Damn, sure looks pretty Tychus!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Blizzard does some pretty-pretty CGI and they seem to be rivalling Square-Enix in that respect. The CG movies for StarCraft 2 are extremely well produced and very well directed, adding to the story and forming a good solid narrative. The in-game engine cinematics are very good and they have a great deal of character to them, especially when they involve the interactions between Jim and his crew. The actual in-game graphics with their fixed camera and solid colour palette are excellent as well, with a high level of detail on the various units that can be missed during the frenetic pace of the game itself. But it is there, from the Ghosts to the mighty Terran Battlecruiser, everything looks well textured and well made.

Lightning and shadow are used to good effect, the level design and map design is beautiful in many of the locations and whilst I never really was a StarCraft fan, I can truly say that 2 has actually converted me with its design, story and production quality. The physics are par for the course with explosions and bits of debris from the various destroyed buildings, it all comes together nicely in one eyecandy package of destruction and war.

Seems to be pretty intelligent too

The AI is good enough, the Zerg are troublesome when allowed to expand and the Protoss are sneaky. Terran AI seems very good at direct assaults and will usually probe your defences lightly before bringing in some seriously deadly firepower. Pathfinding on a whole is not broken and whilst we did get some odd unit movement from time to time, it worked out the path pretty quickly.

Sounds like a good one

The sound in StarCraft 2 is definitely good quality, everything has a nice meaty audio to it, from the weapons, the battles, the units themselves and the ship-board ambience aboard the Hyperion.

I dig them tunes Jimmy, I dig them real good

With a mix of various rock tracks and so on in the bar/Cantina, to the Firefly inspired western guitar twang of the Terran soundtrack, StarCraft 2 delivers a great musical experience across the whole soundtrack. It is at times suitably dark and grim, then sweeping and dramatic.

Now that's some mighty fine voice you got there!

Married to the music is the solid voice acting, everyone does their part extremely well, the voice acting is some of the best in the industry and it's great to hear StarCraft voices return, including the voice actor for that of Jim Raynor, who lends his suitable vocals to bring the hero to life in a very believable manner.

It's all good until someone loses their spleen

StarCraft 2 is a worthy successor to StarCraft and whilst it is certainly not the best ending out there, falling a bit flat, nor does it answer a lot of the questions you might have about the Terran side of the story, it sets up for a nice sequel (2 of them in fact) and provides a wild ride from beginning to end, one that you'll want to repeat to see some of the outcomes and unlock the other units. Of course, there's also the various tech upgrades as well as some other surprises - which we won't spoil.

All in all we can't wait for the expansion/sequels and the future of StarCraft is definitely safe in Blizzard's hands.