StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Critic Reviews

For those of us who still deeply love this specific style of real-time strategy and want more of it, this is a must-have add-on.

With a surprisingly long campaign, infinitely replayable multiplayer, improved spectating and community tools, and access to hundreds of user-made game modes, Heart of the Swarm is an absurd value and a complete necessity for anyone that enjoyed any aspect of StarCraft II. Unless you just hate using your mouse in video games, buy Heart of the Swarm.

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm embodies an evolved RTS that shows Blizzard has taken on even more superior genes from other gaming greats, even when those greats coincidentally happen to be of their own creation. If this is what happened since Wings of Liberty, then we should be in for a real treat when Legacy of the Void drops out of hyperspace.

Blizzard, once again, delivers a stunning strategy game that is so much more than an expansion pack.

A much more enjoyable and satisfying game than Wings of Liberty and is superior to the base game in every way. If I may paraphrase “Hey Jude,” Blizzard took a great game and made it better.

A traditional RTS essential for anyone interested in competitive strategy games, and highly recommended for anyone who isn't.

Realistically, if you own Wings of Liberty and enjoyed it, you should pick up Heart of the Swarm — not because it is more of the same, but because it's not.

Heart of the Swarm is a superb evolution of one of the best strategy games on the planet. The campaign has a great distinct Zerg feel all over it and the changes made to the multiplayer are likely to breath new life into an already huge and thriving community.

Heart of the Swarm accomplishes what seemed impossible after Wings of Liberty: improves something that was already perfect.

For those who play Starcraft II this will always be a mandatory purchase; for others it is a huge challenge and probably the best RTS on the market.

The tactics and strategies devised are simply amazing, and truly speak to the balance for which the series has become known. Heart of the Swarm delivers plenty to give players a swift kick in the pants, especially thanks to the nuances delivered by the new units.

With a huge singpleplayer campaign, and shrewd changes to multiplayer, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm has something to offer every RTS fan.

Blizzard have excelled once again at combining drama, eye-opening art design and finely honed gameplay to create another unmissable experience.

Heart of the Swarm is ScarCraft made better. Welcoming to newcomers, but never dumbed-down, the franchise at its best.

The tutorials and the A.I have been improved, giving newcomers the chance to calmly try new tactics… before playing against experienced players that will go straight to their jugular.

For an expansion, HOTS is a dense package, adeptly fashioned and hugely enjoyable. But while its core game might be perfection, HOTS itself isn’t.

Heart of the Swarm transforms the StarCraft II landscape in all the right ways--enough to surprise and excite you, while still being amiably familiar at its core. As with its predecessors, it offers fast-paced real-time strategy with a great amount of accessibility and no skill ceiling in sight. Rather than feeling like an ugly middle child between Wings of Liberty and Legacy of the Void, Heart of the Swarm is a star in its own right.

It's a great expansion that takes a step forward from all we've seen previously. There are more situations in the campaign, a more competitive multiplayer and it's more accessible for new players. It's not perfect, but it'll keep us playing for a long while.

An amazingly crafted expansion that completely modifies the competitive metagame while maintaining the fine balancing of the best RTS around. The narrative could have been better, but the campaign is still a great piece of work that thrives on its amazing variety.

Starcraft II Heart of the Swarm is the next chapter of the Starcraft universe that offers gamers a very sturdy single-player experience and neatly delivers a great chapter revolving around Sarah Kerrigan. The gameplay is flawless and if it's not broke, don't fix it which Blizzard seem to epitomize.