How far did you get: One campaign completion
StarCraft 2 was a surprisingly worthy follow up to the highly acclaimed RTS game StarCraft. We were told from the start that two expansions would be in the works. Where the main game focused on the Terrans, Heart of the Swarm concentrated on the Swarm (and the next, the Protoss).
Playing as Kerrigan and her swarm is an absolute blast. Personally, I prefer the Swarm to the Terrans. Sure, you don't have guns, tanks, or flying ships, but the Swarm's equivalent of these things are super cool. Playing as the swarm is a lot more chaotic than playing as Terrans. Though you will occasionally have to strategically place particular units in certain places to gain an advantage as you did with the Terrans, you'll more often than not find yourself in a position where numbers matter. For the Swarm, the more the merrier.
Something that sets this expansion apart is that for most of the missions, you actually get to control Kerrigan. In fact, you even get to level her up separately from the rest of the Swarm. At any point in the game, Kerrigan is easily the most powerful unit you'll use, and it's fun to do so. Leveling up your other Swarm units is done in a unique fashion from what you might be used to in the main game. You do small missions where your units will evolve to best take on a particular situation. You'll do two of these for each unit, and choose which one you think would be most beneficial. It's helpful that it actually let's you use these improved units before choosing which you'd like to use.
The story is a tad corny, as it was in the main game, but it's a bit darker this time around. It's to be expected, as the Swarm are naturally loathed across the universe and have a tendency to wipe the population from entire planets. Impressively, when you play as the Swarm, that doesn't change. Kerrigan will still send her brood mothers to wipe entire planets for resources, and even though she's regained some of her humanity, it doesn't seem to phase her a bit. For most of the game, it really does feel like you're playing as the bad guys.
If you enjoyed the main game, there's no reason you should pass up on Heart of the Swarm. It's a bit pricey, but it took me several nights to finish the campaign and there is a pretty significant multiplayer mode if you're into that sort of thing. It's gameplay isn't incredibly different from the main game, but as an expansion and not an entirely new game, it does add enough flavor to be worth the plunge.
Rating: 87/100
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