2. StarCraft (with the Brood War Expansion)
Blizzard Entertainment, 1998
"Phenomena" is really the only way to describe StarCraft. It's been over five years since its release and the community is still raging, with tens of thousands of players on Battle.net at any given time. In Korea it's all but a national sport, with televised tournaments and superstar players boasting about their actions-per-minute and bringing in massive sponsorships.
What brought on such a raging, long-term success around the world? Certainly it wasn't some super-new technology: StarCraft's 2D sprite graphics and "2D-with-cliffs" terrain weren't exactly cutting-edge. That ended up working in the game's favor, since even at release just about any PC could run a smooth game.
No, StarCraft is all about the presentation and the gameplay. Presentation-wise, Blizzard's incredible art department made the low-tech art look superb, every unit dripping with character. In the cut-scenes and box art the units came to life; StarCraft to this day still boasts some of the most incredible computer-animated cut-scenes ever displayed on a PC. And the storyline was tight, presenting players with an unforgettable experience that helped fuel a passion long before players dove into the excellent multiplayer.
Then there's the gameplay. StarCraft was the first RTS to feature three very distinct sides and to balance their playstyles: the fast-to-build but weak Zerg, the slow, expensive, but powerful Protoss and the Terrans who balanced all styles. Simply adding a third faction added immensely to the gameplay possibilities -- and repayability. Veteran gamers acknowledge that the game really wasn't balanced perfectly until the Brood War expansion, which tweaked the sides just enough to create a beautiful, beautiful thing.
StarCraft is the gold standard; the game that (for better or for worse) has been mercilessly cloned in the quest for the next great real-time strategy. It's by far the most popular RTS in the world. But there's one more game that inches it out in our top ten...
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Freedom is slavery.
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