Campaign

StarCraft II features fewer, more epic movies compared to the original. In addition, there are several in-game cutscenes of higher quality than the original games' pre-rendered movies. The number of in-game cinematics exceeds that of pre-rendered cinematics. This is due to the need for fine-tuning cinematics and that pre-rendered cinematics must be planned early on in the development process.

Terran Campaign: Wings of Liberty



 * Zeratul: "I bring tidings of doom. The xel'naga return, the cycle nears its end, the artifacts are the key."
 * Jim Raynor: "The key... the key to what?"
 * Zeratul: "To the end of all things."
 * - Zeratul delivers a warning to Jim Raynorsrc

The terran campaign focuses on Raynor's Raiders, which has become a mercenary force based in the Hyperion. It includes a Zeratul-focused mini-campaign.

Blizzard introduced players who are unfamiliar with the storylines of StarCraft I and Brood War to the storyline by introducing a plot summary during the installation process.

Zerg Campaign: Heart of the Swarm


The zerg campaign focuses on Kerrigan's Zerg Swarm, which was fractured by the de-infestation of Sarah Kerrigan during the Battle of Char.

Protoss Campaign: Legacy of the Void


Legacy of the Void is a stand-alone product, and does not require StarCraft II installed to run. It focuses on Artanis.

Mission Packs: Nova Covert Ops
The StarCraft campaign continues in Nova Covert Ops, being released in parts. It features Nova Terra as the protagonist, in her fight against the separatist group the Defenders of Man. It takes place years after Legacy of the Void.

Structure and Development
Blizzard considers the old technique of using the campaign to teach new gamers how to play multiplayer games online to be something that doesn't work. Instead, Blizzard uses tutorials, challenges, and improved score and replay screens to teach new gamers how to do so, giving them the freedom to add many new units and upgrades to the campaigns.

The campaign teaches the players some gameplay skills, often without them realizing it as they're being immersed in the story.

The campaigns is a tree-shaped arrangement, enabling players to choose different passages, level-ups and bonuses. Each campaign has a distinct beginning and end, but the center portion vary considerably when played by different people. Each person might try a different set of subquests, and finish them in different ways. Usually the player can go back and play "missed" missions; only in rare instances a choice prevents a player from playing another mission. Decisions made in one campaign doesn't have effect on the campaign in the next expansion.

Players can get closer to the main characters in interactive sets.

StarCraft II didn't feature a co-operative campaign mode before the release of Legacy of The Void. However, Blizzard hasn't excluded the possibility and may install such a function in a future patch or expansion pack.

Heroes and NPC units
Heroes aren't buildable in melee maps. Each has a unique appearance. They fits the same role they did in StarCraft I, but they have "even more unique abilities from standard units".

In Wings of Liberty heroes does not often appears in campaigns, and has a little impact on gameplay. Their role was mostly restricted to "story space". However, in Heart of the Swarm, Kerrigan was prominently featured in the whole campaign and played a crucial role in the gameplay. This was intended further differentiate the zerg part of the campaign. Heroes have unique appearances, including weapons and animations. Heroes have special hotkeys to select them.

More generic mercenaries are available in some campaigns.

Some units that were "cut" during StarCraft II's development appeared in the single-player campaign as well. Units that have been completely cut, however, did not appear in the campaign or map editor.