WellPlayed.org & /r/StarCraft Heart of the Swarm Preview and Information Blowout!

Concept Art | Multiplayer & Single Player Q&A | Cinematic Trailer | Screenshot Gallery | Gameplay

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The time has finally come to unveil the details on the Heart of the Swarm event held at Blizzard HQ on May 27. /r/Starcraft was kind enough to provide Diggity with an invitation in order to represent both Reddit and WellPlayed at the event, and we’re thrilled to be able to finally show you the first glimpses of Heart of the Swarm’s single player campaign. Unfortunately, no details on multiplayer changes were discussed, but there’s more than enough to chew on here to quell our appetites before Blizzcon, which will be the next chance we have to learn more about the expansion.

WellPlayed and r/Starcraft Community Interviews
Diggity and Aceanuu traveled to Blizzard Headquarters in Irvine, California to preview Heart of the Swarm and got some great community interviews! They spoke with prominent community members like JP McDaniel, Crota, LordofAscenion, Ghostclaw, and Squeeeee and got their thoughts on the event. Check out all that plus some gameplay and trailer footage in this wrap up video.

Concept Art
The concept art trailer nicely sets the stage for the new environments and aesthetics of the expansion. Starting off with familiar sights, such as Zerg nests and the planet Char, the trailer also includes a number of images of an ice-covered planet. Images of a Zerg frozen in ice and a ferocious snow beast (with possible Zerg mutations) promise plenty of new environmental challenges similar to "The Devil's Playground" mission in the Wings of Liberty campaign. The image of a Zerg Adjutant is particularly intriguing; she’s the only Zerg we’ve seen besides Kerrigan who has human features, which could indicate some sort of shift within the Zerg’s development after the Queen of Blades’s defeat. No doubt she’ll serve the same role that the Terran Adjutant did in Wings of Liberty. The Zerg Army Mutator goes hand-in-hand with the confirmation that Heart of the Swarm will have army development mechanics similar to those in Wings of Liberty but tailored to the Zerg’s unique characteristics. The final images of a massive Zerg looming over Kerrigan and a lush volcanic island promise new and exciting challenges for both characters and players throughout the campaign.

Cinematic Trailer
This trailer doesn’t give us many concrete facts to work with, but it does present some tantalizing details on what to expect. Kerrigan is not content to sit still after being rescued by Jim Raynor, and her actions in the trailer foreshadow that she’ll be at conflict with the Terrans, particularly Nova, who appears to be taking a larger role in the main storyline of Starcraft II. The question of Kerrigan’s allegiance is left agonizingly open-ended, and the matter is further complicated by her behavior in the gameplay trailer.

Gameplay Trailer
It’s safe to say that this is what everyone has been waiting for. This is our first glimpse at the actual gameplay of Heart of the Swarm. As usual, Blizzard keeps things simple and mysterious, but there's plenty on display in this trailer that's worth getting excited about.

A Swarm Divided
In the initial mission briefing, we learn that the Zerg swarm has splintered after the loss of the Queen of Blades and that Kerrigan is determined to get everything back under her control. Subjugating these rogue Queens will surely play a large role in the story of the campaign, and defeating these foes will likely serve as the way to unlock new units and continuously expand your army.

Survival of the Fittest
Perhaps the most unique aspect of Heart of the Swarm campaign is the way that Zerg units can evolve to yield improvements or even all-new units. Blizzard offered the Zergling as an example; they can gain the ability to split into Broodlings when killed as a basic upgrade. They can also further evolve into either Swarmlings, which spawn as three units instead of two, or Raptors, which are stronger and can leap at an enemy (Broodlings can be seen at 00:55, Raptors around 2:25). Expect to see your favorite Zerg units change in new and exciting ways throughout the campaign.

Heroic Endeavors
As one of the Blizzard devs remarked during the Q&A, “Kerrigan doesn’t have a lot of friends,” and this is reflected in the style of the campaign. Kerrigan doesn’t have a Battlecruiser filled with allies waiting to help her; she has to regain control of the Swarm on her own. Thus Kerrigan will be a hero unit used throughout the campaign, and her evolution will be just as important as that of her units. As Kerrigan becomes stronger, more abilities and powers will be unlocked, transforming her from a typical Ghost unit into a much more powerful creature. Kerrigan’s motivations are open for speculation; based on this trailer she is clearly hell-bent on uniting the Zerg under her rule, but how she plans to use this army is entirely unknown.

Q&A
Diggity, along with other press members, took part in a Q&A with the developers at the event. While the most tantalizing questions went unanswered, it does provide a rare glimpse into the mindset of the developers, who constantly deal with the delicate relationship between competitive balance and casual enjoyment.

Screenshot Gallery
If this wasn't enough to absorb, here is a gallery filled with screenshots covering even more material. Credit to mootpoint007 for compiling.

Until Blizzcon
This looks to be all the footage we’ll be getting until Blizzcon, so there is plenty of time to pick it apart for every last scrap of information. Thanks again to/ r/Starcraft for collaborating with WellPlayed on this event, and please debate the significance of every last polygon in the comments!

Official Blizzard Heart of the Swarm Q&A

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Q: What is StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm?

A: Heart of the Swarm is the first expansion set to Blizzard Entertainment's sci-fi real time strategy game, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Heart of the Swarm continues the epic story from Wings of Liberty with an all-new campaign that focuses on Kerrigan, the erstwhile Queen of Blades. New multiplayer content will also be included in the expansion, as well as new features and upgrades to the Battle.net online platform.

Q: What features can we expect from the single-player campaign of Heart of the Swarm?

A: Heart of the Swarm's campaign will include approximately 20 new missions. Players will be able to evolve their swarms with unique, campaign-only units and abilities, and this evolution will happen in an organic manner befitting of the expansion's Zerg theme. As an example, zerglings can be induced to evolve the ability to split into broodlings upon death. Further evolution can yield specialized sub-species of zerglings such as the swarmling, a variant that spawns three swarmlings per larvae instead of the standard two zerglings. The fearsome raptor is another evolutionary offshoot of the zergling that has more health, and the ability to leap short distances to quickly close the gap on an enemy.

Another aspect of Heart of the Swarm that makes it unique from Wings of Liberty is that Kerrigan will play a major role in each of the battles as a powerful hero. Over the course of the campaign she gains in strength as well as new capabilities. Players will choose what abilities to enhance and powers to use from mission to mission.

Heart of the Swarm will also include a wider variety of sets for players to explore between missions -- these sets change dynamically as players complete missions, giving a sense of a changing world as Kerrigan makes her presence felt throughout the galaxy. Fully-voiced cut-scenes will round out the cinematic gaming experience in Heart of the Swarm's campaign, while a new array of achievements will unlock in-game rewards such as portraits and decals.

Q: Will there be any technical upgrades to the graphics engine?

A: We'll be making some improvements to the graphics, including upgrades to the look and behavior of zerg creep, as well as some changes that allow our artists to better showcase the new types of planets that Kerrigan will explore in Heart of the Swarm. We still plan to keep the minimum hardware requirements the same for this expansion set as they were in Wings of Liberty.

Q: What are some of the changes made to multiplayer Heart of the Swarm?

A: While we're not quite ready to go into detail about the new multiplayer content in Heart of the Swarm, we can say that this expansion set will include new units and new maps. We'll have more details about multiplayer Heart of the Swarm content at BlizzCon.

Q: What changes will come to Battle.net with Heart of the Swarm?

A: As far as Battle.net improvements, one primary focus will be on getting the StarCraft Marketplace up and running at some point around the launch of Heart of the Swarm. The maps and mods community in StarCraft II has published tens of thousands of custom maps using the StarCraft II editor. Our goal with the new Marketplace design will be in upgrading the custom map UI to better showcase the wide variety of great new maps and mods to players who are looking for fun new gaming experiences. We want players to be able to more easily find, rate, and sort through all the great custom maps that have been created.

The Marketplace will also eventually include a commerce element that will allow mapmakers to charge a fee for their work. While there will always be a wealth of free content, we believe that allowing content creators to profit from their work will foster an environment for more complex and higher-quality custom maps. Our ultimate hope is that the StarCraft Marketplace will function and thrive in a similar manner as mobile "app-stores" -- tons of free and premium content for players, and a limitless source of entertainment through StarCraft II and Battle.net.

We do have other Battle.net feature upgrades and improvements planned as well, and we'll have more details on those at a later date.

Q: Will Heart of the Swarm require ownership of Wings of Liberty?

A: For the regions that have a standard box business model such as North America and Europe, yes, Wings of Liberty will be required in order to play Heart of the Swarm. For other regions that have alternative access models, we’ll provide details at a later date.

Q: How much will Heart of the Swarm cost?

A: We typically don't provide details about pricing until the game is closer to release. We do view Heart of the Swarm as an expansion set, so for the regions that have a standard box business model such as North America and Europe, we will price accordingly. For other regions that have alternative business models, we’ll provide details at a later date.

Q: Will there be a console version of Heart of the Swarm?

A: StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is being developed for Windows and Mac. We have no current plans to bring StarCraft II to any console platform.

Q: When is Heart of the Swarm coming out?

A: It's too early to talk about a specific release date at this point in time. As with all Blizzard games, our ultimate goal is to provide the best possible experience for our players, and we will take as much time as is needed to ensure that Heart of the Swarm meets the expectations of our players, as well as our own high standards.