Starcraft has gone Free-to-Play?

So, the other day, out of the blue, I found out that Starctaft has gone free-to-play. You know what I did? I went to the Blizzard online store and download it as fast I could! Afterwards, I told my friends to download it and we all had a blast playing it.

Up until then I had never played Starcraft before. I was more familiar with the sequel Starcraft II. A game that I wanted to purchase to play competitively. But, I got discouraged from it after watching a couple of videos of some high-level players. I just decided to stick with League of Legends since it did not seem as overwhelming as Starcraft II! But this time I have some friends that had so much fun playing the original Starcraft that they really want to get deeper into it. Playing with friends is always more fun right? And, although we know that the learning curve is steep, we are hopeful that we can at least grasp the basics of the game!

But, why is Blizzard doing this? Why make a 19-year-old game free-to-play? They are only doing this to promote Starcraft Remastered that will be released this Summer. Fans of the franchise will most likely buy the game but for the remastered version to be a success new blood needs to be brought to the game and a free-to-play model might help with that. But should you play this game? Is it worth it?

Since it has gone free-to-play I have played a considerable amount of this game and I think that I can answer this question. But first, let me explain what Starcraft very briefly just in case you know nothing about it.

WHAT IS STARCRAFT?

Starcraft is a Sci-fi RTS game. The game features a campaign mode where you get to play as three different races. The Terrans, a futuristic version of our humanity, the Zergs, which are fast evolving alien bugs and the Protoss, an alien race with superior knowledge and technology.

Each campaign is divided into missions and each has a certain objective that must be met in order to move forward. Since the game is an RTS most missions revolve around gathering supplies and use them to make buildings which in turn will be used to produce units or upgrades. After you build your army you're free to defeat every enemy unit and buildings on the map. This is the core gameplay of any RTS.

Besides the campaign, there are other things this that you can do to have fun or practice. You can go play custom games where you face against an AI opponent or you can jump to the online mode and play with your friends! Or strangers so you can really test your skills. 

WILL YOU LIKE IT?

If you're a casual player you'll have a blast with this game. The only thing that may discourage you are the graphics since they are a bit outdated. But I'm sure you'll learn to love them like I and many people have. Also, the story is amazing, I didn't have intentions of going through the campaign since I only wanted to play Starcraft competitively but once I started the campaign I couldn't stop! It's a very good space-opera believe me.

Now, if you're going to play this competitively like me get ready to get overwhelmed! It was very hard to find noob-friendly guides when I started. The way I'm improving right now is reading guides from Team Liquid and watching old videos. I need to pause the videos every second so I can figure out what they are doing though. But before you do all this you need to set goals, without that you'll fail. And do not set impossible goals like wanting to play like a Korean God in a few months. Start small! First, learn the basics then go deeper. I highly recommend the campaign if you've never played an RTS. Once you start you'll slowly learn all the shortcuts, it is a must! And lastly do not forget to have fun! Because that's what this game is, fun.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I'd like to say that it's a shame that I'm only playing Starcraft now since this game is without a doubt an icon of the gaming industry. Should you play it? Absolutely! The game is fun, has a good story and a solid gameplay. Gather a couple of friends to play it and I ensure you that you'll all have a blast like me and my friends. Just be careful not to attack the same person's base over and over. That ruins friendships! And if you want to play competitively you'll also have fun, but don't rush things or you'll get frustrated.

So, what are you waiting for? Starcraft has gone free-to-play! Go get it!

Also here is some gameplay of the first time I played the game, I know it is bad!