I've played Starcraft II since Wings of Liberty released, and bought each expansion when they came out, and every time it's been a blast to play them. The 3 campaigns present with this game are all the most entertaining and challenging RTS campaigns I have ever played. Naturally, this game is known for its multiplayer, which is excellent, but I think what really makes this game 5 stars is just how amazing all the other content around that multiplayer is, and how the whole package delivers such variety that anybody can find something to enjoy with this game.

The campaigns are my personal favourite part of the 3 expansions, each one featuring a fun, well told story, that can be a little absurd and stupid at times, but never fails to be entertaining. The CG cutscenes are also a stand-out for keeping things interesting. The real treat here though is just how varied the missions are, with each one being unique in terms of objective, map design, player restrictions, and playstyle. While some can just be steamrolled by turtling, others will force you to be quick and to manage your units carefully to complete them , especially the level-specific challenges and achievements. Completing those are just some of the most fun I've ever had in an RTS singleplayer experience. These games would be worth it for just the campaigns alone.

The multiplayer is what keeps most people coming back, with 3 playable races, each intricately balanced and geared towards VASTLY different playstyles and win conditions. It's exceptionally difficult to learn the intricacies of each of the 3, and even learning to get good at one of them is a challenge, but a challenge that is oh so satisfying to chip away at. Being able to play in a variety of game modes like 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4, really keeps things interesting, since each mode plays very differently to the other just by having more players. The ceiling of this game is in the stratosphere, and that's why the esports community built around it is so legendary.

One often forgotten part of this game is the custom games, but honetly, for anybody not looking to engage with the sweaty multiplayer side of things, the custom games offer some of the most fun and replayability for casual players. Simple game modes like Monobattles kept me coming back to this game just for the fun of it, because the amazing gameplay was still there, and custom games would offer a chance to experience that gameplay in a fun, laid back environment, something few competitive games properly achieve. There's almost no end to the content you can play through custom games.

That combination of an insanely well made singleplayer campaign mode, a multiplayer mode that leads the way in esports, and custom games that offer near infinite replayability and variety, make StarCraft II one of the best values you can find in the RTS genre, or any genre for that matter. It's a fantastic series to get into, and one that almost anybody can enjoy, no matter what they want from it. This is one of my favourite games of all time, and I have loved every single moment of my time with it over the years.

Where it Shines:
Skill Ceiling - 10/10
Strategy - 10/10
Addictive - 7/10

The Good:
Starcraft 2 is quite possibly the greatest RTS of all time, with the only other argument against it being SC1. It's a game that you can never truly master, and could play from now until eternity always discovering new things. It gets refined more and more as time passes, and the pro scene, though not as heavily watched as it used to be, is still full of some of the most amazing players of all time and just continues to make my jaw drop. It's my favourite sport to watch, and it will be a sad day when GSL dies.

The Bad:
I mean, it's a blizzard game. So it's got the usual blizzard bs:
- toxic community, full of racism, homophobia, and just plain awful people
- inconsistent balance, though it has gotten better over time, is still at the mid levels a nightmare and easy to abuse and at the high levels just dominated by zergs
- abandoned by blizzard for the most part, with the community proposing patches and fixes for the game

Summary:
If you want the hardest, most difficult game to master, it's this. You can argue that FPS games or whatever have a ton of skill required and have amazing pros, and it's true, but at the end of the day they don't compare to the amount of stuff you have to keep track of, and at the insane speed you have to keep track of it, as in SC2. I don't recommend playing this game if you value having time in your life, it's basically a job if you want to be good at it. Still, one of my favourite games of all time, if not to play, to watch.

****note on my ratings:
half ⭐: hot trash garbage
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite
half star ratings between those mean it's slightly better or worse than stated in this list.
*

I grew up playing Starcraft II and it's a major part of my childhood. It's funny because as I got older I strayed away from more story and strategy games, and transitioned into FPS and other things of that nature. One thing that I could never do as a kid was play through the campaign(s) [at the time it was only WOL] due to lack of skill on mine and my dad's part. Finally though after years of flirting with the idea, because I graduated high school I made it my mission to finally go and complete it. It started off innocently 2 weeks ago as I was a bit bored and randomly started getting SC2 videos in my recommended, which of course led me to installing the game. And through the blink of an eye all 3 campaigns are now finally completed. It's an unbelievable climax to a story spanning over 2 decades and I'll probably have to go play Starcraft 1 one of these days. But wow completing this for the first time brought me straight back to being a kid and reignited my love for the starcraft universe once more. I don't necessarily have a will to play really competitively on the ladder or anything, just wanna kick it back and go through awesome adventures with Jim, Kerrigan, and Artanis. The GOAT RTS and pretty much a masterpiece. The blizzard of old that created these games has gone and died which is quite sad. So even if a Starcraft 3 were to ever get announced I'd be very weary about it. And much like Diablo 4 it might end up being mediocre, but in a heartbeat I know I'd play the fuck out of it lmao. The Terrans, the Zerg, and the Protoss are 3 concepts I'll hold onto for the rest of my life. Thank you Starcraft!

no he jugado las campañas (todavía, solo online y de ahí la nota) pero me da una pena brutal que esta Blizzard así de buena esté muerta

si abres battle net hay un post sobre qué raza jugar y tiene una chispa tan guay que por un momento olvidé la basura en la que se han convertido

lo peor es que esta basura de empresa va a dejar esta saga morir, les deseo la putísima quiebra

some type of demon possessed me to try and get decent at starcraft 2 in the year 2023 and in the process of doing so, i was really struck by how good this game's UI is. everything makes sense, every hotkey is rebindable, units control in an intuitive and satisfying way, it gives you all the information and feedback you need and nothing more. i was never a huge rts player, but this is really making me remember what the appeal was.

unfortunately the campaigns are just depressing otherwise, because it's impossible to stop seeing the wh40k origins of every element of the world, except completely deprived of all bite and humour, and reduced to action movie slop about space americans doing regime change and also ancient aliens. in other words, it's a blizzard game.

Gameplay: Great
Story: Great
Controls: Great
Graphics: Great
Length: Great