Last week I managed to work my way into the Starcraft 2 Beta through a pre-order special.  I figured it would only be appropriate to share a few of my thoughts on this highly anticipated game from a casual gamer perspective.

Some background: I've played Starcraft off and on since Brood War came out, so I am no stranger to the game.  Though I have never considered myself a competitive gamer.  Most of my time was spent playing single-player and online games with friends.  I don't think I ever touched the ladder.

That being said, I am hooked on Starcraft 2 commentary and analysis videos which has actually got me interested in trying to play more competitively.  By no means am I planning on trying to be a "pro-gamer" or anything like that, but I'd like to have at least enough skill to have a competent understanding of the scene.

Finally, my thoughts are going to be big and general, as opposed to talking about strategy or balance (as these things are sure to change quickly and often at this point).

What I like:

Starcraft 2 is Starcraft 2.  That may sound obvious, but many sequels released for popular games lose the feeling of the original.  Starcraft 2 maintains and expands on the feel of Starcraft.  The sound, the play, everything just oozes Starcraft flavor.

If, while playing Starcraft, you ever thought, "I wish you could...," now you can.  This is mainly simple things.  You can now select an unlimited amount of units at a time.  You can select multiple buildings at a time.  You can tab through units.  You can send a pack of workers to one mineral and they will mine the whole field.  Pretty much anything that was nitpicky or annoying due to what technology was available at the time has been done away with.

The ladder system.  This is an obvious focus point in Starcraft 2 and I think it came out well.  I'm not very familiar with the Starcraft ladder, but in Starcraft 2 you go through placement matches that eventually determine what skill level you are.  For example, the ladders are broken up into metals (Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) and into 100 player chunks.  Depending on your win/loss record and against what level player in the placement rounds, you will be placed into a corresponding ladder.  From there you work your way up/ down the ladder and in theory you can go up/ down between skill levels.

What could use improvement:

Achievements, Decals, and Portraits.  It is still the Beta, so who knows what these will be like upon release, but right now they are just too simplistic to be interesting.  You unlock badges by completing goals (win 5 games as Protoss) and other various things of that sort.  At this point they are just corny.

The ladder system.  Yes, I said this is something I like, but there are a few things that could be better in my mind.  As nice as it is to be separated into finely defined leagues, it would still be nice to have an overall ranking as well or a "best of" league.  Not that I am particularly concerned with how well I am ranked, but it would be a great way to track the top players in the game.  Right now the best players are simply scattered about among the Platinum Leagues and as far as I am aware there is nothing discerning  platinum leagues from one another.

Concluding thought(s):

I have no doubt that, like its predecessor, Starcraft 2 will be a phenomenon.  It has taken the fundamentals of Starcraft that made it such a continuously fun game and expanded on them.  The only challenge will be on Blizzard's end to keep the game as balanced in the long run as the original.  I hope that they can.