I'm nowhere near the end of the single player campaign yet, but here's my thoughts so far:

1. It feels like Starcraft. Anyone worried it wasn't going to can stop worrying.

2. The storyline is fleshed out, and for newcomers they go over what you might have missed. They're very careful how to explain the past and introduce it. In fact, the game installer actually does some of this, with some audio summaries of the previous game's events as it installs. Pretty cool.

3. Starcraft 2 introduces a new live-rendered cinematics system. It pretty much rocks. ALL dialogue is voiced over and lipsynced, and trust me, there's a ton of dialogue. The cinematics allow them to have far more cinematic and storyline content than you'd see back in the original, and of course there's also the "ingame" map story progression as well, with even the civilians talking to you (voiced over!). The between-missions area, where those cinematics occur most often, feels like an old adventure game. There's lots of stuff to click on (which changes after each mission), and the characters often have things to say.

4. The game wastes no time in getting you into the thick of the current plot. Right off the first couple missions you're already in the midst of it.

5. I haven't had time to explore it, but there is a LOT of single player content here. 26 missions in the campaign I'm in (I presume this is the whole game, since there's supposed to be a Zerg and Protoss game addon). There's also apparently a lot of challenge missions, there's minigames (Lost Vikings, a shooter game that seems to have been made in the Map Editor, is pretty awesome actually), objectives + bonus objectives, rewards, achievements, purchasable upgrades, hireable elite units, etc. It's pretty much guaranteed multiple playthroughs are warranted. For anyone not particularly interested in the multiplayer game, there is plenty here just in singleplayer. I'd buy it on this merit alone.

Anyone else's thoughts?

I don't really like Starcraft. But my friend bought the $100 collector's edition, and I think I'm gonna buy the WoW pet off him.

I heard a lot of people were *****ing because there's no LAN support and the SP was Terran only. I never got into Starcraft, so while I can't say much about either game the fact that they're only giving you a third of the SP annoys me just out of principle. There's three factions, there should be three SP campaigns. Every other RTS I have is like that, and I'd feel gypped if I was only given the ability to play as one faction.

What's the difference of having ~30 missions or 3 campaigns of ~10 missions?

Playing single player as Protoss.

Um, the race. Different units, different playing style.

What's the difference in WW2 from the German POV VS the American POV?

I realize there is match play and whatnot, but are there any RTS' out there that don't come down to time management? That is, strategy and placement is superior to spamming? I get really stressed out playing RTS' online, and offline if I lose I'm far more frustrated than I am with any other game.

The races play in dramatically different ways.

Is there still that bull system in place of buying user made maps?

I saw a shelf of Star Craft2 vanish in a few hours while I was working in a Wal-Mart today. I was tempted to buy it, probably for the sake of nostalgia, but I don't have anything that could run it.

I'll probably get it when I upgrade my system. Though I just got Mass Effect 1 and 2 to eat my time until then.

It will, they're breaking it up. Sure you could call it a moneygrab, but to be serious, there's a LOT of stuff in this game. The Terran campaign alone is LONG and the content in it is ENORMOUS. If they had all three, it likely would have been on 3 DVDs (as is it's 12GB once installed).

Besides, otherwise we'd be waiting for Starcraft 2 much longer. I'd rather have it now.

Blizzard has also said that the other parts will be priced like an expansion, because they are, and people who just want MP will not be forced to get them for updates.

but apparently there's a likely 18 month gap between expansions. Putting the protoss campaign at a mid 2013 release :O

Better then SC2 coming out in 2013, or a half assed version later this year.

I believe the point of worry was that it WOULD be too be too much like Starcraft and not bothering to take on any of the advances made in the genre since 1998.

Well I'm not sure what advances you're talking about, but here's some of the changes I feel are for the better:

1. You can select more than 12 units at a time. In fact, I'm not sure there's a limit.
2. Units like idle SCVs or medics will automatically repair buildings/units that are nearby (can be disabled if you want). Just keep an SCV nearby and it does all the legwork. Also, when the units move automatically like that, they will return to their original positions if possible, instead of ending up in nowhere land.
3. An indicator for idle SCVs. Clicking it cycles through each one.
4. Unit positioning is easier. They'll often take more effective positions, and also will move out of the way of incoming buildings, etc.

Awesome! I got mine this morning but haven't had a chance to play it yet. Damn work

Even Age of Empires had that..

So?

Also, just found out, that there are at least some Protoss missions in this. Just finished one.

So you may not have a full campaign of it, but you'll at least get a taste.

And why exactly is LAN support necessary? Just use the internet, it's not like it's going to lag.

Because Internet is not always available. We usually play in a friend's cellar where no cable or Wifi Signal can reach.

Yea, I've already been DC'd by Battle.net in the middle of a match and it wasn't on my side. I would hate to have that happen at a LAN party.

People still have that issue? I say it's time to upgrade

I'm actually planning on doing that. I want to build a house this or next year.

I have been to a total of one lan party that had working internet access that wasn't bogged down by everyone else using it. The lack of LAN support is stupid and wrecks the only time I've ever played Starcraft with other people and had fun. The point of sitting in a room with other people to play is that you don't need a connection to the internet. Period.

LAN is great for Universities too.
You can stumble across people playing the same games as you you don't know.

Not that I've attended University in the past 6 years or anything, nor plan to go back, but if you're in school, it's great

All of my best times for MP in general were on LAN games.

Party of what makes LAN fun is instead of typing your trash talk you can just look the person in the face and yell at them.

Or reach over and smack them

It's been a long time since I played SC, I really enjoyed the AoE series and C&C Red Alert, will I like this game?

That goes without saying.

So does the game live up to the hype? Also would this be a good game for someone who has never tried a RTS game before?

It'll certainly teach you. There's a whole tutorial section, all of the upgrades and modifications you can get not only have descriptions but have videos showing exactly how they work, and there's multiple difficulty levels.

Smacking other players is poor time management.

does it count towards APM? (actions per minute)

Only if you hit them with your mouse.

Just started Starcraft 2, and I know the opening scene was supposed to be all epic and stuff...
But I couldn't help thinking, how does this guy crap?

I've spent most of the day playing the campaign. Lots of fun.

God this game, the sheer amount of effort and polish.
The guest passes, the install, the campaign, all the little filler text and dialogue. Hell even the box is A+.
I wish all games had this level of effort.