Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1640 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,240 out of 1640
  2. Mixed: 224 out of 1640
  3. Negative: 176 out of 1640
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  1. res0nancer
    Jun 5, 2023
    5
    Дополнение продолжающее общий сюжет в котором планка, заданная первой частью, медленно начинает падать. Видно, что главная героиня имеет все задатки стать отличным женским персонажем, но дополнение вроде посвященное этому персонажу, не раскрывает его суть и конечную личностную мотивацию, что оставляет только большое чувство грусти. Геймплей освежается за новую фракцию, но после привыканияДополнение продолжающее общий сюжет в котором планка, заданная первой частью, медленно начинает падать. Видно, что главная героиня имеет все задатки стать отличным женским персонажем, но дополнение вроде посвященное этому персонажу, не раскрывает его суть и конечную личностную мотивацию, что оставляет только большое чувство грусти. Геймплей освежается за новую фракцию, но после привыкания возвращаются те же проблемы из первого дополнения. Единственное, что отлично в этом дополнении - это персонажи, финальная катсцена и отыгрыш актеров.… Expand
  2. atomlord
    Apr 19, 2023
    7
    Компанія як завжди топ в жанрі, проте в 2023 жанр RTS скоріше мертвий ніж живий.
  3. Raziel72
    Aug 7, 2022
    10
    Лучшая стратегия с самым удобным управлением, которое еще и можно настроить для себя! Самый крутой сюжет и кампания! Игра просто великолепна!
  4. Rob-Piton
    Aug 2, 2022
    10
    Good example of good quality game, good campaigne, I am still playing sc2 in 2022 in customs
  5. Awanka
    May 27, 2022
    7
    Pretty good example of the RTS genre. HoTS has a fun collection of units with nifty abilities to control. It has an inventive campaign with light RPG elements built in that allow you to choose abilities for your main hero and units. I was only mildly entertained while playing it however. Maybe the time of the RTS has passed, at least for me. Maybe I'm too old to control 2 armies atPretty good example of the RTS genre. HoTS has a fun collection of units with nifty abilities to control. It has an inventive campaign with light RPG elements built in that allow you to choose abilities for your main hero and units. I was only mildly entertained while playing it however. Maybe the time of the RTS has passed, at least for me. Maybe I'm too old to control 2 armies at the same time while making sure my bases are collecting resources and pumping out units. I find it annoying and stressful in an unfun way, like herding cats. I do like the unit choices that you can make in the game though. If Blizzard had leaned harder on the RPG part of the game I would have liked it better.… Expand
  6. joglow
    May 16, 2022
    7
    In some way it feels like StarCraft and just a little bit... rushed? I feel I just lack of something there.
  7. Nikolas_super
    Mar 5, 2022
    0
    Отличная игра, с хорошим сюжетом и графикой.
    Поставил плохую оценку, так как разработчики этой игры влезли в политику!
  8. TimMaxShift
    Dec 24, 2021
    5
    It's a shame they didn't take the script as seriously as they did the technical part. I played both parts already 10 times. The first part was much more serious and more mature, I would call it category R, ​​and the second part is PG-13. It feels like the story of the first part is not ideal, but it was written by people with a level of knowledge comparable to university students .. ItIt's a shame they didn't take the script as seriously as they did the technical part. I played both parts already 10 times. The first part was much more serious and more mature, I would call it category R, ​​and the second part is PG-13. It feels like the story of the first part is not ideal, but it was written by people with a level of knowledge comparable to university students .. It would seem that we have grown, they have too... Many naive works of art from our childhood grew up with us and began to acquire adult materialistic features or even rethought, without ceasing to be themselves, without losing the spirit of the original source. But not StarCraft. He not only remained in the same place, but also took a step back. Feels like the second part was written by schoolchildren. The game itself became brighter, the feeling of stuffiness disappeared, a large amount of children's humor appeared.
    An evil villain who is evil because he is evil, Prophecies, chosen ones, cosmic magic, abstract gods devouring worlds to which it is difficult to experience any kind of emotion, just as a person is not able to feel the distance in light years (since our biology was formed in conditions where this was not necessary), pink queen of blades, with a healthy complexion, neat eyebrows, hair styling and lip gloss with stilettos from a modeling agency called "swarm" ... if stilettos are her evolutionary advantage, then what does the world in which she exist look like? The world of strip clubs? Queen of our ... "blades". She is no longer a ruthless sociopath and manipulator, but a campy hysterical model from high society in Zerg.
    The first part is materialism, realism, and the second part is idealism and romanticism / classicism. The first SC is Terminator 1, 2, Alien 1, 2, Bladerunner and SC2 is Terminator 3, 5. This was the first time the game hurt me, the second time was BL3. In the opening videos Wol, Hots, LotV there is the spirit of the first part of the game, but in the game itself and in the rest of the videos, everything is much and much worse. And it's not the high cost of the videos, watch the SC: BroodWar videos. They are outdated, but they have a sense of danger, war, impending threat. The videos in the second part seem to be made by Hollywood. Secondary techniques, only proven methods. They seemed to come off the assembly line, as a result of the work of a raw neural network, and not of people.    … Expand
  9. Woolee
    Sep 26, 2021
    9
    For those of us who still deeply love this specific style of real-time strategy and want more of it, this is a must-have add-on.
  10. KepasaAmigo
    Jul 11, 2021
    10
    if u are a fan of rts games there is nothing better than this so 10 out of 10 SP is just great as well
    2nd of trylogy
  11. igolrum
    May 26, 2021
    6
    I loved the original Starcraft and Brood war. And while Starcraft 2 is still good gameplay-wise and character-wise, the story is much worse. It feels like they wanted to get rid of the series. Wrap it all up and be done with it. Pretty stale and straight-forward, uninspired. No more twists, betrayals and interesting political situations, like the original story had.
    The whole Xel'naga and    I loved the original Starcraft and Brood war. And while Starcraft 2 is still good gameplay-wise and character-wise, the story is much worse. It feels like they wanted to get rid of the series. Wrap it all up and be done with it. Pretty stale and straight-forward, uninspired. No more twists, betrayals and interesting political situations, like the original story had.
    The whole Xel'naga and Duran story-line mystery especially has basically been straight up thrown away.

    Gameplay: 10
    Characters: 8
    Story: 3    … Expand
  12. DaPonti
    Mar 21, 2021
    7
    Like WoL, the single player campaign is has good variety, but the whole "primal zerg" thing didn't gel with me. Still a good game in both single and multi player, but easily my least favorite part of the campaign. Honestly, the most memorable part is the intro video.
  13. AndyInfin
    Oct 23, 2020
    10
    One of the greatest RTS experience I ever have.
    The single player campaign is very solid. All missions was very fun and have a replay potential.
    Story line makes sense and make me want to go through all this. And the final... That was worth it!
    So sad, that may be last Blizzard' game that have this old good single player mode.
  14. Denis94
    Aug 26, 2020
    7
    7 años después de pasarme el juego principal me atreví a jugar a esta expansión la cual tenía criando polvo en edición física ya hacía un puñado de años y que por diversos motivos no jugué hasta ahora.

    Esta vez nos toca controlar a Kerrigan esa mujer que nos hizo la vida imposible en la campaña principal, tenía dudas si Blizzard podría hacer una campaña bien orientada a la raza Zerg y la    7 años después de pasarme el juego principal me atreví a jugar a esta expansión la cual tenía criando polvo en edición física ya hacía un puñado de años y que por diversos motivos no jugué hasta ahora.

    Esta vez nos toca controlar a Kerrigan esa mujer que nos hizo la vida imposible en la campaña principal, tenía dudas si Blizzard podría hacer una campaña bien orientada a la raza Zerg y la respuesta fue un rotundo si, hace ver a estos alienígenas horribles desde el punto de vista más "humano" de su causa.

    Las misiones son muy entretenidas y dinámicas te da la sensación de esta controlando algo incontrolable por momentos.

    La banda sonora es perfecta en ocasiones meten "guitarreos" de Heavy Metal que van de maravilla.

    En general es una buena expansión la campaña creo que no llega a estar a la altura de la del juego base pero para los que quieran seguir esta magnífica historia de Starcraft 2 cumple bien.    … Expand
  15. Ruzaky
    Aug 6, 2020
    9
    More of the Starcraft 2. Still very good campaing, playing as zerg is fun. I like WoL more but this is still very very good
  16. dlcatalin
    Jul 12, 2020
    10
    I'm gonna give it a perfect 10. Loved the Campaign, loved it. The graphics and feel of the game.
  17. zzz_DeV1L_zzz
    Jun 7, 2020
    9
    Great, great story. The game is addictive, worry about the main characters. Definitely 9 points.
  18. Magjk
    Feb 24, 2020
    10
    Это лучшая глава из трёх. В ней изменена система улучшения войск, появился выбор между мутациями, и появилась возможность управлять и улучшать героя.
  19. laertan
    Feb 7, 2020
    7
    Very short campaign, nice design, great cinematic. Sad to admit it, since I love zerg, but WoL is superior to this one in every possible way.
  20. Ignattanto
    Oct 27, 2019
    10
    I don't like Zerg, but this campaign has made me purr with pleasure! The developers are great.
  21. SilverOrlov
    Oct 11, 2019
    9
    This trilogy have become a very big breath of very fresh air in the strategy genre. I would say that for me it is the best real-time strategy about battles. The continuation of the cult story of the first game, made in a new, very beautiful and stylish graphics. All movements, animations, sounds and music are made at the highest level as Blizzard only can do. The plot and cut-scenes of theThis trilogy have become a very big breath of very fresh air in the strategy genre. I would say that for me it is the best real-time strategy about battles. The continuation of the cult story of the first game, made in a new, very beautiful and stylish graphics. All movements, animations, sounds and music are made at the highest level as Blizzard only can do. The plot and cut-scenes of the game make you constantly watch and delve into, like a some good movie or book. Such a strategy seems to be for the most part in a single structure (battles on a limited area in the form of a map), but many levels in this game are something unique with their own ideas. And the rest, what are just battles with the bases, are still made so, that they are never boring, and you do not think that they are similar. In this game, absolutely everything is perfect... I didn't give Heart of the Swarm rating 10 only because I didn't like to play for bugs... they are not comfortable for me. Not my type, so I felt some difficult feelings during that company.… Expand
  22. matdimond
    Aug 9, 2019
    10
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  23. MillersWeeb
    Nov 16, 2018
    8
    Вот эта понравилась больше чем вингс ов либерти, герой Кэрриган с кучей способностей и бесконечные зерги.
  24. Hannibaal
    Aug 3, 2018
    0
    Es la misma mediocridad que fue Wings of Liberty pero potenciada (negativamente). En la campaña sigue la historia absurda de amor entre Raynor y Kerrigan, pero la campaña es mas corta y mas aburrida ya que zerg es una raza peor diseñada en este juego, nuevamente solo manejas una facción. Mediocre.

    El modo multijugador mejoró ligeramente, pero a cambio metieron estupideces como el swarm    Es la misma mediocridad que fue Wings of Liberty pero potenciada (negativamente). En la campaña sigue la historia absurda de amor entre Raynor y Kerrigan, pero la campaña es mas corta y mas aburrida ya que zerg es una raza peor diseñada en este juego, nuevamente solo manejas una facción. Mediocre.

    El modo multijugador mejoró ligeramente, pero a cambio metieron estupideces como el swarm host, el nexo con la habilidad de atacar para ayudar a la defensa, el oracle que puede matar a toda una linea de minerales en pocos segundos, y otra unidad aérea protoss que es solo de A click y cuyo nombre ni siquiera recuerdo ,etc. Siguen los graves problemas de diseño, las deathballs, las partidas a solo dos o tres bases, el juego basado en el puro acoso a los trabajadores y las batallas que solo duran 2 segundos, y las partidas sin remontadas. Mediocre.

    Si a WOL le di un 1/10, HOTS se lleva un 0/10, hay que compensar lo injustamente sobrevalorado que está SC2.    … Expand
  25. Nekellor
    Aug 1, 2018
    6
    Логичное продолжение основной сюжетки с кооперацией с терранами. Неплохая альтернатива корабля с своей схемой прокачки и развития. Интересный рассказы зергов про их отношения к чему либо. Что то наподобие прокачки, как в 3 варике, для Кериган.Логичное продолжение основной сюжетки с кооперацией с терранами. Неплохая альтернатива корабля с своей схемой прокачки и развития. Интересный рассказы зергов про их отношения к чему либо. Что то наподобие прокачки, как в 3 варике, для Кериган.
  26. fffortune
    Jan 8, 2018
    3
    Tried playing through Heart of the Swarm recently and actually completely forgot I was playing it mid-way through. Didn't come to me until a few weeks later.

    It's just so incredibly bland and without that flare of earlier Blizzard titles.
  27. oso
    Dec 12, 2017
    5
    Story is cheesy and unlogical compared to the WoL campaign. It is way to short and filled with several no-brain-missions where you simply have to build more units than the opponent and ****ty characters with bull**** dialogues. Gameplay is (as expected) superior to most other competitive rts games. (The few new units didnt change much from my noob pov)
    as a conclusion id say it is not    Story is cheesy and unlogical compared to the WoL campaign. It is way to short and filled with several no-brain-missions where you simply have to build more units than the opponent and ****ty characters with bull**** dialogues. Gameplay is (as expected) superior to most other competitive rts games. (The few new units didnt change much from my noob pov)
    as a conclusion id say it is not worth a full priced game. Blizzard has lost a lot of my respect after D3 and this.    … Expand
  28. Tuz0
    Jul 14, 2017
    8
    The campaign mode was incredibly unexpected, since this expansion felt much like Warcraft 3. For those who did not play Warcraft 3, it is a RTS game only with a hero in the midst of an army who can use multiple spells. They borrowed elements from Diablo and implemented that in this game which make it an interesting game. AND IT HAS BOSS FIGHTS !!! Furthermore the missions are creative, forThe campaign mode was incredibly unexpected, since this expansion felt much like Warcraft 3. For those who did not play Warcraft 3, it is a RTS game only with a hero in the midst of an army who can use multiple spells. They borrowed elements from Diablo and implemented that in this game which make it an interesting game. AND IT HAS BOSS FIGHTS !!! Furthermore the missions are creative, for those who loved WoL and wc3 then you will love this one too.
    Surprisingly for Blizzard this game has a weak story compared to starcraft and startcraft 2 WoL. Reunite the Swarm, Upgrade Kerrigan and take revenge, that's probably it. But at least the music and the cutscences are always outstanding on the side of blizzard, makes everything more enjoyable.    … Expand
  29. DeusXCom
    Feb 16, 2017
    7
    Second part of the Startcraft 2 story, now the Zerg campaign with Kerrigan as the main protagonist. It's very good for what it is and I liked the story mode, Kerrigan is cool and so are her other Zerg buddies, but I'm giving it a 1 point lower score compared to the first one. It was all a bit too easy, but the main problem for me is simply the fact that while in the 90's Starcraft you hadSecond part of the Startcraft 2 story, now the Zerg campaign with Kerrigan as the main protagonist. It's very good for what it is and I liked the story mode, Kerrigan is cool and so are her other Zerg buddies, but I'm giving it a 1 point lower score compared to the first one. It was all a bit too easy, but the main problem for me is simply the fact that while in the 90's Starcraft you had all 3 races and their story campaigns in 1 game, now they basically force you to buy 3 games to complete the full story. 7/10… Expand
  30. hpw182
    Apr 17, 2016
    9
    Blizzard vuelve a acertar con la expansión de esta segunda parte de Stacraft, la primera parte deja un muy buen sabor de boca y ésta la continúa.

    -Novedades notables en el sistema de juego. -Historia muy épica, completa, y con gran cantidad de ramificaciones posibles. -Aspecto gráfico bastante bueno para ser juego de estrategia tipo Diablo 3. -Campaña como en el anterior juego muy    Blizzard vuelve a acertar con la expansión de esta segunda parte de Stacraft, la primera parte deja un muy buen sabor de boca y ésta la continúa.

    -Novedades notables en el sistema de juego.
    -Historia muy épica, completa, y con gran cantidad de ramificaciones posibles.
    -Aspecto gráfico bastante bueno para ser juego de estrategia tipo Diablo 3.
    -Campaña como en el anterior juego muy completa, divertida y no se hace corta.

    Como punto en contra quizás que solo hay tres facciones pero están muy completas y cuidadas, con gran cantidad de unidades edificios, y gran variedad de unidades y habilidades entre las tres facciones.    … Expand
  31. BaconChamp
    Mar 18, 2016
    7
    Good game, but single player is very short. Also, it feels like most of the game is a tutorial, getting a new unit every few levels, or a new mutation to a unit. It took forever to have the hydralisk available. The end credits are looooooooooong.
  32. CaptainBounty
    Mar 9, 2016
    7
    Although being a fun campaign, i was hoping for a little more within this addon. Competitive gameplay needed balancing in the beginning but is okay by now. Nothing too spectacular in the "new stuff department" but still a good choice if you like SC in general.
  33. kresa3333
    Oct 19, 2015
    10
    After an amazing start with Wings of liberty Blizzard did it again, a totaly fresh take on the zerg with a different and an unique interactive campaign, the story isnt anything crazy but as always its more then good enough.
    It was an amazing ride and i cant wait for the third part.
    My only negative comment is that i actually felt bad killing protoss on some of the different missions and    After an amazing start with Wings of liberty Blizzard did it again, a totaly fresh take on the zerg with a different and an unique interactive campaign, the story isnt anything crazy but as always its more then good enough.
    It was an amazing ride and i cant wait for the third part.
    My only negative comment is that i actually felt bad killing protoss on some of the different missions and i hated kerrigan for being so evil hehe, but it sits right with the theme of this expansion, you are the zerg after all hehe.    … Expand
  34. NegativeNine
    Sep 30, 2015
    6
    --Campaign rating only

    I must say: The story writing is awful. Don't want to spoil anything here, just state that it's really, really awful. And the gameplay isn't much better. The whole game plays like Warcraft 3 with dumbed down tactics. While in Warcraft 3 you actually had to make decisions and also had more options, like a wider variety of upgrades, tactics, importance of    --Campaign rating only

    I must say: The story writing is awful.

    Don't want to spoil anything here, just state that it's really, really awful. And the gameplay isn't much better. The whole game plays like Warcraft 3 with dumbed down tactics. While in Warcraft 3 you actually had to make decisions and also had more options, like a wider variety of upgrades, tactics, importance of terrain, more decisions around your hero etc. you just have a dumbed down husk of that left for Heart of the Swarm.

    You run around with your group of units, including hero, and kill stuff. That's it. All the time. Everywhere.

    The mission design is annoying: It's so HEAVILY scripted that everything plays all the same every goddamn time. There's no real AI here. Just to a minor degree. Everything else is just scripted like hell. Even if you're not supposed to destory an enemy base they'll tell you to not do so and after you're done destroying the base you're not allowed to win because *hurr durr* you must still play all remaining events as we intended you to !

    Complete all tasks and the game ends the mission for you. You don't get to decide whether you want to continue until all enemies are dead. The game doesn't care what you'd like to do and is fun to you. Ressource management is as catastrophic as ever: Turbo mining with 3 workers per ressource node is still a thing instead of either a wider variety of ressources or a slower, but more enjoyable game, like Starcraft 1 was, with less troop massing and less damage spikes. Base managemant is also quite boring: Protect your base as necessary, else there's no managemant. You construct all tech buildings once for unit access and there's nothing useful you can do with them or any relevance as why you'd want a specific building in a specific spot, unless it's for defense. You can't research anything, except for +damage and +armor in one single building and that's it. Instead you choose some evolution stuff right before the mission starts. This is actually good, but taking away strategy and variety in each and every mission for that is far too annoying and only necessary because everything is scripted like hell - no time for actual gameplay / decisions here ! MUST GO FAST ! FAST IS FUN !

    This game is just out of control. Ressource gathering is either low or explodes, no healthy middle area, units are built in masses and also die in masses, thanks to the ressource flow and damage spikes. In the end you get a hero unit that can just blow up a whole base...
    Just... what were they thinking...
    Strategy game... ffs.

    At that point I'm just gonna pirate the last part of the trilogy, assuming that it just continues on it's path downhill from here. If it's any good or even better or like, real good, THEN I'll buy it.

    If I had anything to say it'd be this:
    1) Fire the idiot writing the story. Any school kid of any school at any age can do equal or better.
    2) Stop the heavy scripting. It's beyond annoying that the game tell's me how I should play in a strategy game or forces me to play a certain way. You're allowed to do that some time, if it adds to the game, is fun or any other good reason. But not all the time non-stop !
    3) The economy needs a redesign ! Mass harvesting as only tactical dimension for an economy is poor design. Past games already delivered good, fun, engaging ideas. Just because Starcraft 1 didn't have them doesn't mean Starcraft 2 would be less fun with them. Instead try those. C&C had ressource depots, base capture, ressource stealing, intel sabotage, tech stealing, power levels and actual harvesters out in the field. Starcraft 2 is shallow compared to just this one game, even if it's just economical options. And there are other examples. Just pick what works and is fun but stop this mass everything concept because it has no depth !
    4) Give tech structures a purpose besides existing. Because that's all the tech buildings are good for in the campaign.
    5) Tell story like you did in Starcraft 1: Let the other characters talk to the player instead of having them act as if the player doesn't exist. That just disconnects.
    6) Actually play your game and see if it's fun. And stop ruining it.

    --Campaign rating only    … Expand
  35. hootis
    Sep 13, 2015
    0
    Campaign: WoL campaign was bad, but I think it was still overall a worth while experience. Hots campaign is awful, its a waste of time if you are older than 12. The dialog is painful and simple. There is no character, emotion, or purpose. Things simply happen and then you have to kill everything. Yay! The missions become very repetitive, especially the evolve missions. I know theyCampaign: WoL campaign was bad, but I think it was still overall a worth while experience. Hots campaign is awful, its a waste of time if you are older than 12. The dialog is painful and simple. There is no character, emotion, or purpose. Things simply happen and then you have to kill everything. Yay! The missions become very repetitive, especially the evolve missions. I know they are built to be simple but its really boring. Other missions are simple, revolve around one idea and are easily accomplished. There are no twists or turns in a mission that will make you think of any sort of strategy. Blizzard has introduced even more of their **** wow ideals as well. Everything has levels and all sort of **** maybe in an attempt to distract you from the poor quality of everything else.

    Multiplayer: I played a lot of WOL and really got sucked into the scene. I left after I realized that many of the players were smarter than blizzard and were aware that bliz was running a multi million dollar gaming industry into the ground. Simply from a business perspective they failed. 60$ for a game and 40$ for the expansion, is it any wonder why LOL and Dota took off? That compounded by the team nature of the games, even counter strike became successful with a 20$ fee which is really 5$ if you wait for a steam sale.

    Anyway blizzard really needed to do something amazing here if they wanted to survive, release the game for 20$ total and free multiplayer if you already have WOL. Then they would need to create a game mode that works with 4v4 or more players. Instead of barely putting effort into those maps, team games should have become much more of a focus.

    NOPE none of that. Lets add a few more units that don't contribute to the game in any meaningful way, then lets charge 40$ for it on top of the 60$ original. GREAT WAY TO EXPAND YOUR PLAYER BASE BLIZZARD!!!    … Expand
  36. jelikey
    Sep 10, 2015
    10
    One of the funnest games I have played in years. Blizzard did an excellent job with the story, game play and graphics. The game is just smooth to play.
  37. DREST
    Sep 3, 2015
    10
    Great game. Great story with interesting characters, great music like it's predecessors, beautiful cutscenes, great gameplay with nice missions and nice new add-ons.
  38. kyriores
    Aug 4, 2015
    1
    Button mashing simulator. If you always dreamed of developing carpal tunnel syndrome, this game is for you ! In order to beat your opponent, you must be able to perform more actions per minute than they do. Oh and when you see x unit on the minimap, you have to produce y unit, that counters it. That's all the strategy there is to it. Another solid game by Blizzard.
  39. Zerg_King
    Jul 14, 2015
    10
    To quote on of the users: "I don't like giving out 10's, especially to Blizzard, but this one earned it. I sat here for a good 5 mins trying to think of something I did not like about the game. But honestly, as far as RTS's go this is a great one. "

    Can't stop playing this even today. :)
  40. Absynce
    Feb 25, 2015
    0
    this game is trash, as Starcraft 2 has always been, its about who can hit the most keys per minute in a sim city world. it should be a combat game, try making something new that resembles Myth: The Fallen Lords and maybe we buy your garbage.
  41. mulv81
    Feb 3, 2015
    5
    I waited until recently to pick this expansion pack up for only $20. They wanted $40 for this when it came out and I just laughed, I'm not paying Activision $40 every time they feel like reskinning their multiplayer games.

    They added a couple new units, completely changed the tech requirements for many units, and I feel like I'm not even playing the same game anymore. It's annoying to    I waited until recently to pick this expansion pack up for only $20. They wanted $40 for this when it came out and I just laughed, I'm not paying Activision $40 every time they feel like reskinning their multiplayer games.

    They added a couple new units, completely changed the tech requirements for many units, and I feel like I'm not even playing the same game anymore. It's annoying to me, I spent months learning to play StarCraft II, I get this expansion and now the command centre queues the first SCV for me? Why? This is confusing, I am OCD as Hell and I can't stand when a game developer makes pointless changes like this. Well, I'm going back to Wings of Liberty since this is a dead game.    … Expand
  42. empleat
    Jan 9, 2015
    0
    This game haven´t 4 core support yet, at the same time 4 core cpus are 8 years old. I have Intel i7 3770 and this game use one my core at max. on 45 percent and second max on. 93.
    I have Geforce 780 and usage is 50 percent at max.
    Ram i have 1600mhz cl9. And SSD Samsung 840 Evo 256GB. I have 144 hz monitor and every fps, which drops under 144 cause shutters, because tearing is biger    This game haven´t 4 core support yet, at the same time 4 core cpus are 8 years old. I have Intel i7 3770 and this game use one my core at max. on 45 percent and second max on. 93.
    I have Geforce 780 and usage is 50 percent at max.
    Ram i have 1600mhz cl9.
    And SSD Samsung 840 Evo 256GB.
    I have 144 hz monitor and every fps, which drops under 144 cause shutters, because tearing is biger and biger lag.
    In mid game i have barely 100 fps and in late game i don´t have even 60 fps.
    And nobody have, even Nathanias haven´t 60 fps+
    60 fps is same bad, 120 fps is ok, but 60 is not playable, input lag is so big and tearing is huge.
    Blizzad customer support affirms, that even 30 fps are playable lol.
    They should try it yourself.
    They said it, because they can´t do 4 core support.
    You can´t play on unstable fps, so you need lock, so if this game haven´t even 60 fps, ok try play on 45, or 50 fps for example, really, or bigg lagg and you gona lose whole army.
    No way.
    Totaly unplayable game from medieval age.
    Even starcraft 1 is more playable lol.
    That should be great game, but performance ruined all game.
    Also Protoss is imba and no balance, protoss need nerf and they still nerf terran ???
    I don´t understand how somebody can play this **** pro, on this performance.
    GSYNC, doesn´t work well with this game a lot of issues and Eizo 244 monitors have input lagg 40 ms...
    I hate this game and there is also no option for disable chat, i don´t want listen kids and cries, so at start every game i need put player to ignore and do this on every round and after clean ignore list because 50 players are maximum.    … Expand
  43. tiho
    Jan 8, 2015
    9
    Great game for sure, but more in terms of gameplay than story. I found the SP campaign to be way too easy but I can only blame myself for playing on Normal instead of Hard... MP is obviously quite competitive, but one may still have fun without being a pro. In any case it offers a lot of different strategies so that each match is really unique, and the balance between the 3 races is reallyGreat game for sure, but more in terms of gameplay than story. I found the SP campaign to be way too easy but I can only blame myself for playing on Normal instead of Hard... MP is obviously quite competitive, but one may still have fun without being a pro. In any case it offers a lot of different strategies so that each match is really unique, and the balance between the 3 races is really good, in spite of their fundamental differences.… Expand
  44. sam712
    Dec 5, 2014
    0
    Starcraft went from a somber military-science fiction RTS about cybernetically enhanced exiles struggling for survival in a hostile sector of the universe, to a painfully generic space western with extendi-penis dragonflies grabbing a highly advanced two-story tall colossus. Bask in the glory of real time strategy as two testicular masses of comically isometric units duke it out withStarcraft went from a somber military-science fiction RTS about cybernetically enhanced exiles struggling for survival in a hostile sector of the universe, to a painfully generic space western with extendi-penis dragonflies grabbing a highly advanced two-story tall colossus. Bask in the glory of real time strategy as two testicular masses of comically isometric units duke it out with lighter fluid filled RC cars, decoy **** inflatable eyeballs, and figure skaters with akimbo popsicles to smack you with!

    By the time Legacy rolls around, RTS will die. Good riddance and RIP in pieces to the RTS genre.    … Expand
  45. Expospeed
    Dec 3, 2014
    6
    Heart of the Swarm is a decent expansion. More story. New units.

    1. Graphics: 7/10 - detailed unit models, good relative to other games on the market
    2. Gameplay: 7/10 - great interface and satisfying micro/macro control
    3. Multiplayer: 8/10 - competitive and fun
    4. Story: 2/10 - more shallow story, not interesting

    Overall, average expansion.
  46. raporgi
    Nov 29, 2014
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What an underwhelming piece of **** I got this only becuz its $10 Black Friday sale. The CGI is great but other than that its basically worthless. Blizz could have just easily added the new units as a patch along with the balance changes. You're basically paying for the cut-scenes and the stupid missions which feel like an extended tutorial. The narrative is extremely weak as it basically undoes everything the past games have done with Kerrigan. She basically gets a free pass on genocide just bec Raynor's got a bleeding hard on for her and her memory was wiped. The balance updates serve nothing more than to speed up the game turning it into a contest who can crank out more units faster. no new play mechanics are actually introduced. The firebat, darkswarm etc. are basically reintroduced in this game. Players could just as easily modded these units but since Blizz controls everything **** that. The Title of this game should have been my super galactic Tyrant ex-girlfriend the Revenge.… Expand
  47. WarcraftAwesome
    Nov 20, 2014
    10
    Although challenging, this game proves to be one of the best Real Time Strategy games out in the market. It probably is the best at this moment both in product as well as in its competition.
  48. kdkade
    Nov 12, 2014
    10
    I just adore this expansion: For Music, for Kerrigan being a badass, for Abatour being... Abatour, for cinematics being amazing, for the thrill of swarming poor enemies with my huge army of zerglings. Last time I had so much fun with a RTS campaign was Warcraft 3 Undead one. SC2 is great on its own, but HotS is just an outstanding gem for me.
  49. scrubbEN
    Nov 6, 2014
    9
    This game is beyond words amazing. Campaign is interesting (something you don't often see in modern releases), and I felt invested in playing. When I won a multiplayer game I felt accomplished and up there with professionals, despite being leagues behind. I've invested almost twice as much hours into this game alone compared to any other game I've ever played. There are a few balanceThis game is beyond words amazing. Campaign is interesting (something you don't often see in modern releases), and I felt invested in playing. When I won a multiplayer game I felt accomplished and up there with professionals, despite being leagues behind. I've invested almost twice as much hours into this game alone compared to any other game I've ever played. There are a few balance issues (2/2 roach/hydra can be really difficult to beat if not dealt with quickly), but luckily it suffers from perfect imbalance, where a certain cheap strategy will eventually be useless due to a large community working together to beat that strategy. The modding community is huge as well. Overall, buy this game if you liked the first one, if you like RTS games, eSports: heck, just buy the game anyway!… Expand
  50. David_Tay
    Oct 28, 2014
    10
    ignore all the hate that people are throwing at this game.

    this is a great game for 20USD. Very polish with good singleplayer and multiplayer aspect. I like how to revamped the missions just to fit the "zerg" mutation and parasite abilities. Very clever.

    highly recommended.
  51. sgtdegrandis
    Oct 20, 2014
    7
    Well first I think this is the best RTS game we have currently however there are some major problems.
    1. No Lan (It’s pathetic that hackers have made it available but blizzard has not)
    2. Selling each game separately for more $$$ is Bull**** overall I like this game however the story is getting a little out there and not really making alot of sense but again its worth playing if you    Well first I think this is the best RTS game we have currently however there are some major problems.
    1. No Lan (It’s pathetic that hackers have made it available but blizzard has not)
    2. Selling each game separately for more $$$ is Bull****

    overall I like this game however the story is getting a little out there and not really making alot of sense but again its worth playing if you like Starcraft    … Expand
  52. blueshift09
    Sep 23, 2014
    6
    This game has gone down a bit in quality since Wings of Liberty.

    Game mechanics have been tweaked slightly. There isn't much of a story in the cut scenes between missions which is quite disappointing. Previous instalments of Starcraft used to have good stories.
  53. Khyron320
    Sep 14, 2014
    10
    Near perfect balance if not for protoss and the storyline is moving along, though not as fast as most of us would like. There really isnt any better RTS out there.
  54. dreadnought
    Sep 9, 2014
    9
    Cross-Realms introduced
    Campaign lacking, no where near as good as WOL
    strong Pro-Scene
    Added units are interesting and adds depth to game well
    Decent sound-track additions
  55. Sakkaku
    Sep 8, 2014
    5
    It's World of Warcraft but in space! *yawn* is a good summary of how I feel when I play this game

    Gamplay: Same as Wings of Liberty, nothing notable to point out. Great RTS, it is losing it's shine though, Story: This is where everything sort've downfalls. If you are tired of these "WoW writers" then get ready for the same old hubub when it comes to this game. Nothing original, not    It's World of Warcraft but in space! *yawn* is a good summary of how I feel when I play this game

    Gamplay: Same as Wings of Liberty, nothing notable to point out. Great RTS, it is losing it's shine though,

    Story: This is where everything sort've downfalls. If you are tired of these "WoW writers" then get ready for the same old hubub when it comes to this game. Nothing original, not even close to following it's roots. Lots of retcon, lots of plot holes, lots of cliche dialog and generic actions scenes.

    After putting the original Star Craft on the back burner for so long, they lost everything that made a game unique. Now it feels like a "WoW" set in space of a story line everywhere you turn. Diablo 3 is another good example of this. WoW just bleeds into everything they do now, churning everything into a gray mush of mediocre game play and story.

    The casual game play is fun, but after 10 hours the game is now up a creek relying on the multiplayer, which has potential, but probably won't be fully engaging till the last expansion comes out. By then, SC2 will be outdated and forgotten because that what happens when you split a game up into 1/3's and make people wait 4 extra years to see the end of a story line.    … Expand
  56. Drain
    Aug 18, 2014
    5
    Like many games, most reviews for this are useless. They either falsely praise the game due to the reviewer being a idiot and/or paid off, or they sweep the game under the rug as if the game is the worst thing ever. The reality is that this is a very fun, but poorly written and mediocre product.

    Firstly, if you played Wings of Liberty; you pretty much know what you're getting here. I'm    Like many games, most reviews for this are useless. They either falsely praise the game due to the reviewer being a idiot and/or paid off, or they sweep the game under the rug as if the game is the worst thing ever. The reality is that this is a very fun, but poorly written and mediocre product.

    Firstly, if you played Wings of Liberty; you pretty much know what you're getting here. I'm going to compare this to Wings of Liberty; because I assume you played the last game or you probably wouldn't be playing this one.

    The biggest problem with Heart of the Swarm, which was also the biggest problem of Wings of Liberty; is the story. The story in this game is the worst thing you'll ever have seen since... well... Wings of Liberty. It's full of plot holes and meaningless made up crap for the sake of filler missions. I should mention that they ruin Kerrigan's character beyond belief, but is that surprising after they've shamelessly ruined Jim Raynor already? Someone needs to tell these that Jim and Kerrigan never even had a romance in the past. Blizzard pulled that right out of their ass for the sake of these games. They wanted to force in a needless romance with no idea how to even write it, just like Georgia Lucas with Episode 2. It also reminds me of when they revived Illidan for the Burning Crusade just so he could be a raid boss. I hate how Blizzard completely ruins everything previously established in order to just "do their own thing" in follow up games. If you were once a fan of their games; things like this are downright insulting.

    Here, for instance, Kerrigan goes right back to being Zerg, even though she was suppose to be "cured" in the last game, something that already made no sense.(Not a spoiler either; look at the box cover and read it) It's very clear they didn't write very far ahead. Also, Jim and Kerrigan's romance is almost as pathetic as Bell and Edward's. But did you really expect much, after playing Wings of Liberty? This was a follow up to that; and seeing as how that game's story was up in every possible way and full of plot holes, why shouldn't this one be too? The cutscenes are numerous and have a nice quality to them... but it's just hard to care when the game doesn't make any damn sense nor has any kind of competent story you're going to be invested in. Like Wings of Liberty; as soon as you finish the game, you'll not care about anything that happened in it. I could go on more about how awful the stories are in these games; but I think you get the point.

    Putting aside the awful storytelling; you've now got the actual gameplay... which is more or less the same as it was in the last game. The biggest differences are that the game is played 2-3x faster and Kerrigan is a main hero in most missions. Both of these are bad things. The faster pacing saps out most of the fun. By the time you get a hold of what you're doing in a mission; it's over. There's no time to actually enjoy it, think about what you're doing, or fool around. I hate how Starcraft has basically become an action genre. Why does it have to be so fast? Wings of Liberty was fast, but not "this" fast, and the originals were snails by comparison. But that's not to say that the game is hard. It's quite easy on the first 2 settings; especially since Kerrigan is a 1 woman army that can pillage and plunder forces with little to no help. That's more fun sapped right out of the game, because an RTS isn't suppose to revolve around 1 walking demi god. Warcraft 3, which I loved, had heroes, but they couldn't solo half an army this effectively. Kerrigan is better than a level 10 hero in Warcraft 3; and much so, even right away.

    I should add that the game features pointless upgrade choices and filler missions to unlock more. It's very clear that they had almost no content to work with; so they just filled it up with all this This is what happens when you break 1 game into 3 pieces. But while they managed to fill out Wings of Liberty with a nice campaign; the Zerg got the short stick. The campaign feels disappointingly short due to how fast the missions unfortunately are; and everything not in a mission, is just overly obvious padding or window dressing. You've then got the multiplayer... which didn't do much except add a few new units. They want 60$ for this BTW. So you basically paid 120$ just to play SC2 online. Good for you if you did that, but I didn't.

    In summery it's tough to recommend this. It does have a campaign that can be some fun, but once again is drowned is terrible cutscenes that do nothing but fuel a totally nonsensical story. And since you already got multiplayer with the first game... you're basically paying for that again. I leave this one up for you to decide.
    -Drain (Steam)    … Expand
  57. KiT2142
    Aug 10, 2014
    10
    Just 10/10. Awesome story, awesome gameplay, awesome multiplayer(if you can overcome ladder anxiety, of course). One of the best strategy game of all times.
  58. Rakim
    Jul 25, 2014
    10
    Love the campaign and cut scenes, Like the leveling system they added and overall a great expansion for Starcraft II. Looking forward to the next expansion.
  59. ArcticChod
    Jun 23, 2014
    10
    This game is pretty great. Relatively well balanced, still a few balance problems. But hey, it took Blizzard about 8-10 years to make Starcraft: Brood War the game that everyone wanted it to be. And it only succeeded because Blizz made the effort. I feel it's the same with this game. I recommend a buy. Campaign wasn't that good, though. But I only play for the 1v1 Multiplayer anyways, so...
  60. Fugazi
    Jun 22, 2014
    7
    Campaign and story was a huge disappointment, WoL was much better not even mentioning BW which are is different league.

    Other than that it is still good SC, so multiplayer is superior to anything in the market (RTS wise).
  61. Rtheom
    Mar 29, 2014
    5
    As much as I love Starcraft, they've turned it into a super cheese fest where the only viable strategy is to go one unit and go one unit hard. Gone are the days of variety and the epically big battles in place of small, 5 minute smashfests. Their attempt to e-sport Starcraft more than it already was really took the heart out of it.
  62. Derkness
    Mar 26, 2014
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is a really good one, it makes sense in every way. A lot of people criticise it just because Kerrigan becomes the queen again, but that's not that bad. All in all, this game is a great one.… Expand
  63. VidyaBum
    Mar 22, 2014
    6
    I expected it to be worse than WoL, but not this bad.

    Characters have this horrible division where you feel like half of them are Zerg(Dehaka, Zurvan, Abathur) and the other half behave like humans in a Zerg disguise(Izsha, Zagara). Izsha is particularly painful to listen to as every single line she has just reeks of a human being and not a Zerg. Put together with Abathur, it's really    I expected it to be worse than WoL, but not this bad.

    Characters have this horrible division where you feel like half of them are Zerg(Dehaka, Zurvan, Abathur) and the other half behave like humans in a Zerg disguise(Izsha, Zagara). Izsha is particularly painful to listen to as every single line she has just reeks of a human being and not a Zerg. Put together with Abathur, it's really glaring and kills the atmosphere entirely. Also why doesn't the Leviathan talk?! It's a Zerg creature, thinking and understanding, not a machine!

    The story is extremely lackluster. If WoL had lots of side missions with their own small reward and one 10-mission main quest(which was ultimately a fetch quest of 6 missions and then just fighting Kerrigan and a few missions devoted to harming Mengsk's reputation), HotS is literally nothing but one main mission: assemble the Horde-I mean the Swarm. It gets very old very fast. Too simple a plot, it's also not really helped by the side missions since very few of them bring any sort of plot advancement. Ultimately, you spend 20 missions assembling the Swarm, then you (spoiler alert, watch out this'll blow your mind you'll never see it coming!) kill Mengsk. Which means that you literally had all this buildup about Hybrids and the world's end in WoL and no follow up at all in HotS where it's just Kerrigan being mad at Mengsk and getting stronger so she can kill him...
    It's not even lackluster, it's just lame in comparison.

    Music is still meh. Still can't recall a single tune, apart from WoL's cutscenes. And even those were not that memorable, despite being well-conceived along with their cutscene. When the cutscenes music appears in HotS, it's nice but unfitting.

    Cutscenes are really great, all of them, but since none of them are ever in a good story, they just aren't that likeable.

    Then you've got the gameplay. Well, just like WoL, very little strategy, tons of spamming keys to get resources and units ASAP. Lots of exciting fun, almost no thinking, and a game that ultimately fails to be interesting, despite being entertaining until a certain point.
    The new units are fine, Zergs get a base defense/base siege unit akin to the Terran Siege Tank. Nothing really different, if you liked WoL you will like this.

    But really ultimately, if you liked the story in WoL and the gameplay was just ok and not particularly satisfying to you, or not at all satisfying if you like real strategy, HotS will feel like a step down in every aspect to you.
    The missions, the way they're chosen, the units and ways to upgrade them, the characters, the plot, the storytelling, the diversity of missions, which was one of the strongest points of WoL and added a lot of value to a game with virtually no strategy, all of that is either the same, or worse. 90% of the diverse missions of WoL are just copypasted here. Characters, mission choices, upgrade missions which appear here instead of credits to get unit upgrades, plot value, they're all clearly one hard step below Wings of Liberty.

    It's still playable just like the last one, and still has value as a game or a story, but it's so pathetically weak an expansion, compared to its predecessor. It also, unsurprisingly, does absolutely nothing to try to help the lack of complexity and lack of strategy of Starcraft as a whole(yes, I'm counting SC1 and BW).
    Just another super-fun-super-fast game with poor strategic elements and a story that will make you yearn to play WoL for the first time again.    … Expand
  64. jiffypop333
    Mar 12, 2014
    10
    Story wise the game is awesome. I don't even like the Zerg but playing as them is fun. The upgraded graphics is nice and refreshing. And the upgrades to units is great as well. Online multilayer is fun as well. This is a great game to continue the starcraft 2 trilogy and I expect the protoss story to be as good as this one.
  65. Dynamite089
    Jan 17, 2014
    1
    Nothing like Starcraft: Brood War when it comes to Custom Games/Chat System/Friends... The entire Battle.net feel has changed. I had issues playing this without the internet. The only singleplayer you can do is Campaign mode, unless you make a Custom Game but make sure to right click the map and select "Host Offline Game". The A.I. is pretty neat, and the art style is still the same. SameNothing like Starcraft: Brood War when it comes to Custom Games/Chat System/Friends... The entire Battle.net feel has changed. I had issues playing this without the internet. The only singleplayer you can do is Campaign mode, unless you make a Custom Game but make sure to right click the map and select "Host Offline Game". The A.I. is pretty neat, and the art style is still the same. Same game, just more modern, but it was a turn for the worse. Hardly ANY players are on during the night, but you can find plenty of Arcade games being hosted during the day. No Custom Games, hardly ever. Matchmaking? If you like playing against computers, good luck trying to find a partner. It's either you play ranked, or you play alone. Or go to arcade and disappoint yourself with the horrible maps. I've tried just about every RPG/ORPG that is hosted, and it doesn't compare to any maps you may have played on wc3 or sc1. The mapmakers just we not digging SC2, or something. Some maps are neat, but they need so much more work done to them. A lot of maps that seemed fun were abandoned by the mapmaker, so its hard to find any versions that aren't in BETA. Just not the game for me... Nothing like WC3 or SC1 when it comes to the Custom Games.. That's what I loved.… Expand
  66. chrisjames416
    Jan 12, 2014
    10
    I personally really liked the campaign. The story was sorta predictable. I was totally expecting something different in the end but meh whatever. The story fits and it wasn't garbage.

    The single player was really fun. I almost wished it had 1 or 2 more levels but again whatever. it was still really good. and thats what i really wanted. a juicy video game i could sink my teeth into.
  67. HUDWheels
    Dec 8, 2013
    0
    The online matchmaking is dreadful. I stopped playing for a few months, started again and was put into Silver league. My first 6 matches were against:-
    - Gold
    - Gold - Platinum - Diamond - Gold - Gold and guess what...I lost them all because I'm A SILVER PLAYER WHO SHOULD BE PLAYING SILVER PLAYERS NOT PLATINUM OR DIAMOND PLAYERS. Don't waste your time on the campaign either,    The online matchmaking is dreadful. I stopped playing for a few months, started again and was put into Silver league. My first 6 matches were against:-
    - Gold
    - Gold
    - Platinum
    - Diamond
    - Gold
    - Gold

    and guess what...I lost them all because I'm A SILVER PLAYER WHO SHOULD BE PLAYING SILVER PLAYERS NOT PLATINUM OR DIAMOND PLAYERS.

    Don't waste your time on the campaign either, it's pointless.    … Expand
  68. faceless-1
    Nov 24, 2013
    8
    This Exp. is really weak in compare to older blizzard exps. or even Dawn of War Exps.. Very few units, far worse matchmaking system and more laggy than WoL. Story missions are fine, but story it self is really bad.This really pisses me off, because Wings of liberty was so good.
  69. leeds_manc
    Nov 22, 2013
    6
    It has been proved a terrible idea to force a trilogy release structure on to Starcraft 2. HOTS forced "new" units to be made which were "cool" and "different" enough to make people want to upgrade to a sequel of Wings of Liberty. Unfortunately, while there are some nice ideas, medivac boost being one of them, units such as the swarmhost have made what was a fast-paced and exciting game toIt has been proved a terrible idea to force a trilogy release structure on to Starcraft 2. HOTS forced "new" units to be made which were "cool" and "different" enough to make people want to upgrade to a sequel of Wings of Liberty. Unfortunately, while there are some nice ideas, medivac boost being one of them, units such as the swarmhost have made what was a fast-paced and exciting game to watch a very, very dull game to both play and spectate. The game has got worse over time and unfortunately the strongest tactics for each race are now also the most boring ones to watch. I wished they had stuck with WOL for a few more years, and added the best units from HOTs in one at a time... Blizzard's marketing experiment has ultimately failed.… Expand
  70. SupaChigga
    Nov 18, 2013
    7
    Single Player/Multi Player (2/2)

    (If the single player is better than the multiplayer, review this section as if it had no multplayer) (If the multiplayer is better than the multiplayer, review this section as if it had no single player) Gameplay (2/2) Visuals/Story (2/2) (If the visuals are better than the story, review this section as if it had no story) (If the story is    Single Player/Multi Player (2/2)

    (If the single player is better than the multiplayer, review this section as if it had no multplayer) (If the multiplayer is better than the multiplayer, review this section as if it had no single player)

    Gameplay (2/2)

    Visuals/Story (2/2)

    (If the visuals are better than the story, review this section as if it had no story) (If the story is better than the visuals, review this section as if the visuals didn’t matter)

    Accessibility/Longevity (2/2)

    (Review this section only on Accessibility if the game has no longevity) (Review this section only on longevity if the game isn’t accessible)

    Pricing (0/2)

    Wildcard (-1)

    This is a guideline for how to properly review games. Many reviewers like to get a “feel” for a game, and arbitrarily give a game a score that they believe it deserves. This results in wildly different scores between different reviewers, and vastly different scores between similar games. This guideline addresses these problems and scores games fairly and consistently. This guideline also gives scores that are usually similar to the metacritic score.

    The review score is based out of 10 points. There are no “half” or 0.5 increments. It is impossible to have a score above 10 or below 0. The review score will change as the game gets new dlc, drops in price, or if more secrets are found through the game increasing its appeal.

    The scoring is split into 6 sections. The first five sections can add a possible 2 points to the final score. The first 5 sections are Single Player/Multi Player, Gameplay, Visuals/Story, Accessibility/Longevity, and Pricing.

    Notice that 3 of these sections have two parts. These particular sections will be scored based on the stronger part of the game of the two. For example, if a game has a lousy single player campaign, but an excellent multiplayer component, that section will be based solely on the multiplayer as if the single player did not exist. This allows games to be based on their own merits, as many unnecessary features are shoehorned into video games by publishers to reach a “feature quota”. Games that excel in both areas of a section don’t receive should be noted in the written review, but cannot increase the score past 2 in that section. However, it can be taken into account in the final section

    The final section can add 1, add 0, or subtract 1 to the final score. This final section is the “wildcard” section. This section is for how the reviewer “feels” about the game, but limits this only to this section, rather than the entire 10 point review. This section can include any positive or negative point that was not covered in the previous 5 sections.    … Expand
  71. filthyrichguy
    Oct 4, 2013
    9
    Excellent game, picks up on wings of liberty fluently and brings much improvements in gameplay. Story is criticized for some reason but it's not any worse than any other Blizzard game, it's perfectly acceptable.
  72. djnicey
    Oct 1, 2013
    9
    This is quite an expensive expansion but does add a lot to SCII, both the singleplayer campaign and the multiplayer are great, after playing for some months I'm starting to hope the final expansion will be released soon. Its a solid game and my favorite multiplayer by far... probably until I try DOTA.
  73. makan8
    Sep 22, 2013
    9
    A pretty good expansion, the story is a bit too cheesy but not bad.
    Controlling Kerrigan is amazing though and you really feel like the queen of the zerg!
    The new multiplayer really doesnt add to much but its still pretty good.
    A worthy expansion to the best RTS ever made!
  74. TommyGunx
    Sep 10, 2013
    7
    Playing SC since 98' the single player campaign is so so i do understand this is a RTS and there is only so much you can do in a single player setting some of the cut scenes blew me away however the over all experience left me kind of hallow I did give the game a 7 mostly due to the online competition bottom line don't buy for the single player if you enjoy playing "chess on crack"Playing SC since 98' the single player campaign is so so i do understand this is a RTS and there is only so much you can do in a single player setting some of the cut scenes blew me away however the over all experience left me kind of hallow I did give the game a 7 mostly due to the online competition bottom line don't buy for the single player if you enjoy playing "chess on crack" this is the game for you online that is.… Expand
  75. GDawgTUK
    Aug 28, 2013
    1
    The matchmaking is literally broken beyond repair. It is completely unreal how uneven matches will get. Every Tryhard on Battlenet will defend the matchmaking with by just blindly spraying off the term "MMR." "It's perfect, you don't even know about mmr do you?"

    This is not the perfect system people convince themselves it is. It does not take into consideration if you leave a game    The matchmaking is literally broken beyond repair. It is completely unreal how uneven matches will get. Every Tryhard on Battlenet will defend the matchmaking with by just blindly spraying off the term "MMR." "It's perfect, you don't even know about mmr do you?"

    This is not the perfect system people convince themselves it is. It does not take into consideration if you leave a game within, say, 90 seconds of it beginning, or if your starting building is destroyed by your own units. It can be manipulated to work in people's favor because it only counts win/losses. That's it. If you get good with one race, and try to play off-race, then without a doubt you will lose countless games before it evens back out. There is nothing that tracks your stats per individual race to know if you should have easier matches if you are playing a race you are not familiar with. It's a very broken system and needs immediate attention before this game's multiplayer can be considered anything other than a crying shame.    … Expand
  76. Galwail
    Aug 10, 2013
    10
    This is the best RTS game I have played this year. The single player campaign is very fun and fast paced. Gone are missions, where you would mindlessly build base, create army and clean the map over and over again. Every mission has unique objectives and game mechanics. The multiplayer part is also well balanced and very competitive. What more could you want?
  77. slic
    Jul 30, 2013
    0
    Remember when you could turtle in your base, build defenses, build a powerful upgraded army, advance tactically and slowly towards the enemy base while taking all the time you need? Well Blizzard doesn't! This horses**t of a campaign is nothing but timed missions, it's all rush rush rush. No more experimenting with awesome new units and playing around with them, no more playing at your ownRemember when you could turtle in your base, build defenses, build a powerful upgraded army, advance tactically and slowly towards the enemy base while taking all the time you need? Well Blizzard doesn't! This horses**t of a campaign is nothing but timed missions, it's all rush rush rush. No more experimenting with awesome new units and playing around with them, no more playing at your own pace and formulating attack and defense strategies, now you have FREE and UNLIMITED units and all you have to do to win a mission is select them and press "A" at the enemy base; and even if you don't want to do this, you have no choice since every mission is a race against the clock and is annoyingly scripted. I can't even remember building a single base defense in the entire campaign. "This is how you are supposed to play the zerg" Blizzard says, well in that case please don't call this piece of fecal matter an RTS game because it has absolutely no relation to classical RTS games (especially starcraft 1). It plays more like Call of Duty.

    And that's not even the worst part. The story looks like it was written by a ten year old. There are no more plot twists, everything is predictable and cliche, and the dialogue is cringe inducing (example: "My queen, your hatred is burning like a star"). The days when you would play a mission for hours and then near its end start to foam at the mouth while you await the awesome revelation in the story, they are gone. You feel more and more boredom as you click "next mission", and your only motivation to finish is a feeling that you just want to get this s**t over with. There is absolutely nothing to like about this story, it's all about the angry girlfriend on a quest for revenge. How the heck can anyone even relate to her? Who cares about some hysterical b*tch and her love driven rampages?
    And why the heck are zerg humanized? Why do they spare civilians? What happened to the mindless swarm that ravages human populations across the galaxies? Now they feel like nothing but a tool for some b*tch's personal vendettas.
    And speaking of the star of the show, do you remember when Kerrigan was a cynical badass "Queen b*tch of the Universe" who cared for nothing but power, expansion, and the glory of the swarm? Well now she's a sensitive Queen heroine who cares about saving humanity, and of course her paramour Jim Raynor. Here's a summary of the game's dialogue without giving away spoilers:
    "O Raynor, Raynor! wherefore art thou Raynor?"
    "But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
    It is the east, where Char is burning."
    And even this incredibly simple story managed to have more plotholes than Swiss cheese. I can't even call them plotholes since they're absolutely nonsensical and serve nothing but to advance the story to the predictable and hurried ending.

    If you are a fan of the original series, then do yourself a favor and stay away from this game.    … Expand
  78. KingofSomalia
    Jul 23, 2013
    9
    Amazing content to the best game ever, I didn't find it as fun as Wings of Liberty though, buts thats probably because i play zerg and in heart of the swarm, you dont wanna play zerg
  79. voidspawngreg
    Jul 18, 2013
    6
    I was really looking forward to this game since I loved Wings of Liberty but unfortunately I was disappointed. Not to say that it's a bad game, it certainly isn't..but in my opinion it doesn't even come close to WoL.

    Good: Graphics Some fun missions (Although very few) Multiplayer Cutscenes Bad: Writing, Dialogues Story progression (Many "wtf did I miss an episode or something"    I was really looking forward to this game since I loved Wings of Liberty but unfortunately I was disappointed. Not to say that it's a bad game, it certainly isn't..but in my opinion it doesn't even come close to WoL.

    Good:
    Graphics
    Some fun missions (Although very few)
    Multiplayer
    Cutscenes

    Bad:
    Writing, Dialogues
    Story progression (Many "wtf did I miss an episode or something" moments)
    Boring and easy missions (Many of them were different versions of WoL missions)
    Pointless evolution missions (And they feld soooo out of place, Kerrigan seemed like a whole different person during those missions)
    0 strategy, just take Kerrigan with you and kick ass    … Expand
  80. Vayra
    Jul 15, 2013
    9
    An expansion done the way it should be done. A new layer of polish over and already extremely polished game, a fair number of new units and a plethora of interesting strategic options make HotS more than worth buying.

    Within the Starcraft community it is very helpful to distinguish two types of players to make some sense of the wildly differing ratings that are given out. For one, there    An expansion done the way it should be done. A new layer of polish over and already extremely polished game, a fair number of new units and a plethora of interesting strategic options make HotS more than worth buying.

    Within the Starcraft community it is very helpful to distinguish two types of players to make some sense of the wildly differing ratings that are given out. For one, there is the 'skill-oriented' player, who plays Starcraft online a lot, and completes the campaign in one go. Then there is the story-oriented player, who loves the Starcraft universe and its developing storyline and hardly plays competitively online.

    The skill-oriented players of Starcraft 2 will rate this expansion like I did simply because a new layer of depth and options is added to arguably the most balanced and challenging RTS. These players have the knowledge also, to appreciate the efforts Blizzard has put into created a renewed, rebalanced game and how well they generally succeeded at this.

    The story-oriented players of Starcraft 2 will probably rate the expansion considerably lower because of a campaign that is only mildly interesting and most of the other changes and additions show their true strength in competitive play, online.    … Expand
  81. owen1218
    Jul 9, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A definite step-down from Wings of Liberty. The campaign is really too short to be worth the cost. I like to play through things nice and slow, and even still finished this over the course of two days. The victory over Mengsk feels really empty when it's so quick to be obtained. Half the work of the swarm is done via unchallenging "evolution missions" and an occasional defection by a brood mother. Beyond that, this really simplifies (and butchers) the nonlinear fun of WoL. I enjoyed being able to play off in one direction for a while and then returning to another thread later on. And finally, the new characters are really not that interesting, the dialogue unmemorable, and the story doesn't have the interesting twists that WoL does.

    All of that said, this game is not a total flop. If there was ever a perfect sequel to a game, Starcraft II was it. It takes nothing away from the original game and only adds to it. And as in WoL, the gameplay here is terrific. The story, although not on par with WoL, is still fairly decent.

    The real failure here is that the game's designers seem to have intentionally set it up for failure, by intentionally reducing gameplay time and the nonlinearity that helped make WoL so appealing. As this product stands, it's definitely fun but also something of a rip off.    … Expand
  82. ACESsiggy
    Jun 28, 2013
    4
    To be honest, I think this game is nothing more than copy and paste of the Wings of Liberty campaign. However, this game has a horrible story along with it's cheesy lines from the queen of blades. Graphically nothing is new from starcraft 2. The new units introduced are alright but bland at best.

    Can't believe all the positive reviews.
  83. teshia
    Jun 28, 2013
    5
    I was very disappointed with Heart of the Swarm. The story was okay and the art direction was pretty good but I found the gameplay lacking. I played through it on Normal difficulty and didn't die once during the entire campaign. That's not Normal, that's Easy, or even easier. I'm no Starcraft expert and couldn't remember what any of the units did when I came back to play thisI was very disappointed with Heart of the Swarm. The story was okay and the art direction was pretty good but I found the gameplay lacking. I played through it on Normal difficulty and didn't die once during the entire campaign. That's not Normal, that's Easy, or even easier. I'm no Starcraft expert and couldn't remember what any of the units did when I came back to play this expansion. It shouldn't have been this easy. I'm not paying good money to walk through it like it was an RTS for kids. Total snore fest. It certainly wasn't like that when I played the first Starcraft game or even Warcraft 2. Come on guys, add some tactics in make me work for it. Hard should be hard. Normal should be normal. Easy should be easy.… Expand
  84. Red-Rocket
    Jun 23, 2013
    10
    loved that blizzard cleaned up region locks and many things Activision did. As an expansion this game just adds so much more to it (and gives me a reason to play more starcraft) with new units, more options and a new campaign. However, blizzard screwed up with one element of the campaign. It was to easy. The final mission was a JOKE. Blizzard is known for having incredibly hard finalloved that blizzard cleaned up region locks and many things Activision did. As an expansion this game just adds so much more to it (and gives me a reason to play more starcraft) with new units, more options and a new campaign. However, blizzard screwed up with one element of the campaign. It was to easy. The final mission was a JOKE. Blizzard is known for having incredibly hard final missions in their games, WOL was so difficult that even pros where having difficulty with it. But doesnt do enough to take away from score, of course i knew there would be less missions but i felt there weren't enough yet still story was excellent with amazing cinematics and mostly interesting missions if a bit to easy… Expand
  85. Ndi
    Jun 23, 2013
    2
    DOWNGRADED from a 9 to a 2 after Blizzard remotely killed my game. Updater stalls, installer stalls, everything stalls forever and I'm locked out. I don't WANT the next version, my old version works fine, buzz off.

    That's it. I'm buying the next SC2 installment through Reloaded.
  86. botas2
    Jun 11, 2013
    10
    I'm just a few missions into campaign, and I can already say I'm excited for the story. I've been playing Starcraft since it's original release years and years ago, and this is just completely epic. I cannot wait to finish the story, and hop online. A good price for what will seem to be a completely new game.
  87. Honeybadgers
    Jun 3, 2013
    6
    This review is for the single player, because the if you want to play a multiplayer RTS, you already know that SCII is about as good as it gets.

    The campaign is just atrocious. It's polished, as blizzard games always are, but it's about as relevant to multiplayer or RTS elements as I am related to a tuna. It's essentially a nonstop flow of new, gimmicky map ideas, and while I'm okay    This review is for the single player, because the if you want to play a multiplayer RTS, you already know that SCII is about as good as it gets.

    The campaign is just atrocious. It's polished, as blizzard games always are, but it's about as relevant to multiplayer or RTS elements as I am related to a tuna. It's essentially a nonstop flow of new, gimmicky map ideas, and while I'm okay with mechanics that supplement the RTS elements, I don't like how many levels were DOTA-esque and central around the hero. Starcraft and warcraft 3 just don't blend well together, and it might make new players think that the hero concept has anything to do with the game, where it doesn't. I can count on one hand the number of missions where I felt like I could play proper zerg (I'm a terran player and still felt like zerg got cheated) and the number of departures from multiplayer zerg is almost frightening (queens are completely changed, all the mutations and different attributes of each unit make them feel completely different to how they do in multiplayer)

    The character arc for kerrigan is bipolar at best. She starts out just right, but almost immediately, goes completely bananas. They really could have paced her arc better, instead of wildly bouncing around. And pacing the story around what happens in the very first mission just doesn't set a good tone for the rest of the game.

    Interacting with your crew is pretty awful, as well. WoL's crew was equally as varied, but they were human, and thus, relatable. The zerg characters were just goofy and camp. Tychus and Matt in WoL were central, driving characters that you felt invested in. I went through every piece of dialogue in HOTS, and I absolutely hated almost every word spoken. I wanted nothing more than to not listen to those irrelevant sidekicks. Starcraft is dark and a very human story, and the zerg campaign made it feel goofy and completely inconsistent in tone, bouncing between drama, cliche, and humor with all the smoothness of falling down a flight of stairs.

    The game is also just brokenly easy. I breezed through it on brutal, and I'm by no means a great starcraft player.

    Cinematics are as good as video game cinematics can get. But unfortunately, and this feels unique in a blizzard game, they feel completely detached from the game that I was playing.

    If you're looking to play some multiplayer RTS, buy this game without even batting an eye. But if you're only looking for a top notch single player RTS, I'd suggest you go to teamliquid.net and find the starcraft brood war mod done in SCII graphics.    … Expand
  88. ArtanisDude
    May 29, 2013
    9
    Overall, Heart of the Swarm is a very great game, Blizzard has gone all out with the quality of the cinematics and almost perfectly set gameplay experiences. The story is a good continuance of Wings of Liberty, yet offers it's own specialty too. I do think that Blizzard could have added a longer story to get those major SC fans an even better experience. They could also extend theirOverall, Heart of the Swarm is a very great game, Blizzard has gone all out with the quality of the cinematics and almost perfectly set gameplay experiences. The story is a good continuance of Wings of Liberty, yet offers it's own specialty too. I do think that Blizzard could have added a longer story to get those major SC fans an even better experience. They could also extend their ladders and leveling system to a whole new level. Still, I would say HotS is one of the best games that came out recently. Definitely worth the 35 bucks.… Expand
  89. spore1999
    May 24, 2013
    10
    A very omnipotent creation from Blizzard,challenging as well true game-play for a strategy game.It's exactly what someone could want to be in a game type like this.
  90. birdman3
    May 15, 2013
    7
    I played the single player campaign mostly to see all the cool upgrades and evolutions for each of the zerg creatures. That alone made the game rewarding- the campaign is pretty mundane (the writing is not very good) and fairly short (about 20 missions? Right?), but overall: it was the various evolutions that made me keep playing.
  91. Heimskringla91
    May 10, 2013
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What I used to love about Blizzard was they knew how to tell a story...well I wonder where that talent went because there isn't one here. WoW and SC have seemingly melded into the same story but just different worlds. There's something super evil coming so Horde and Alliance must join together to defeat it. There's something super evil coming so Terran, Zerg, and Protoss must joing together to defeat it. Awesome? I also hate Jim Raynor by the way, he's the reason a lot of people are dying by saving Kerrigan. I wish Tycus had finished the job in Wings of Liberty. OR I wish Arcturus Mensk had just finished the job at the ending of this game. But no he had to give Kerrigan a stupid damn speech about how awesome and cool he is instead of just shooting her point blank while she was writhing on the floor. Everyone seems to be hailing Blizzard's cinematics, which of course, are very nice but so useless. For example in the launch trailer I believe it was, a Viking drops in front of a Brutalisk and gets owned, I doubt he would have done that or maybe he's just that stupid.
    But alas, the review also needs to tell of the gameplay. Which is your typical RTS and certainly fun however, for a singleplayer enthusiast such as myself, it falls short (the story is the main part of that). The leveling up system is back from Wings of Liberty which I think is pretty cool but otherwise didn't add a lot in the way of new ideas. Additionally, just something that has to be said, Kerrigan's walking animations are just hilarious. It looks like she always has to poo or maybe something is just stuck up her bum but it's very funny. Anywho, multiplayer of course seems to be the focus here for Blizzard and it's pretty obvious. Tournaments and what not have become a big thing so it seems Blizzard would like to appeal to that crowd. This unfortunately makes the story driven, single player driven folks at a loss. Where StarCraft and WarCraft once had great stories they've taken a backseat to what seems like $moneygrabz$ for Blizzard. 'Tis a shame, I say!    … Expand
  92. goodterling
    May 8, 2013
    3
    Heart of the Swarm is not so much a game as a guided tour. The game holds your hand and carefully walks you through every stage like your a 5 year old. It's actually pretty insulting--like one big extended tutorial for stupid people. How far have we fallen from the tense and frantic game play of Warcraft 3? Remember that? Apparently Blizzard thinks its customers have lost half theirHeart of the Swarm is not so much a game as a guided tour. The game holds your hand and carefully walks you through every stage like your a 5 year old. It's actually pretty insulting--like one big extended tutorial for stupid people. How far have we fallen from the tense and frantic game play of Warcraft 3? Remember that? Apparently Blizzard thinks its customers have lost half their IQ points in the past 11 years.… Expand
  93. violentine
    May 7, 2013
    9
    People still talk about Brood War? Forget about it. Starcraft is and has always been about competitive and tense multiplayer. It's definitely a game that I wouldn't buy for it's campaign (even tho I have heard praise about that too). Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty started improving the gameplay in many areas (no more sending every probe to the mineral line i.e.) and Heart of the SwarmPeople still talk about Brood War? Forget about it. Starcraft is and has always been about competitive and tense multiplayer. It's definitely a game that I wouldn't buy for it's campaign (even tho I have heard praise about that too). Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty started improving the gameplay in many areas (no more sending every probe to the mineral line i.e.) and Heart of the Swarm continues from that. I play multiplayer almost every day and the new units in HotS really bring more variety to the mix. The changes to the multiplayer aren't too significant (couple of units for every race) but overall the game is getting constantly more dynamic.… Expand
  94. ViperZeth
    May 7, 2013
    9
    This game is just excellent, a good decision from Blizzard to give each faction its own campaign instead of 3 smaller ones.
    The story feels a little more linear but it has more extras: the mutations and mutation missions for example, making choices on your units depending on how you use them.
    Zerg and protoss resources are replaced by Kerrigan levels and it feels less punishing for    This game is just excellent, a good decision from Blizzard to give each faction its own campaign instead of 3 smaller ones.
    The story feels a little more linear but it has more extras: the mutations and mutation missions for example, making choices on your units depending on how you use them.
    Zerg and protoss resources are replaced by Kerrigan levels and it feels less punishing for missing 1 or 2 objectives that give these levels. The levels give you upgrades for Kerrigan herself but also Passive upgrades to improve the Swarm itself.
    The feel of slowly working your way trough the mission, gaining and upgrading new units and improving yourself is very satisfying overall. Totally worth my 40 bucks    … Expand
  95. Eternald
    May 5, 2013
    10
    My personal score for this game is 8 but because there is too much hatred from anti blizzard boys around now days i will vote for 10.

    Graphics 8/10 Cinematic 10/10 Music 9/10 Story 8/10 Dialogues 7/10 As far as the campaign goes Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm is a very nice game with an interesting story and change of events. However missions felt a bit rushed due to the "beat    My personal score for this game is 8 but because there is too much hatred from anti blizzard boys around now days i will vote for 10.

    Graphics 8/10
    Cinematic 10/10
    Music 9/10
    Story 8/10
    Dialogues 7/10

    As far as the campaign goes Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm is a very nice game with an interesting story and change of events.
    However missions felt a bit rushed due to the "beat the time" mechanism but still it was soo fun to play that you will catch yourself finishing the game and you will not understand how the time passed.
    Most of the voice acting is nice and good but there are some parts especially close to the end of the game that seemed cheesy and flat.
    Storyline is interesting and nice however it could be much better, but still is a very nice story with strong elements of hatred, love, revenge, and pain.    … Expand
  96. volkov956
    May 4, 2013
    6
    Zerg Campaing story is very unattaching of interest bringing back the queen of blades seems to be a wasteful twist they could of just used a new Master Zerg which could of been more compelling and yes there is one point where they could of even killed off Queen of Blades and made a new Protaganist

    Game Play is very easy compaired to Star Craft II and its shorter it seems to be a    Zerg Campaing story is very unattaching of interest bringing back the queen of blades seems to be a wasteful twist they could of just used a new Master Zerg which could of been more compelling and yes there is one point where they could of even killed off Queen of Blades and made a new Protaganist

    Game Play is very easy compaired to Star Craft II and its shorter it seems to be a complete hold your hand Experience and what is up with the Huger UI am I just crazy?

    I Do believe the Protoss Expansion will rectify this    … Expand
  97. Dragoneel1000
    May 4, 2013
    9
    Ahem....
    Whens the next?
  98. tokifreak91
    May 3, 2013
    9
    Amazing game, great cut scenes that are stunningly beautiful. The new units help streamline the game and make it much more challenging. The single player campaign gives you more choices in how to play and immerses you into the story. Well Done Blizzard!!
  99. Shenox
    May 2, 2013
    9
    While Starcraft and Starcraft: Brood War were perfect and there was no way to make a better game than those two were, Blizzard now gives us a great comeback after the only decent Wings of Liberty. The Heart of the Swarm campaign managed to keep me playing by being very interesting and even though I did not want to buy it, I had a lot of fun with it so far. The ranked mode is still a bitWhile Starcraft and Starcraft: Brood War were perfect and there was no way to make a better game than those two were, Blizzard now gives us a great comeback after the only decent Wings of Liberty. The Heart of the Swarm campaign managed to keep me playing by being very interesting and even though I did not want to buy it, I had a lot of fun with it so far. The ranked mode is still a bit too unfair for RTS newcomers (in Multiplayer), but the arcade maps are so much fun. There's only one chance to make the Starcraft II trilogy another legendary game: Legacy of the Void.… Expand
  100. Dozmo
    May 2, 2013
    8
    A great expansion, but priced a little steeply. The campaign is good (better than Wings of Liberty), the new units are fun, and the Battle.net interface is hugely improved.
    That said, the price tag is still pretty high for an expansion pack, especially when you consider how much you got in WOL versus only the NEW things you get in HOTS.
    Having played hundreds of HOTS games, I think it is    A great expansion, but priced a little steeply. The campaign is good (better than Wings of Liberty), the new units are fun, and the Battle.net interface is hugely improved.
    That said, the price tag is still pretty high for an expansion pack, especially when you consider how much you got in WOL versus only the NEW things you get in HOTS.
    Having played hundreds of HOTS games, I think it is definitely a worthy addition for any RTS fan, but only for RTS fans. If you are simply a casual player your money is better spent on something else.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

17
#17 Best PC Game of 2013
33
#33 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
52
#52 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 68 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 66 out of 68
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 68
  3. Negative: 1 out of 68
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Jun 10, 2013
    90
    The tutorials and the A.I have been improved, giving newcomers the chance to calmly try new tactics… before playing against experienced players that will go straight to their jugular. [April 2013]
  2. Games Master UK
    May 9, 2013
    85
    Accomplished, if not exactly groundbreaking. [June 2013, p.80]
  3. Hyper Magazine
    May 9, 2013
    90
    Heart of the Swarm is ScarCraft made better. Welcoming to newcomers, but never dumbed-down, the franchise at its best. [June 2013, p.66]
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