StarCraft: Ghost

It's a nostalgic for those who like the Starcraft universe, but needs more punch to be a cutting-edge action game.

Starcraft: Ghost almost seemed destined for vapoware, having been in limbo for months under development at Nihilistic Software. Now the game has switched hands yet again to Swingin' Ape Studios, and although it didn't turn heads at E3, it's still shaping up to be a decent FPSer.

Set in the familiar RTS universe of Starcraft, you take the role of Nova, a covert-op Terran "Ghost" specializing in psychic abilities. A woman of few words, the game so far shows her to be devoid of character, sort of like a well-proportioned, female version of Gordon Freeman. Blizzard hasn't said much on the story, but so far we know the game will have you face off against Terrans, Zergs and Protoss, taking place after the events of Brood War (you can probably expect appearances of familiar characters from Starcraft such as Kerrigan).

Unlike the flimsy Ghosts in Starcraft, Nova is both an adept soldier and assassin. Creeping in blatantly sensual motions, she's painlessly able to sneak behind enemies and subdue them--more Metal Gear Solid than Splinter Cell in terms of stealth simplicity. Emphasizing action over subterfuge, the game doesn't force you to run away when spotted. Controls weren't as refined as Halo, but the Resident Evil 4-like view undeniably showed that you don't have to spend the majority of the time skulking in shadows. In addition to cloaking for stealth, some psionic abilities aid you in combat as well. Nova has a bullet-time mode that allows you to dispatch particularly swift foes such as Zerglings. Other nifty trappings include a thermal vision mode, and vehicle lockdown ability.

Taking obvious cues from Halo, there will be drivable vehicles in the game, enabling you to take control of familiar machines such as the Vulture bike. In addition to the claustrophobic base levels frequently seen in screenshots, open-ended environments will also be in the game, adding a degree of non-linearity to level design (but don't expect it to approach Deus Ex flexibility).

Conventional is an apt word to describe the AI; enemy Terrans acted like muscled fodder, and Zerglings ...well, zerg.

Supporting up to eight players over multiplayer, Starcraft: Ghost seems intent to have something more than a single-player rehash, featuring a wide variety of different classes and vehicles to choose from. Marines got the firepower, Ghosts have stealth along with weaker attacks, and Firebats have the short-range pizzazz. Again, it's best described as conventional--complete with a six-wheeled Warthog replica.

The graphics are what you'd expect from console FPS games these days, and not much more--which is still an improvement from where the game was six months back. Despite having the Alien-themed Zergs, lighting and shadows didn't seem to be a major thrust for visuals, leaving us yearning for a bit more.

Slated for release in the first-half of 2006, Starcraft: Ghost still has a ways to go in development--let's hope Blizzard continues along the right path to deliver beyond what we've seen in the saturated Halo-Action genre.

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