Thursday, July 14, 2011

Why the Zerg rule.

I'm not a huge hardcore player of Starcraft. I've never been to a tournament. I can barely hold my own against a "hard" level computer in any of the three games (if you count Brood separately), and my Battle.net record isn't exactly stellar.

However, I have been a fan of the series since the beginning and I love the lore, and I can say, without a doubt, Heart of the Swarm's Zerg focus has me even more hyped than I was for the series triumphant return.

The Zerg race is far and away the most interesting and fun race of the three, and even if I've never wanted to root for them, I've always been attracted to them as both protagonists and antagonists. So I've compiled a list as to why the Zerg are my favorite race in Starcraft.

So we begin:

1) The Zerg fight with their bodies. The Protoss and Terran both use advanced technology and weaponry. Against the Zerg this makes them look weak. The Zerg mutate their bodies and develop skills and abilities that let them rival even the most advanced weaponry in the galaxy. It's like Godzilla vs. the military. The organic beasts are just cool because they don't need the help of technology to be successful. That doesn't mean technology can't be freaking cool in and of itself, but the less used gets more cool points. It's two races to one when it comes to tech, so the Zerg win out with their disgusting organic abilities. It's the same reason Iron Tager's SCIENCE is cooler than the magic and soul powered strength that the rest of the cast utilizes, and unfortunately the Protoss and Terran don't have the utter coolness to make up for this disadvantage like certain Blaz Blue fighters do..

2) Their synergism is better than the other two races. Now this one is up for debate, especially since the name of the Terran ground game is synergism, but the Zerg reap the most benefits for diversifying their force. The other two races only choose one main unit and pick other units to cover that unit. Stalkers and Void Rays cover Collosi, Carriers cover Void Rays, Marines and Medivacs cover Marauders. With the Zerg it's a bit different. Banelings open up walls and take out priority targets so other units can get in, but the other units stall fire long enough for the Banelings to reach the walls and units. Zerglings swarm the enemy to protect Roaches, and Roaches add DPS to kill the enemy before the Zerglings get wiped out. Corruptors protect Broodlords from air-to-air attacks, and Broodlords stop ground-to-air attacks from wiping out Corruptors, but neither is catering to the other like with other races. The Zerg help each other and each unit is equally important for the assault to be successful.

3) The Zerg are always on offense. In Starcraft II even the Zerg defensive units are best fit to serve an offensive army. The Zerg Turrets are mobile, so they can cover the entire base with less of them, meaning less forces need to stay home for surprise attacks. The Queen is terrible off the creep, so she plays D, but her main use is speeding up unit production to help out on quick offense. Sure their offense is based entirely around countering the opponent's build, but it's still offense unlike the other races turtle into steamroll and slow advance strategies. The Zerg pressure and pester like no other race, and their best defense is their economy wrecking offense. The Zerg play like they've got a pair.

4) The Zerg have the most unique design. Terran: Space Marines. Protoss: Proud Ancient Civilization on its last legs crossed with an artificial race that rebelled. Zerg: Tyranids crossed with possessing parasites, an artificially created race gone bad, living buildings, and evolution driven by cancerous cells, as in cancer super powers. One of these may have started out pretty derivative, but their end result is easily the most unique and well thought out. The reveal that the Protoss are artificially created comes close since they're also the oldest of the main races, but it's not nearly enough to take the crown.

5) The Zerg are still an enigma. 3 games in and the Zerg are still mysterious. Maybe not as much as before, but it's still around. Their original name was the Nightmare Invaders, and they're still an unknown terror like a nightmare. What was the Xel' Naga's plan for them? Are they limited to the sector we're seeing or not? What exactly is creep? These questions still persist, and their greater amount of mystery makes them more interesting.

The Zerg win, like a boss.

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