StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops

StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops
Developer(s) Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher(s) Blizzard Entertainment
Designer(s) Jason Huck
Writer(s) Valerie Watrous
Series StarCraft
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, OS X
Release
  • Pack 1
  • March 29, 2016
  • Pack 2
  • August 2, 2016
  • Pack 3
  • November 22, 2016
Genre(s) Real-time strategy
Mode(s) Single-player

StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops are downloadable content (DLC) single-player mission packs to the military science fiction real-time strategy game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Consisting of nine missions, it was released over the course of three installments as DLC, with three missions each.[1] The first mission pack was released March 29, 2016, the second mission pack released on August 2, 2016 and the final mission pack was released on November 22, 2016.[2][3]

Gameplay

Nova Covert Ops is focused around the hero unit of Nova, similar to Kerrigan in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. New technology and weaponry are available for Nova and other units to unlock. The mission pack places a greater emphasis on tactics but retains the base building mechanics of StarCraft.[4]

Plot

Chapter I

The campaign takes place a few years after the epilogue of Legacy of the Void. Nova Terra, along with her fellow Terran Dominion ghosts Stone, Delta Emblock, and Theodore Pierce had all been captured by an organization called the Defenders of Man. They manage to escape the compound they were being held in, but Nova gets split up from her fellow ghosts.[5] After escaping Sharpsburg, she is detained by Terran Dominion forces and taken to the planet of Borea. It is there that she meets up with Admiral Matt Horner. He tells her that she had gone missing in action, says there was evidence showing she was working with the Defenders of Man, and that she is wanted for treason. Horner has been skeptical of the accusations, and after the base is assaulted by feral zerg, Horner asks Nova to aid them. Nova agrees, and with her aid the terran base is able to survive until a fleet of terran ships arrives. The arriving terran fleet is not, however, the Terran Dominion fleet showing up to save them as they had expected; it is the Defenders of Man fleet.[6]

Matt and Nova escape and meet up with Emperor Valerian Mengsk. Valerian meets with Nova, and gives her a new command ship, as well as her own Covert Ops Crew. He also puts a new weapons and technology specialist, Reigel, under her command, who attempts to reactivate the memories she had lost while working for the Defenders of Man. The device shows her the ruins of her home Tarsonis. Nova, Reigel and her Covert Ops Crew head to Tarsonis. After securing the perimeter, Nova infiltrates the Defenders of Man base. The Defenders of Man notice her, and activate a psi emitter in their own base. Nova continues further, and discovers that the Defenders of Man were luring zerg to civilian worlds to discredit Emperor Valerian Mengsk, and are now planning to have a civilian world destroyed to prove the new regime's weakness.[7]

Chapter II

Arriving at the planet, known as Tyrador IX, Nova's forces encounter the Zerg, which were lured there by the Defenders of Man. They also encounter the Tal'darim, who are attacking the Defenders of Man on the planet. Nova repels the alien presence from the planet despite the high civilian casualties.[8] After the battle, Nova encounters Highlord Alarak of the Tal'darim. Alarak makes a deal with Nova, showing her the location of Terrazine gas, located on the planet Jarban Minor, which will be able to restore her memories. In exchange, Nova will provide Alarak with the Defenders of Man. Alarak reveals the Defenders attacked a Tal'darim outpost and he seeks retribution.

On Jarban Minor, Nova comes into conflict again with the Tal'darim, led by First Ascendant Jinara. Nova manages to defeat Jinara's forces and gather Terrazine.[9] Using some of it, she realises that the planet of Antiga Prime is of importance. On Antiga Prime, she discovers that she was used unwittingly to facilitate a Zerg invasion of the planet, overrunning it. She learns that the Defenders of Man is led by Dominion general Carolina Davis.[10] Meanwhile, Valerian contacts General Davis, informing her that he wishes to step down as Emperor.

Chapter III

Valerian creates a plan with Nova, using his abdication as bait. While Valerian is giving a speech, Nova infiltrates Davis' compound, encountering her now mind-wiped team, and a brainwashed Stone. After incapacitating Stone, Nova captures Davis. Valerian then reveals her treachery to the Dominion just as Alarak arrives with the Death Fleet. The Defenders of Man, unaware of Davis' true motives, rejoin the Dominion and repel the Death Fleet with Nova's help. However, Davis escapes her captivity and slips away on a transport.

Nova traces Davis to the Cerros Shipyards, where the Dominions Gorgon-class battlecruisers are being repaired. Davis powers up an experimental war machine called the Xanthos to destroy the fleet and cripple Valerian's ability to retaliate. With assistance from Admiral Horner, Nova deploys to the shipyard and eventually destroys Davis' remaining forces and the Xanthos itself. Nova boards the crippled war machine, locating Davis and kills her, against Valerian's orders. Nova then flees aboard the Griffin, taking her forces too as they are loyal to her and not the Dominion. Nova resolves to fight the Dominion's enemies on her own terms, acting beyond the command structure.

Aboard the Bucephalus, Valerian and Horner watch a newsfeed showing the fallout from Davis' actions. The newsfeed shows that public opinion has gone back to Valerian, and Davis' death has been widely accepted as necessary force. Horner asks Valerian what they should do about Nova, but Valerian says they should let her go. Meanwhile, Nova's ship warps off into the Sector.

Development

The writer of Legacy of the Void, James Waugh, serves as the story director for Nova Covert Ops; Valerie Watrous, a co-writer on Legacy of the Void, serves as the primary writer. Nova Covert Ops is intended to demonstrate Blizzard's transition into releasing more frequent content.[11]

Reception

The first and second mission packs have had a generally mixed reaction. IGN noted that the story of the first two-mission packs felt poorly executed and the length too short.[12][13]

References

  1. ↑ "GS News Update: Blizzard Say Warcraft 4 And StarCraft 3 Development "Depends On the Players"".
  2. ↑ "Nova Covert Ops".
  3. ↑ "Third and final mission for pack StarCraft 2's Nova Covert Ops due November 22". PC Gamer.
  4. ↑ "Patch 3.2 Preview: Nova Covert Ops - Mission Pack 1". Blizzard Entertainment.
  5. ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. PC. Level/area: Nova: Covert Ops, mission 1: "The Escape".
  6. ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. PC. Level/area: Nova: Covert Ops, mission 2: "Sudden Strike".
  7. ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. PC. Level/area: Nova: Covert Ops, mission 3: "Enemy Intelligence".
  8. ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. PC. Level/area: Nova: Covert Ops, mission 4: "Trouble in Paradise".
  9. ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. PC. Level/area: Nova: Covert Ops, mission 5: "Night Terrors".
  10. ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. PC. Level/area: Nova: Covert Ops, mission 6: "Flashpoint".
  11. ↑ Megan Farokhmanesh (November 6, 2015). "StarCraft: The past, present and future". Polygon. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  12. ↑ TJ Hafer (April 5, 2016). "StarCraft 2: Nova Covert Ops Mission Pack 1 Review". IGN. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  13. ↑ TJ Hafer (April 5, 2016). "StarCraft 2: Nova Covert Ops Mission Pack 2 Review". IGN. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.