Wrapping up a 17-year narrative, StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void finally goes live

Here’s a nice post-BlizzCon gift: StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void, is now live on Battle.net. The servers are up and people who have pre-ordered the game can download it and play it.

StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void’s single-player campaign will wrap up 17 years of story in a series that has become a huge part of video game pop culture. It should help PC gamers feel like they’ve got a great new toy, even as a bunch of console games come out on other platforms.

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Legacy of the Void is a standalone release, where you don’t have to already own StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, which came out in 2010, or its sequel, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, which debuted in 2013. But, it sure helps to know the backstory, as it’s a complicated narrative. At a time when the consoles are cranking out big titles for the fall, Legacy of the Void is an important title for the tens of millions of fans of PC gaming, as it will keep them loyal to the platform that represents the leading edge of gaming and technology.

At the end of Heart of the Swarm, the first StarCraft II expansion, Zerg leader Sarah Kerrigan defeated Arcturus Mengsk and got her revenge. She also found out the plans of the fallen xel’naga, Amon. He’s trying to combine the Zerg and Protoss DNA to create a hybrid that will kill everything living in the universe. She’s going to take the Swarm and try to hunt down the hybrid and stop him. And Protoss leader Artanis reunites the Protoss, goes back to the homeworld of Aiur, and plans to take it back from the Zerg.

Legacy of the Void’s single-player campaign focuses on Protoss leader Artanis and his struggle to unite his race against an ancient enemy. But the tale also wraps up the story of Jim Raynor and Kerrigan, who became the Queen of Blades. In all of this, players aren’t going to be playing as human characters. And that’s going to create a challenge for Blizzard, as we’ll see how well players can relate to heroes who aren’t human.

Legacy of the Void also has co-op missions (where you and a friend take on campaign-style missions together); Archon Mode (where you and a friend share one army and one base against another Archon team); Automated Tournaments (a way to experience esports tournament play and gain experience); and competitive multiplayer.