StarCraft II’s latest patch brought with it a premium map that changes the game into a turn-based RPG.
When you think of StarCraft you generally think of the sci-fi real-time strategy game that everyone has come to love and Koreans have come to dominate, as with most competitive games. But StarCraft II’s latest 4.3.0 patch adds a pair of new premium maps that completely change the game.
The first is called ARK Star, and it changes StarCraft II from an RTS to an old-school turn-based RPG. Think Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy, but with StarCraft models.
"This interstellar adventure follows the Sol Seekers, an elite team of templar on a mission to find and destroy a mysterious weapon known as the ARK Star,” reads the game’s brief description on the StarCraft news section.
The map’s trailer reveals that the main character looks like Zeratul from Heroes of the Storm, which shares the same game engine as StarCraft II. Other models from Blizzard’s MOBA also make an appearance, with the occasional completely new creature created by the game’s design, Pirate, AKA Daniel Altman.
As with any classic RPG, ARK Star gives you a team of heroes to control, each with their own skill trees, invetories, and player stats that increase in score each time you level up. It also looks like the game takes more than just a page from Chrono Trigger in also using abilities that affect more than one enemy depending on the team’s positioning.
ARK Star is available for $4.99, and a portion of all sales goes to Mr. Altman himself.
The other map on offer is called Direct Strike and is a premium version of Direct Strike HotS which is already a free download. The game is almost like a massive battle simulator, which each team spawning in massive squadrons of enemies to try and overthrow the opponent.
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The premium version adds different game modes, unit bans, and a switch mode that allows you to change your race halfway through a battle.
Like ARK Star, Direct Strike is available for $4.99, with a portion going to the map’s creator, Tya.
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