StarCraft has been one of the most, if not the most, popular real-time strategy (RTS) games to ever take the world by storm and it has paved the way for the development of more RTS games not only from Blizzard Entertainment but from other game developers, as well.
In fact, StarCraft is so popular that even Google Deepmind is using its successor, StarCraft II, as an important test for the improvement of its Artificial Intelligence. Nineteen years since it was first released, Blizzard officially announced that it has remastered the classic RTS game and it will be made available in the summer of 2017.
What's New With The Game?
We already know, based on the title StarCraft: Remastered, that it is a remastered version of the classic game. What really makes this different from the 1998 classic?
For starters, the graphics and sounds have been greatly improved, as the new version now supports 4k UHD resolution. Zooming in and out of the playing field will also present players more details so we can just imagine how much better the graphics will be.
The gameplay and plot also seem to be meatier since Remastered version combines StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War. Blizzard co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mike Morhaime also confirmed that there will not be much change with regard the gameplay but that there are added narratives for single-player and campaign modes.
"With StarCraft: Remastered, we're modernizing the original game's visuals, audio, and online support to ensure that players can enjoy StarCraft for another 20 years and beyond," Morhaime said.
StarCraft: Remastered also offers an updated ladder, matchmaking, and social features so it would be quicker for gamers to find fellow gamers to play with online.
When Will It Be Released?
Blizzard has not given an exact release date for StarCraft: Remastered but the developer says it will definitely be this summer. Prior to the game's release, however, Blizzard will release a patch for StarCraft: Brood War to version 1.18 within the last week of March. This update will include bug fixes and improvements, as well as facilitate compatibility for Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. It will also include more modern anti-cheat measures to level the playing field for veterans and new players.
The company also says that the StarCraft Anthology will be free to download and play once the version 1.18 update goes live.
Watch the official announcement video from Blizzard Entertainment below:
