Haha! At last! (maybe)

The internets are abuzz with rumors that Starcraft 2, the most antincipated unannounced sequel of all time, will be annouced on May 19 at a Blizzard gaming/media event in Seoul, South Korea. Blizzard has confirmed that they will be announcing a new product that day, and there is even an alleged leak confirming that the new title is indeed a sequel to the 1998 classic RTS.

Fans of Starcraft are going nuts in a few ways. There is a lot of excitment, obviously, but also a lot of concern. Blizzard has a history of quality games that deliver what's promised, but Starcraft 2 is arguably the toughest challenge any game developer could unertake. Late additions to beloved series can fail by lacking what made the original great (*cough* The Phantom Menace *cough*). Another difficulty comes from the fact that Starcraft is widely considered the pinacle of its precise genre, and any change would be, at best, a lateral shift to something equally good that was not Starcraft (but more likely something not as good). Take some examples of opinions I will not attribute to anyone:

If you can't rush with basic units, it isn't SC.
If it has any race other than Terran, Zerg, and Protoss, it isn't SC.
If it has more units than are in Brood War, it isn't SC.
If it is 3D, it isn't SC.
If it has an easy user interface, it isn't SC.

That said, here is what I think makes something Starcraft:

1. Starcraft universe faithfully represented. This means those races and their struggles and personality. Environments that remind us of the original game.
2. Nerve-fraying, fast-paced RTS action.
3. Different feasible strategies based on partial and absolute weaknessness and strengths. Some guys just can't deal a single point of damage against flying units, you need detection (OK, or gosu use of splash) to get cloaked units, etc.
4. Good-looking art in the style of the original. Don't count pixels or polygons at me. The orinal Starcraft looks better than some games with more modern graphics. It's all about the art.
5. Best sound effects ever.
6. Very diverse, balanced races. I'll give them an extention on balance since the first one needed some patching. Also, they get an extension on making many strategies feasible because that took patching as well.
7. Some sort of resource management based on taking control of certain areas of the map. I'm willing to let macromanagement be very different if this minimum is met.


If 1-7, then win.

On another note, rmcdougall has mentioned that he hopes Solid Snake is in Starcraft 2. I'm just hoping it's coming out in the next couple years and totally rocks.