What do you think of the Zerg?

I think the zerg are the most innovative and funnest race so far, and I can't wait until more info on them get spewed out.

 

If the Zergling model wasn't so beefy, then when zoomed out they would look too skinny and details would be impossible to see. They do look fat on the hi res unit renders, but in the screenshots they look perfectly fine.

Also I don't think the Ultralisks look rigid at all. They look fine too me. Their size and power comes across much better than it did in the original. Also, considering that massive and presumably very thick and heavy exoskeleton, how smoothly do you really expect them to move and attack?

Even though zerg are only in the early stages I'm already noticing possible tactical tricks and mind games I can pull off. The Zerg are going to have more up their sleeve than ever, and considering the new changes to burrowing (especially for the infestor and nydus worm) the zerg are really becoming a "covert ops" race.

 

That's not actually a bad idea. They did the same with Protoss weaponry and everything, so why not do it with the Baneling's acid?

Haha, that made me laugh. I can understand where you're coming from with this, but with a Terran Marine who has spent months fighting the Zerg and their Roaches, would definiely scream that out if they were all released at once. I think the problem might be with association. We associate Roaches to the little bugs that come out at night, but a Terran Marine would associate Roaches to hulking great, regenerating piles of spines. Once we're used to the name, I think it'll fit quite nicely.

They do, I can't deny that. The thing is that in game, they didn't look too similar at all. The Hydralisk has its spitting attack, upright posture, smoothish skin and snake-like movement and the Lurker has its subterranean spine attack, horizontal posture, spiky skin and spider-like movement, so why would they look the same?

That's true about the larvae, but just because an organism has gone through one mutation already, it doesn't mean that the next one cannot be as drastic. The examples of this are the Drones to buildings and Mutalisks to Guardians and Devourers.

Remember that in most organisms, bright colours resemble death, which explains their colours, and shiny probably comes from them being slimy, like they're covered in a layer of mucus or sweat.

I don't agree with this statement. The Terran and perhaps Protoss should look gritty because their armour and machinery would rust up, colour would wear off, etc, in battle conditions. The Zerg on the other hand don't have any metal to rust, nor paint to wear off, nor anything. In fact, after a long battle, they'd probably be sweating, and what would sweat make them look like? Shiny and reflective.

The Zerg style would be completely different to that of the Protoss and Terran, but that's because we haven't seen anything like them before. Terran and Protoss are similar, because they both have powersuits, both construct vehicles, both build buildings, etc. Zerg are different to this, so it should show.

Maybe rigid wasn't the best word to use. They look too square, and I'm not talking about their crest. It's the way they stand, it just looks very unnatural and far too mechanical. Their size might come across much better, but that's not that hard to achieve. Just scale them up. Also, an organism wouldn't evolve to have such a large, heavy, and thick exoskeleton that it hinders the way it moves. The Ultralisk in StarCraft: Ghost, which was the only unit in StarCraft: Ghost I was happy with, is still huge, still looks extremely powerful and still looked natural, without the rigid, square and mechanical legs and forearms.

 

i like what blizzard has done for they zerg but it still needs balancing from iv seen the queen needs to be a little bit stronger unit by herself for they when shes the only unit out there. and the whole corrupter and infester they Need a little work

 

i think they need a medium to large amouint of work on balancing. some of the units such as the banelings are just too strong HP wise, while other units like the infestor and corruptor seem to strong in the attack. otherwise i believe thew zerg looks awesome, just a few more tweeks on the structures to truly create the swarm
[img width=500 height=529]http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/5640/zurglngiswilleatzmeeeww8.jpg[/img]

 

Will you please stop posting images with some stupid non funny sentences? They dont really improve the looking of the forum...

My Opinion to this subject: In Rusia you dont play Zerg, Zerg plays you!

 

Zerg are good, but I think Blizzard could make them a bit better.

Balancing yadda yadda yadda. And I don't think their unit roster is full yet, right?

 

i really think that the ultralisk is too solid, and not mobile enough. I'm not saying that I dont like the large size I'm just saying that right now it looks too blocky, and that its head crest is still too big.

Also ItzaHexGor could you find a link to a Starcraft:Ghost unltralisk?

 

Do you want an image or some information as well? Here's a link to the image. I could probably get some info if you wanted.
http://images.wikia.com/starcraft/images/b/bc/350px-Ultraliskss03.jpg
I do prefer the StarCraft:Ghost Ultralisk although I don't think this is a wondrous example of it. It would still need to be refined, the upper body looks a bit too torso-like, the legs and behind would also need too be tweaked a bit, but I do like the headplate and forearms. The StarCraft2's headplate should actually look like a headplate, not a display crest. Both the old Ultralisk and the one from StarCraft:Ghost had headplates that looked protective, like an additional plate in its carapace or similar to a prothorax on a . The new one makes it look like a Torosaurus or Triceratops. The four scythes look too cumbersome and unnatural, which isn't what the Zerg are supposed to be like. Lastly, there are absolutely no flattish areas. It whole body looks like it's covered in thick sturdy horns. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, but it's been really overdone.

 

The ultralisk is more mobile then the one SC1. But it could use some more animations.

 

thanks for the link ItzaHexGor, i agree with your point about the head plate being too large, and not looking like the rest of the ultralisk. Unlike you however, I like the four blades, they give the ultralisk a more formidable presence.

 

Not me. To me it looks completely unnatural. I'd be all for it if they managed to make it look nice, but at the moment it looks as though they're way to cumbersome.

 

From the gameplay I've seen they dont look too bad, however i haven't been focusing too much on the blades, as I was drooling with awe from the overall zerg release...

Also do the blades currently go through each other when the ultralisk attacks?

 

They kinda... y'know, fly around everywhere. It almost looks like it's opening up its rib cage to me.

 

I've only read over the list of confirm Zerg goodies, and I might be getting the wrong idea, but nonetheless, I voted a 2.

While I understand that everything is still under development, and Zerg is probably the farthest race from completion, it still doesn't look too reassuring based on what I've read on the sticky.

The overseer is listed as an evolution(as opposed to an one time universal upgrade), and I see it as a step backwards. This might be the result of balancing, but it certainly takes away from what the Zerg had. Having mobile detectors immediately available in the form of the overlord has always been a large part of the Zerg's racial identity. Now with the need to evolve overlords into overseers in order to have mobile detectors, overseers carry an even greater liability.

Zerg has always been, and still remains as, the only race truly susceptible to supply hunts. By that I really mean ovie hunts. Ever heard of pylon hunts or depot hunts? I didn't think so. At least Zerg always started out with overlords, and they were always readily available in abundance, to offset their slow speed, lack of special abilities(including perma-cloak), and the appearance that just screams "smack me now!" But that was SC1. Now, everytime you take down a Zerg detector, you are also hurting Zerg's unit supply(food). While that may sound like it's the same as it was back in SC1, it's not, because in SC2, Zerg needs to evolve each individual detector.

Not only did Zerg take a hit in the detection department, it also took a kick to the balls when it came to offensive cloak applications. Readily visible burrowed-lurkers, are you kidding me? Zerg has always been dead last when it came to cloaking capabilities, with absolutely ZERO units that could move and attack while fully cloaked. Now Zerg takes further backsteps in both detection and cloaking.

Lurker is IMO, perhaps the only unit suitable to be carried over to SC2 unchanged, not only statiscticlly but also functionally. Lurkers were good but never close to being overly so. And while lurkers were ranged units, in practice, they could only be played like melee units(taking hits while walking up to enemy units to get get in melee range). Darkswarm helped with that somewhat later on, but instead of being something that puts Zerg on top, it's really just something that lets Zerg hit par. The thing with lurkers is just that I really do not see the reasoning or need behind that particular change.

I don't know how the new queen has been received by the Zerg community overall, but honestly I'm not all that excited about it personally. I'm not unhappy about it, but I see it as just another "SC2 change." Like the game now being 3D, it's just another little aspect new to SC2 that players will quickly become used to and not think too much about after that. I see little promise for strategic applications. I don't see it too differently from building nydus canals between expos(which people already do anyway). It's cool, but not great.

The infester's ability to move while burrowed is another one of these things. It's cool, but nothing great, and certainly similar to what Zerg players already do in SC1. I've never heard of a match between similarly skilled players ending with the Zerg player victorious solely because the opponent was not able to detect burrowed defilers(hell, or even not have mobile detectors, period). I would much rather see burrowed movement on a combat unit instead of the defiler(you can call it an infester, but that's what it is). It still ain't gonna stop people from irradiating(or this time, sniping) your little burrowed defiler ass.

With the ultra's return and oh, dear God infested Terran, things are looking bleek indeed, for me personally at least. The corrupter seems very unique and interesting, and very excited about the roach. I still feel the Zerg to be subpar, especially when compared to how Protoss and Terran turned out.

 

REMY!!!! Wow. Haven't seen you in... God....

Anyway, you can't see the Lurker when burrowed. Only the owner player can see them and it's just to let you identify what unit you have burrowed.

As far as the Overlord/Overseer debate... I don't even know where to stand on that. The Zerg are so different right now and in a good way. They have a lot more strategic variability and I think it deserves time to decide what we like or don't like about the Zerg.

But it's good to have you back!

 

I don't know what to think if the new Zerg. In fact I don't know what to say about any of the races except that they look cool. I wont actually know what to say until I get to play Starcraft 2. I hope they release a public beta, that would be frickin sweet. I think they will. I believe so because they did for both Warcraft 3 and TFT. Granted not for WoW but thats not an RTS.

Things i've gotta say about the new zerg:

• 
  The look is very faithful to the original

• The Queen is most likely gonna pwn face

• Banelings are a great new add-on

• The cinematic sequence is pretty cool

Overall, I think we are looking at an awesome new version of the swarm. I'm guessing that they release a more gameplay oriented video as we get closer to release that gives us a more detailed look at new zerg upgrades and improvements.

 

Glad to hear that lurkers remain cloaked while burrowed, I misunderstood that part.

This is only an interim opinion/assessment of the Zerg. I fully understand that everything is still under development and far from completion. Nonetheless, I'd be lying if I said I'm anywhere nearly as excited about the Zerg as I am about Protoss and Terran.

All I see thus far for Zerg are, for the most, just new/tweaked/unchanged units, I see no interesting additions or changes in core mechanics such as warp-in or universal addons. Also, if you take a look at the big picture on a whole, SC2 Protoss and Terran would play much more differently from their SC1 counterparts than Zerg, especially mid-game. Zerg is still lings, hydras, lurks, and mutas, all of which are for the most part, unchanged. If you want to get picky, defilers and ultras are also basically unchanged and rounds out the entire and complete SC1 Zerg picture. So I really fail to see the variability you have mentioned in regards to Zerg.

The Zerg picture could look very, very different depending on one's take on the new Queen(which isn't a queen at all). But like I've said earlier, I'm not all that excited about it personally, at least from what I know at this point. It's just Zerg's mobile cannon / planetary fortress. Added defensive convenience(especially for less skilled players)? Yes. Multitude of strategic applications? I doubt it. Given Zerg's inability to utilize buildings/structures offensively, I don't feel the excitement.

Anyway, like I said, this is just one person's opinion on what things are for now, it could all be very different very quickly.

And thanks Jon, glad to be back.

 

Heh, I always felt that Blizzard rushed a little with the Zerg so the community won't be bored waiting for updates. I mean, even in WWI the Protoss seemed more complete than the Zerg do now.

 

Agreed. The video is more of a montage than a gameplay video.