StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm out now

The latest game in Blizzard’s sci-fi strategy game—StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm—has now gone live. Those who pre-purchased and downloaded the game can now log in to Battle.net and have a go at the single player campaign and multiplayer of the game. The game is a continuation of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and focuses on Sarah Kerrigan.

While the game isn’t available in stores in India, those interested can grab it from the official website. It is available in two flavours—Standard Edition and Digital Deluxe Edition. The standard edition costs $39.99 (approx. Rs 2,173), whereas the digital deluxe edition can be grabbed for $59.99 (approx. Rs 3,261). The digital deluxe edition has all the in-game goodies you get from the Collector’s Edition ($79.99 – roughly Rs 4,348), which is unavailable in India through official channels. Those who buy the standard edition can upgrade to the digital deluxe edition at any time by paying $20 (approx. Rs 1,087).

“Heart of the Swarm enhances every aspect of StarCraft II,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “In addition to Kerrigan’s campaign and the new multiplayer units and maps, we think players will really enjoy the new online elements and new features that make StarCraft II more fun and easier to learn than ever before.”

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Kerrigan’s ready. Are you?

The Digital Deluxe version of Heart of the Swarm includes a full digital copy of the expansion along with the following in-game bonus items:

• StarCraft II Torrasque: Crush the enemies of the Swarm with the indomitable Torrasque, a fearsome new look for your zerg Ultralisks.
• StarCraft II Portraits and Decals: New Swarm-infested portraits and decals help you customise the look of your online profile and in-game army.
• World of Warcraft In-Game Pet: The Baneling companion pet is bursting with enthusiasm and ready to explode onto the Pet Battles scene.
• Diablo III Blade Wings and Banner Sigil: Grow zerg-like wings in honor of the Queen of Blades and unfurl an exclusive banner sigil to mark your allegiance to the Swarm in Sanctuary.

Heart of the Swarm picks up the story where StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty left off, focusing on Kerrigan’s quest to reunite the Swarm and exact revenge on Arcturus Mengsk. Over the course of 20 campaign missions, players will follow Kerrigan as she sweeps across the galaxy, incorporating a variety of distinctive zerg species into her brood. Kerrigan will grow in strength from mission to mission and players will be able to customise her with powerful new abilities, as well as evolve various zerg strains into fearsome new subspecies to suit their play style.

New weapons of war also debut in Heart of the Swarm’s multiplayer, including new units such as Terran Hellbats, Zerg Swarm Hosts, and Protoss Tempests, while certain existing units from Wings of Liberty will be updated with new capabilities. In addition, several new features will enhance the game experience, including group and clan systems; training and versus-A.I. modes, to help new players transition from the campaign into multiplayer; unranked matchmaking; Global Play, enabling players to battle others in different regions around the world; additional stat tracking; user interface improvements; an enhanced physics system, for more visceral-looking battles; “Watch With Others” and “Take Command”, to watch replays with friends as well as jump in and assume control at any point; and a leveling system that gives Heart of the Swarm players a new way to earn customisation options for their online profiles.

To celebrate the arrival of Heart of the Swarm and follow the global zerg infestation, Blizzard co-hosted a special day-long launch broadcast with noted eSports personality and commentator Sean “Day[9]” Plott, in conjunction with Twitch.tv. Players who missed out on the live broadcast can travel back in time by watching archived video of the event at the official StarCraft II channel on Twitch.tv.