Simply more beautiful graphics over it and ready – so or at least so similar many fans have wished for a new edition of Starcraft. Their most important commandment: Don’t change anything in the gameplay! That is still sacred to many players today – after almost 19 years. Blizzard is therefore taking no risks with its new edition and delivers a remaster that, apart from the graphics, changes almost nothing. Ideal for longtime fans, eSport pros and hotkey acrobats who don’t need and don’t want any changes! So everything has been done right? In our column on Starcraft Remastered, we already answered this question. The answers are now available in the Starcraft Remastered review.
Starcraft Remastered in the test: 4K splendor instead of pixel mud
All 2D graphics have been carefully repixelated and shine in detailed 4K resolution. Just how much nicer the new visuals turn out becomes clear when you press the F5 key – Starcraft then smoothly fades back to its original state, presenting its outdated graphics in 640×480 pixels. A new zoom function also lets us see units, buildings and landscape details up close. You can’t zoom out further than usual, but at least Starcraft Remastered now supports widescreen formats, so you can see much more of the map than in the 4:3 original. Nice work, Blizzard!
You can see for yourself how nice the new 2D graphics look in the following video:
Starcraft Remastered: Video graphics comparison based on multiplayer beta
In the campaign, new artworks provide additional atmosphere.
The animated unit portraits have also been replaced by new renderings, which stylistically fit better with the successor Starcraft 2 (check out the review here). Especially good to see with Raynor and Kerrigan! The mission briefings also benefit from this, but otherwise they are exactly the same as in the original game. At least the text descriptions that drive the story between some missions have been spiced up with the help of new artwork. And the water display has also been beefed up, the pixel water now sloshes around much prettier and more realistically. Disappointing, however: Apart from new turn animations for units, which are hardly noticeable even on closer inspection, all movements seem as stiff as in the original game, which we recently pulled out in a replay video for Starcraft.
Instead, Starcraft Remastered now offers new real-time lighting that requires at least 2.2 GB of VRAM and makes buildings and units look a bit more plastic – but in the heat of battle, the effect hardly matters, we noticed it most with the projectiles of the Protoss Dragoons. The creeper slime of the Zerg is also still static, although the purple goo would have been wonderful for new animations.
Real-time lighting in comparison
Starcraft Remastered in the test: New voice output
The voice output has been re-recorded. If you like, you can also choose the old speakers.
The hopelessly outdated cutscenes have unfortunately not been replaced by modern videos, but at least they have been upscaled and sharpened to such an extent that they no longer look quite as muddy as in the original. On the other hand, the German voice output is missing in the videos; besides the English voices, there are only translated subtitles here.
This decision seems all the more strange because all the voice acting in the remaster version has been completely replaced by new recordings anyway. The new voices are closer to Starcraft 2, which makes perfect sense – after all, Blizzard wants its games to look as if they were cast from the same mold. However, there are different opinions about the quality of the voice output, and the new voice actors are met with criticism in many forums, such as here in Battle.net. However, most of the new German recordings are quite successful and completely sufficient. However, some characters – such as Zeratul – lose some of the atmosphere of the original. That’s why it’s all the better that you have the choice: If you don’t like the new voices, you can simply switch back to the original voice output.
Graphic comparison: Remastered vs. original
Starcraft Remastered in review: Disputed interface – wasted potential?
Blizzard may have spruced up the graphics and sound, but nothing has changed in the gameplay. Great for ardent fans of the original, because they get exactly the same gameplay! Everyone else, however, who expected at least a decently improved control for the price of 15 Euros, is left out in the cold. A simple example: If you move the mouse pointer over units and buildings, you don’t get any information about health points or energy supply – each object has to be clicked on individually. Who wouldn’t have welcomed an improvement here?
Starcraft Remastered delivers new 4K visuals and modern Battle.net features, but doesn’t change gameplay.
Other points are undoubtedly more controversial, because changes here would have had a greater impact on gameplay. For example, not being allowed to place collection points on crystals or gas mines. Or that control groups are limited to a maximum of 12 units or one building. And a button for idle workers is just as much in vain as a quick selection for heroes. Some may praise all this as authentic, but especially for newcomers who are experiencing Starcraft for the first time, the interface is simply outdated. At least there’s now the possibility to customize most of the hotkeys again. It’s a pity, however, that you can’t also reassign the keys for the camera control, like in Heroes of the Storm.
Starcraft Remastered is not just close to the original. It is the original, only with sharper visuals. It’s obvious that complex mechanics like the bizarre wayfinding of units remain unchanged – it’s simply part of Starcraft that units sometimes get tangled up on ramps and don’t stick to any group formation. No Starcraft without tap-dancing dragoons! Improving this would mean deeply interfering with the gameplay. And if you accidentally wall up an SCV while building a base, it’s your own fault – because even such bulky aspects characterize the original, as our old PC Games review of Starcraft already showed.
Starcraft Remastered in review: Multiplayer – the most important innovations
For this reason, after long discussions, we decided to give it a good rating – Starcraft is still fun and the remaster serves its purpose.The perfectly balanced, micro-intensive multiplayer gameplay of Broodwar, which is still considered the epitome of eSports today, has not changed in the remaster. The entry barrier is therefore damn high: newcomers have to be prepared to be flattened by experts with two decades of experience. A new section for beginners, who are used to the more beginner-friendly Starcraft 2, would therefore be desirable!
Instead, there’s now more comfort around the multiplayer: With the new edition, Starcraft gets its overdue entry into Blizzard’s Battle.net launcher (which has recently been renamed again). This brings practical improvements like friend lists and cloud saves for the single player. Also exclusive to the remastered version are leaderboards and player assignment, though the remaster is still compatible with the original game. This also applies to the LAN mode, which remains in the remaster. There are also details like player profiles and improved chat functions.
However, there were still some bugs in the test, for example profiles were not always displayed correctly and clicking on the ranking list still led nowhere. The launch did not go smoothly, so the developers will have to do some patching. However, since Blizzard is known for exemplary product maintenance in its long company history, Starcraft Remastered should run smoothly in the near future.
The explosion effects have been improved, but the gameplay remains the same.
Starcraft Remastered has been available for PC and Mac since August 14, 2017. A free Battle.net account is required to play. Meanwhile, the original editions of Starcraft and Starcraft: Broodwar are available for free.
Reading Tip: Are remakes of Diablo 2 and Warcraft 3 coming? In our special, we present possible remasters of Blizzard classics.
Starcraft Remastered in review: rating and conclusion
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