Starcraft: Brood War - Is it worth the cost?

I've played a few games of Starcraft this month and we have been talking about the expansion. What I think we really want is the games to run a bit longer. We have been disappointed by the lack of time you have: we don't see many of the big units coming out. Nobody buys much technology. It's alll just kind of expensive when you can pump out more units instead.

Talking about expensive - £40, $60. You're kidding me right? I can buy pretty much any other game for that. We have been liking the base game but I am guessing we can get more for our money elsewhere. None of us own TI3 for example.

Can anyone give advice about if and how Brood War improves the game?

I think the expansion adds a little time to the game due to the extra event cards that are put in the deck. That delays Stage 3 a little bit so The End Draws Near doesn't come out too much. But if someone has a huge run of points then it's not going to help much. I do think if the points are kept close then it seems like there is more time to add tech. It also helps that you can choose your starting conditions where you get different unit setups that might have extra workers or sometimes extra resources. Don't have my game on me to list these unfortunately. But nobody ever picks the default setup from the base game anymore so that pretty much eliminates the secondary winning conditions that can make the game over a lot faster.

The modules add some variety and interest, especially the attack module which lets you counter the defender's base defense module. The Assist module is also very nice if you go with lots of support types. This allows you an extra assist unit in battle. There is another that lets you swap units in your skirmish after setup. Good stuff. You could easily proxy these though.

The units are good overall. I've not had much luck with the medic but am probably not using them properly somehow. Need to try them more. Devourers are nasty as fuck. Oh and there is a new damage type called Collateral Damage that is devastating to enemy bases.

I might be able to add more later, I am late for work.

Broodwar is definitely worth the money. The leadership cards alone add so much to the game I would have paid just for them.

The new units and planets are really great too.

I would recommend broodwar to anyone who has the base game.

Citadel wrote:

I've played a few games of Starcraft this month and we have been talking about the expansion. What I think we really want is the games to run a bit longer. We have been disappointed by the lack of time you have: we don't see many of the big units coming out. Nobody buys much technology. It's alll just kind of expensive when you can pump out more units instead.

BROOD WAR is a mandatory buy for people who played the base game about 5-10 times, because that's when playing the same tactics with the same victory conditions gets a tad boring.

With the expansion each player can now choose to play with the special victory condition of his faction or start off with bonuses (more units, special powers, etc.) and play for a standard win through accumulation of victory points.

Sometimes no player picks his special victory objective, because they'll have to make the decision before set-up, while still drooling over the cool power they're going to have and don't consider they could start far off any VP areas. If that is the case the game gets very tactical (and longer) since everyone is battling over these few spaces.

The expansion comes with new units and some old ones were changed, most of which were turned into a more worthwhile purchase by either improving their stats or by giving them the ability to counter certain popular strategies, like an all airborne army, etc.

Longer playtime and more varied unit purchases also lead to more technologies getting bought, although I have to admit that in my last session I only bought the nuke again and again in the latter half of the game.

Schweig! wrote:

BROOD WAR is a mandatory buy for people who played the base game about 5-10 times, because that's when playing the same tactics with the same victory conditions gets a tad boring.

So does Brood War also have a limited shelf life (in the same way that the base game gets old after 5-10)? I mean, will playing Brood War get old after 5-10 more plays, or does the expansion give the game more replayability past that?

Hope I articulated that well enough to be understood.

I think that's going to be hard to gauge because it depends on your personal taste. I mean, what doesn't get sort of old after 10 plays? I don't have a lot of games so I rotate them out and will go on spurts of this or that. I can say that Brood War hasn't become stale to me at all. I think Brood War is a very solid expansion and you can relax knowing that there won't be any more expansions you "have to buy" for it, it is complete after this add-on. I really think this makes it the "full game". As in if the world were a perfect place and they could have put all of this together in one giant Starcraft box they would.

Once you integrate it, it becomes a full set. I point that out again because it's not one of those kind of things where there is a bunch of "optional" kind of bullshit involved. But if you are just so-so about Starcraft then I am not sure this is going to make it better for you or not. For me, this is a game that I'll be playing for years to come. And still fucking suck at.

OK, This is sounding like everything we are hoping for. I think I will try to pick up a copy before our next game. Thanks.

J.T. wrote:

Schweig! wrote:

BROOD WAR is a mandatory buy for people who played the base game about 5-10 times, because that's when playing the same tactics with the same victory conditions gets a tad boring.

So does Brood War also have a limited shelf life (in the same way that the base game gets old after 5-10)? I mean, will playing Brood War get old after 5-10 more plays, or does the expansion give the game more replayability past that?

I haven't played with the expansion that often yet. However, the new rules add more variety. For example Jim Raynor can start off with three ghosts on a special space which can then be sent anywhere on the map with a move order. Playing with this special power is quite different than playing for the standard victory. Also in the base game the archons were the best units in the game and it didn't make much sense to build anything else as a Protoss player. The expansion balances the units out and adds more counter strategies.

Can somebody write a review of Brood War? There's a number of us who really liked Starcraft but we're willing to pay $50 for Brood War.

I'll give it a crack.