StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops

StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops is the first mission pack for StarCraft II. Consisting of nine missions, it will be released over the course of three installments as DLC, with three missions per installment.

Overview
A bundle can be pre-ordered that grants the purchaser access to all 9 missions through a single payment. Each mission pack can be purchased separately, but only the bundle is available for pre-purchase. Each mission pack will be $7.49 USD, while the pre-purchase option comes to $14.99 USD. Only the StarCraft II Starter Edition is required to download the missions.

Those who pre-purchase Nova Covert Ops will receive a unique Nova portrait, as well as a Covert Ops ghost skin. A player can unlock the skin without the pre-purchase after completing all nine missions of the campaign. The Nova portrait is limited to the pre-purchase bundle, and will be gone once the first series of missions launch. Pre-order bonuses will be gifted to the player before the launch of the first mission pack.

Storyline
"The reign of Emperor Valerian Mengsk is under threat. Along with facing political opposition, several Dominion ghosts have gone missing in action while under his rule. Their trail leads to a secretive Terran group, the Defenders of Man. As Nova Terra, a psionic ghost trained to be the perfect covert operative, you must delve into the conspiracy before it’s too late for the Terran Dominion."

- Story summary

The campaign takes place a few years after the epilogue of Legacy of the Void (post-2508). The Terran Dominion, led by Emperor Valerian Mengsk, is attempting to recover from the civil wars and zerg attacks that have ravaged their civilization. Along with facing political opposition, several Dominion ghosts have gone missing, the trail leading to a secretive terran group called the "Defenders of Man." Nova Terra is assigned to investigate.

During the campaign, Matt Horner accuses Nova Terra of treason.

The campaign will have cutscenes and voiceovers. The nine missions all connect to each other. Jason Huck has speculated that at the end of each installment, there will be a cliffhanger.

Terran factions such as the Kel-Morian Combine, Umojan Protectorate, and United Earth Directorate will not feature in the game.

Gameplay
Nova is controllable in each mission, similar to how Kerrigan operates in the campaign of Heart of the Swarm, featuring gear and loadout features. She is supported by a black ops force. Matt Morris has indicated that new units and structures will be unlocked in a manner similar to previous campaigns. Pre-existing units will gain new abilities/properties, such as hovering siege tanks and marines who use stimpacks to heal themselves. The total length of the full mission pack is expected to be half that of Heart of the Swarm and/or Legacy of the Void.

Similar to previous games, Nova Covert Ops will feature a story-mode space in the form of a condor, Nova's personal starship.

Development
The story was designed to be darker in tone than StarCraft II, which focused on galactic events. Covert Ops is designed to be "a little bit closer to home." The DLC model was chosen instead of an expansion pack or sequel so that "more campaign-style content could be delivered to fans." With the completion of the mission pack, fan reaction will be gauged to decide whether more mission packs will be released, or whether Blizzard should work on an entirely new RTS game. Chris Sigaty has commented that the development model has stemmed from Blizzard's current approach to content release, namely to release smaller content more frequently.

A goal of the mission pack is to establish Nova as being distinct from Sarah Kerrigan, as fans have already drawn similarities between the two. It has been stated that the game is ultimately about choice; James Waugh has commented that Nova will be in a more empowered position than she is at the start of the game's story.

None of the game's story is taken from StarCraft: Ghost. (Elements of) the story were still being worked on by BlizzCon 2015.

An ARG was developed by Blizzard to promote the game, in a manner similar to Project Blackstone. These included blog posts from Radio Liberty, a twitter feed from Kate Lockwell, and an Arcade map.