StarCraft 2... the story has a big flaw. Or a lot.

I'm going to copy-paste this from the SC2 forums because, frankly, it's much better written than I could ever word it, and I've been thinking the same thing for a while.
In general, I LIKE the SC2 story. By itself, it's perfectly fine. But like this poster from the forums, there's a lot of discontinuity from SC1 that just makes no damn sense.
It's a long read. So I figure those of you who care absolutely nothing for good story-telling...won't read it. The game is good. It's perfectly fun.

It's just this one, extremely detailed problem that bothers me, and is bothering thousands of other SC2 players as well.

----------

Disclaimer: I want start by saying that I loved the shorter mission length, upgrades, mix of old/new units, balance, and (though deeply flawed) more non-linear story. If Blizzard or fellow SC fans reads this, I am not a troll simply here to stomp on the hard work the writers put in. I am a true fan that was deeply impressed with the game itself, but deeply disappointed by the glaring errors in story. I have beta tested most of Blizzards games (including SC and BW) and assure Blizzard that I am here to voice my legitimate criticism as only a true friend can.



In this post I attempt to address what I see are major errors and missteps with regards to SC2's storyline. I intend this post to be extensive, as such, this will be a long post, and despite living in a world of tweets, I write in (more or less) complete sentences and paragraph structure… if you don't want to read something like this, don't. Because the post is so long I have broken it into multiple sub-posts under this one for the convince of the reader. I have also provided a rough outline so you can jump to a section you are interested in. Finally, I have, whenever possible, quoted original source material to demonstrate that my concerns are legitimate and not simply from memory or the ramblings of an angry fanboy. NOTE: This posts contains major spoilers to SC, BW, and SC2.



I. Treatment of the Overmind in SC2 and Humanizing the Zerg

II. Apparently Brood War didn't happen

a. Kerrigan & Raynor

b. Whatever happened to the UED?

III. Broken storytelling

IV. The Protoss and their Past

V. The Crutch of Prophecy

VI. Conclusion


I. Treatment of the Overmind in SC2 and Humanizing the Zerg



The Overmind was my favorite character in SC, and I always felt it was a mistake to kill such a wondrous villain. Yet I accepted its death because it makes sense given the facts of the SC universe. That is not the case in SC2. The Overmind in chains presented in SC2 is absolutely ridiculous. This is ret-conning of the worst sort.



The Overmind has to be free of the Xel'Naga for SC to make sense. Recall the Overmind rebelled: "The Xel'Naga having kept a constant watch on the Overmind, were horrified to find that it had actually severed their psychic link, effectively hiding itself from their view." (SC Manual pg 53). The Overmind then slaughters the Xel'Naga fleet even assimilating them into the Zerg: "As the greater whole of the Xel'Naga race was consumed by the raging, genetic whirlwind of the Zerg…" (pg 53). How does it make ANY sense that the Overmind, which was capapable of destroying the "greater whole of the Xel'Naga race", is also their slave? One would think that while installing the magic psychic command to hunt the Protoss (major plot point in SC2) the Xel'Naga ALSO would have added the psychic command "don't kill us". Alas the hyper intelligent godlike Xel'Naga didn't think of that… for some reason. Zeratul confirms: "The Zerg were indeed created by the ancient Xel'Naga… But the Overmind grew beyond their constraints, and has at last come to finish the experiments they began so long ago." Zeratul Protoss Mission 9.



It is also clear in SC that the Overmind wishes to assimilate the Protoss, NOT because it is under the Xel'Naga sway, but because it has read the manual. The SC manual states that the Protoss are perfect in form and the Overmind is perfect in essence (pg 51). As the Overmind explains: "For upon this world of Aiur shall we incorporate the strongest known species into our fold. Then shall we be the greatest of creation's children. We shall be... Perfect." (SC Zerg mission 9). This is a real high water mark in writing and SC lore in general; I love this section of SC. Also in Mission 10 the Overmind ends the Zerg campaign with these words: "Now shall the events set into motion so long ago be made complete. For the Protoss too, were created by the Xel'Naga. They were the first creation, gifted with a purity of form. And we were the second creation, blessed with a purity of essence. Indeed, our two species are but opposite facets of a greater whole. Soon shall our two races be made as one. Thenceforth shall all feel the wrath of the eternal Swarm... For the hour of judgment is come!"



As a Cerebrate the player is an extension of the Overmind, as it explains in Zerg Mission 5: "Truly all that you are lies wholly within me." If the Overmind is tormented and rebelling against the chains implanted within it by the Xel'Naga (which the Overmind slaughtered) then the Cerebrate player would know or experience in some way because the player was contained wholly within the Overmind—the player was a fraction OF the Overmind. Yet at no point in the campaign do these supposed chains manifest or does the Overmind rage. Even with Zasz death (Zerg Missions 6-7) the Overmind does not rage, even when part of its own mind is destroyed it still remains even. Rather than an raging monster in chains the Overmind remains from start to finish cold, confident, and inevitable.



The Zerg under the Overmind represented a personification of nature. The Zerg are obsessed with strength, refinement, and assimilation. Just as evolution seeks to filter out the weak and create the strongest organisms for a given environment, the Overmind's Zerg seek to create simply the strongest organism that can exist. The Overmind wishes to be perfect and perfect the Swarm. That makes for an engaging, terrifying, and fascinating foe (and ally during Zerg missions!) To try and humanize the Zerg (even under Kerrigan) to being in chains and sympathetic is not only a silly error but also counter to the storyline setup by SC. The Xel'Naga are not strengthened by weakening the Overmind, for, assuming SC2 writers do not change this as well, they created the Overmind. The Xel'Naga are unbelievably powerful as they were: that strength is paradoxically weakened by weakening the Overmind. It also makes them look a little silly that they let the Overmind slaughter them but somehow could still control it to attack the Protoss: not exactly a genius god-like move.



II. Apparently Brood War didn't happen

Brood War seems to be pretty much ret-conned out of existence. Rather than provide several examples of the elimination of BW, I'll pick (in my opinion) the two most egregious examples.



a. Kerrigan and Raynor

The question of Kerrigan's humanity was left unanswered in SC. In Zerg Mission 4, Kerrigan spares Raynor's life telling him to leave: "It is certainly within my power [to kill Raynor]. But you're not a threat to me, Jim. Be smart. Leave here now, and never seek to confront the Zerg again." The line is delivered with a certain sympathy and compassion, leaving the player to wonder how much of Kerrigan survived the transformation into the Queen of Blades. This theme of how much of her survived is the primary story of Brood War. Throughout the BW campaigns it seems the Kerrigan, now free of the Overmind has "changed" and is human-ish again (BW Zerg Missions 1-4). Yet Zerg Mission 5 is the game changer, as Kerrigan so elegantly puts it in mission 10 she is "the Queen @!!#@ of the Universe". The entire point of the BW was that Kerrigan had reached the point of no return. Recall, she did not inherit the Zerg, but rather bent the Swarm to her will. It was not her choice to be transformed and infested BUT it was her choice to assume the role of the Queen of Blades ruler of the Swarm (BW Zerg Campaign). The point of BW is that Kerrigan is dead; only the Queen of Blades remains. The Zerg missions in BW confirm that she is irredeemable. So the redemption at the end of SC2 feels more than a little hack.



Additionally the writers of SC2, by ignoring BW, failed to properly grasp Raynor and Kerrigan's relationship. It was BW where Jim sought to redeem Kerrigan. He frequently trusts her even when others do not. He constantly remembers that she spared him on Char. BW is the game that Jim doubts and hopes that she can be redeemed, it is BW that birthed that story arc, and it is in BW that that story arc comes to an end. When Kerrigan kills Fenix in Mission 5, Raynor states, "…How many noble souls do you need to consume before you're satisfied? How many more people need to die before you realize what you've become?" It is with this line that Raynor gives up any hope of redeeming her. And it is his next line that ends the will he/won't he story arc: "…I'll see you dead for this, Kerrigan. For Fenix and all the others who got caught between you and your mad quest for power! … It may not be tomorrow, darlin'. It may not even happen with an army at my back. But rest assured: I'm the man who's going to kill you some day." Why the writers of SC2 suddenly decided that this ending to the Kerrigan-Raynor story arc was less powerful then the trite/cliche love wins out in the end of SC2 I do not know. But in Brood War, Raynor made his choice: why he then is suddenly in doubt and conflicted is just poor writing.





b. Whatever happened to the UED?

I knew the game was in trouble when the opening voice over during installation explained the events of SC and then glossed over BW. The opening installation superficially states that the human colony ships that founded the Korprulu sector went off course. This is the story in the SC Manual (which is told from the perspective of the colonists) on pgs 28-30. Yet, the Brood War Terran campaign is told from the perspective of the UED. It is revealed through their campaign and BW manual that the Earth allowed the ships to crash and had the Korprulu Sector constantly monitored (BW Manual 9-10). This could be viewed as a ret-con in BW but it is not. SC Terran campaign was told from the Korprulu colonists perspective. They believed they were cut off from earth. BW was told from the UED's perspective who only let the colonists believe they were cut off. Even if it is a ret-con it at least has some contextual support rather than the ret-cons in SC2. The installation voice over who knows what mix up would be excusable if the Korprulu Sector did not know that the UED had been monitoring them the entire time, but the problem is that the UED kind of sort of INVADED THE DOMINION! So now the Korprulu Sector and Dominion knows that Earth at least is aware of their existence and that all contact with Earth has not been lost. I would think that this revelation would play a bigger role (or at least SOME role) in SC2, but apparently this was inconvenient and rather than craft the story to the facts, new facts were made to fit the story.

III. Broken storytelling

The non-linear storytelling was a bold and interesting choice from Blizzard. Unfortunately, it often failed to provide a cohesive storyline. Characters, rather than evolving, randomly jumped in attitude and mood. On my play through I saved the colonists from the Protoss' attack. Raynor, after the mission, was upbeat and "back on the right track" as a "good man." Matt specifically complements him on making good decisions. My next mission ended with Raynor in the bar, Matt explaining that Raynor hasn't been the same in a long time, and that when Raynor figures out who he is he should tell the crew! It's a good moment (both scenes are) but both are cheapened by the storytelling whose philosophy seems to be Raynor's this way, now this way, now that way! Rather than evolve and grow he wildly jumps about. Rather than see him advance, as we did in SC, Raynor is a disjointed broken mess (and not in a good way) one mission to the next--100% gloomy on mission then 100% happy. Rather than humanize Raynor, it makes him out to be suffering from a horrific case of manic-depression.



A similar situation occurred when I choose to press the Dominion by outing Mengsk secrets. During the campaign, players work to destroy not just Mengsk but the Dominion itself. I completed all missions prior to Char. Because of my actions, rebellion and protest were spreading throughout the Dominion against Emperor Mengsk. Yet, in my dealings with his own son, Valerian, seemed to go along the lines of "I'm gonna be emperor when I grow up! I'm gonna be the bestest emperor ever! Let's look for artifacts. Weeeee!" All the while, my actions are seriously throwing into question if there will even be an emperorship for Valerian to assume. Even assuming Valerian hates Arcturus, the cognitive disconnect between the way Valerian treats the player and what the player is doing to the fundamental existence of the Dominion is a demonstration of shockingly poor writing and character development.



Blizzard once had a philosophy of what can be done well should be done to perfection, and what cannot be done to perfection should not be done at all. Branching story arcs are an interesting idea, but if they cannot be done well (as was the case in SC2) they should not be done.

IV. The Protoss and Their Past



The Protoss are, in more ways than one, the opposite of the Zerg. Where the Zerg were the personification of the cold, indifferent, relentless inevitability of evolution and nature, the Protoss in SC were equally cold and indifferent to life because of their strict insular society, technology, and unmatched power. The Zerg are the fear of nature personified, the Protoss are the fear of technology personified.



Having slain the Xel'Naga and descended into a crazed orgy of violence and carnage documented within the Aeon of Strife (see SC manual pg 72-73) the Protoss fear what they were. The point of the Khala is a strict code meant to control (SC manual 74-5) the "unbridled ferocity of the Protoss at war" (SC Manual pg 80). The Protoss are so terrified by what they were that the Dark Templar are considered a bigger threat than are the Zerg (SC Protoss Missions 2, 7, 8 and BW Protoss Missions 3, 7). It wasn't just a plot point to draw out more missions that the Conclave constantly butt in during the Protoss campaign in SC, it was the point of the Protoss! They are so horrified and hate their former carnage that they could not see or fear anything else. It isn't just hubris that drives them: it is also terror of loosing control. So it was shocking that in SC2 Zeratul just casually summons the Protoss Colossi without any fear that the Protoss were reverting to their old chaotic ways. The barely contained rage, deep regret/shame, and fear that is so prevalent and central to the Protoss psyche in previous games is absolutely absent in SC2. Any trepidation the Protoss may have for summoning some of their worst weapons of war is non-existent. It seems the lesson of the Protoss from SC was lost to the writers of SC2 because the ancient race has suddenly changed!



Additionally, I (as the player) controlled the Zerg invasion of Aiur (SC Zerg Missions 9-10). I fought for the Overmind, and I then fought to destroy the Overmind (SC Protoss Missions 9-10). If the Colossi were on Aiur why is it that I never saw them in either the defense or assault? Why where not the ultimate Protoss weapons of war used then—if they were to be used at all? And if the colossi were held back for the reasons sighted above (the fact that the Protoss fear themselves more than any external threat) why then were the colossi so casually used THIS time rather than when Aiur was in her darkest hour?



This is just one of the more obvious and stark examples of the ret-conning of the Protoss for the worse.


V. The Crutch of Prophecy



I knew things were in trouble when I heard Zeratul announce, "The Zerg Swarm came, as was foretold…" This line really crystallizes so much of the attitude of the writers of SC2 for what was created by the writers of SC. Simply put, no. No the zerg swarm was not foretold. IF the Zerg Swarm had been foretold, maybe the Protoss would have had a better solution than annihilating entire planets. IF the Zerg Swarm had been foretold by the Dark Templar, then they would have warned the Conclave. For, despite the ill blood between the Conclave and the banished Dark Templar, the Dark Templar still "relentlessly strive to protect their race and the ancient secrets of their Tribes." (BW Manual pg 13) In fact, the SC manual makes specifically clear that the Protoss were taken by complete surprise by the Zerg (77-78). So it is clear that the Protoss were not the ones doing the foretelling!



Perhaps it was the Xel'Naga that were foretelling, and the Protoss discovered it too late. Again, this is poor writing. If the Xel'Naga were so good at foretelling one would think they would have foretold that the Protoss would rise up against them, they would move to another world, where their next creation, the Zerg Overmind, would slaughter the "greater whole of the Xel'Naga race" (SC Manual pg 53).



There was no prophecy in SC. There is no mention of it that I can find in the game scripts or SC or BW manuals. Why include a mechanic like prophecy in SC2 when it has no precedence? The "prophecy" in SC2 feels like such a trite plot gimmick to forward information without any real effort on the part of the writers. It is simply a lame crutch that dumps information on the player in a way that the writers could not come up with an actual clever way to do so. It feels so borrowed from other non-starcraft universes: Warcraft has prophecy. Diablo has prophecy. Starcraft should not.



VI. Conclusions



I didn't expect everything to be explained in the story; I understand certain plot points and ideas will change, but I expected that the basic coherency of the SC world would be continued. I expected a story that pays respect to the works that came before rather than the expedience of ret-conning and sloppy writing for what will come next. Starcraft is one of my favorite games, and remains so. I love the technical aspects of SC2, but it is deeply flawed by expedient writing. I easily looked up the script and manuals for SC and BW, but it seems that Blizzard did not. I take the Starcraft lore seriously because I enjoy it; I wish that Blizzard had done the same. Blizzard can tell a better story than SC2, and SC fans deserve a better effort than the story presented in SC2.



I thank any that read even sections of this rather lengthy mess of an essay :P I also want to thank anyone for comments.



---

If any of you actually READ this, and you play SC2, I hope it gave you something to think about.