Ah, StarCraft. The game that forged, destroyed and mended many of our friendships, and the bane of Singaporean parents who tried and failed to steer their kids away from cyber cafés and LAN shops.
Good news for all who’ve long missed constructing additional pylons — both StarCraft and its expansion, Brood War, are now absolutely free to download and play on both PC and Mac. No catch at all.
Publisher Blizzard Entertainment released its 1998 classic for no chargre ahead of the upcoming remastered version of the original, which is expected to be out this summer.
[Mandatory explanation for noobs] The StarCraft franchise is a series of sci-fi real-time strategy computer games, in which players take part in a war between three galactic species: the human Terrans, the insect-like aliens, Zerg, and humanoid religious psychic warriors, Protoss. Today, it remains one of the most important video games of all time, and one of the best-sellers, too. Worldwide popularity has ensured its staple spot on the PCs of all LAN shops across Singapore over the years, alongside Counter-Strike, DOTA and Diablo II.
For those who’ve never touched the strategy game before, now would be an excellent time to get into an iconic piece of PC gaming history. Sure, StarCraft’s now old enough to consume alcohol, and its graphics admittedly haven’t aged well, but its mechanics still hold up even though it’s been 19 years since its first release. Hell, some diehards still choose to play the first StarCraft despite its 2010 sequel, StarCraft II.
And since South Korean pop culture is so in right now, now would be a good time to get into the game, which is practically a national sport and a legitimate career in the country.
EDIT: Other LAN shop games namedropped to please everyone. Happy now?
