Kerrigan and other residents escape to the flagship of Raynor's Raiders, the Hyperion, but Commander Jim Raynor is cut off by the Dominion. The Hyperion escapes, but Kerrigan remains behind to locate Raynor, only to hear a Dominion newscast announcing that he has been captured and executed. Enraged, Kerrigan returns to Zerg territory to retake control of the swarm and overthrow the tyrannical Dominion.

On the volcanic planet Char, Kerrigan subdues a renegade brood led by the broodmother Zagara, who refuses to join Kerrigan's Swarm until she proves she is truly the Queen of Blades. Kerrigan, impressed by Zagara's strength and desire to lead a strong and independent Zerg, lets her live, and Zagara begins to learn from Kerrigan. On Char, Kerrigan and her Zerg attack the occupying Dominion forces. In a rage, Kerrigan destroys a Dominion command fortress and kills its commander, General Horace Warfield. After a change of heart, she allows the wounded and the unarmed to evacuate. On the frozen planet Kaldir, she annihilates the local Protoss forces, reclaiming the local brood and evolving the swarm to survive in the harsh climate.

Zeratul visits Kerrigan and advises her to regain her powers by traveling to Zerus, the original homeworld of the Zerg. On Zerus, Kerrigan learns that a fallen Xel'Naga named Amon was responsible for making the Zerg what they are: a warring swarm, bound to a single overriding will. Some primal Zerg, however, eluded Amon and remained independently evolving creatures. One such Zerg, named Zurvan, known as the "Ancient One", lies dormant in hibernation and must be awoken by Kerrigan for its knowledge on the origins of the Zerg. Upon awakening, Zurvan advises Kerrigan to seek out the primordial spawning pool – from which the first Zerg arose eons ago – to regain her former powers. Kerrigan enters the ancient spawning pool and transforms into a primal Queen of Blades. She kills and absorbs the genetic essences of four powerful hostile primal leaders and later Zurvan after it attempts to collect her essence for itself. A primal leader called Dehaka and his pack join her, provided that she gives them essence to collect.

Kerrigan is contacted by a Zerg-infested Alexei Stukov, a former Vice Admiral of the United Earth Directorate who was apparently killed by Duran at Braxis. With Stukov's aid, Kerrigan assaults a research station where Emil Narud, a servant of Amon, is breeding Protoss-Zerg hybrids. After eliminating Dominion facility security forces and Tal'Darim loyal to Narud, Kerrigan confronts Narud in a showdown of power. Morphing first into Raynor and then into Kerrigan's human form, Narud impales Kerrigan before being fatally wounded. Revealing that Amon is revived, he perishes.

Meanwhile, Emperor Arcturus Mengsk contacts Kerrigan and claims Raynor is kept alive and imprisoned, as a bargaining chip against Kerrigan attacking the Dominion throne world of Korhal IV. Kerrigan relays the news to the Hyperion. They plan to hack the Dominion network to locate Raynor, but the only one with such expertise is Colonel Orlan, who is being held captive by Mira Han, a mercenary who refuses to release him. Thus, the Hyperion attacks Mira's mining operations, forcing her to comply. Orlan locates Raynor on a prison ship that constantly changes location. Kerrigan assaults the ship and rescues Raynor, who is revolted by Kerrigan's reversion of form. Although he cannot bring himself to shoot Kerrigan, he tells her that they are done despite her confession that she loves him.

Having united all Zerg under the swarm, Kerrigan launches an invasion of Korhal, concentrating on the capital city of Augustgrad. With the aid of Dehaka and his pack, she destroys Mengsk's Psi Destroyer, a device that hurts the swarm from afar but is ineffective on the primal Zerg. As Kerrigan sends the swarm to assault Mengsk's palace, Crown Prince Valerian urges her to slow down her invasion to minimize civilian losses; she accepts, understanding that Valerian is not like his father. This conversation is also witnessed by Raynor, who sees her attempt to save civilian lives as proof of her character. Midway through the final battle, Raynor arrives to assist Kerrigan, much to her surprise. Together, they succeed in breaching the imperial palace. In the confrontation that follows, Mengsk reveals that he has the Xel'Naga artifact in his possession, intending to use it to kill Kerrigan. Before Mengsk can do so, Raynor interferes, allowing Kerrigan to impale Mengsk. Kerrigan kills Mengsk by injecting psionic energy, causing him to explode.

As the dust settles, Kerrigan thanks Raynor before joining her swarm. Raynor simply replies, "My pleasure darlin'. Always was." With her quest for vengeance completed, Kerrigan renounces everything she once was or had and prepares to face Amon, the enemy of all living things, in a conflict that will not only decide the fate of the Koprulu Sector but of the entire galaxy.

The development of StarCraft II was announced on May 19, 2007, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea.[12][13] At the June 2008 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational, Blizzard Executive Vice President Rob Pardo said that StarCraft II was to be released as a trilogy of games, starting with Wings of Liberty, focused on the Terrans, followed by Heart of the Swarm, revolving around the Zerg, and finally Legacy of the Void, devoted to the Protoss.[3] Blizzard's storyboard team was already working on Heart of the Swarm in early 2010 while Wings of Liberty's gameplay was refined.[14] Wings of Liberty was released July 27, 2010 to much critical acclaim.[15][16]

A few updates will be made to the game's graphics engine, including upgrades to the look and behavior of Zerg creep, as well as some improvements to the rendering of game environments. However, the expansion will have the same hardware requirements as Wings of Liberty.[17]

On April 30, 2012, Blizzard announced that the latest multiplayer build of Heart of the Swarm would be playable at the MLG Spring Championship (June 8–10) ahead of a planned beta release. No actual release dates were specified.[18] As of June 15, 2012, the game was primarily complete; only "tuning and polishing" remained.[19]

On August 15, 2012, Blizzard announced that the multiplayer beta would be beginning soon.[20] As of September 4, 2012, Blizzard began closed beta testing of the multiplayer beta, releasing it to select professional gamers, members of the press, Arcade contest winners, and shoutcasters. The beta testers were not under a non-disclosure agreement, so they were free to stream their games, release pictures, etc.[21] The Heart of the Swarm beta closed on March 1, 2013.[22]

Blizzard officially released Heart of the Swarm for PC and Mac systems in multiple countries on March 12, 2013.[23][24]

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm sold approximately 1.1 million copies worldwide in its first two days on sale,[35] and was the top-selling PC game for the first quarter of 2013.[36]

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm received "generally favorable reviews" from critics according to review aggregator Metacritic.[26] PC Gamer gave the game a score of 91%, calling it "A traditional RTS essential for anyone interested in competitive strategy games, and highly recommended for anyone who isn't."[37] Daniel Shannon, writing for GameSpot, rated the game 8/10, lauding the game's "fantastically diverse campaign and entertaining online play" while criticizing the writing as "lackluster". He criticized the characterization of protagonist Kerrigan as "boring, and her actions are often incomprehensible".[38]

The release of the expansion saw a short-term renewal of interest in StarCraft II's competitive multiplayer scene and brought about the standardization of competition by Blizzard Entertainment through the redesigned StarCraft II World Championship Series, but saw a long-term decline in interest, sponsorship, and viewership.[43] Following the transition of the title to free-to-play two years after the release of Legacy of the Void, the second and final StarCraft II expansion, the game has experienced a resurgence in interest.[44]

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