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As PC gamers around the world showed up at a myriad of midnight launches, and independent performance tracker VGChartz packed US pre-orders at an almighty 800,000, StarCraft II has finally launched to an unsuspecting world!

A quick refresher

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the first of the three part sequel to one of the most beloved PC games of all time, StarCraft (the other incoming expansions are Heart of the Swarm as well as Legacy of the Void). Released twelve long years ago, now, PC gamers worldwide are still in a state of relative shock that the sequel has finally seen the light of day.

No reviews

In the build up to the release the folks at Blizzard declined the usual practice of sending gaming publications early review copies of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. The company felt it only fair to review the game after extensive and real-world use of Battlenet 2.0, the online protocol the game, has built up.

In addition, Activision Blizzard has neither confirmed nor denied VG Chartz’ estimation of the number of pre-orders, but the company is set to release its own official sales numbers in the coming days. Reports coming in indicate the title could move 7 million units in this fiscal year, with StarCraft’s spiritual home South Korea gobbling up a huge chunk of those units.

Early impressions

Speaking to a handful of friends and gamers alike, who either played the game extensively during the multiplayer beta, or showed up to work with stinging red eyes because they put in an all-nighter, Blizzard has done well not to disappoint. We expect review scores of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (as well as eventual review scores of Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void) to be sky-high when they start trickling in over the coming weeks.

PC gaming lives

The biggest task StarCraft II has is in reaffirming that PC gaming is, in fact, not dead. Many analysts, critics, and gamers alike have proclaimed the economics of PC gaming – where one needs particularly expensive kit just to have the intended experience – just doesn’t make sense. Add to that the rise of the comparatively inexpensive and hassle-free consoles, you’ve had many people proclaim PC gaming is dead.

But between World of WarCraft, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (and likely the inevitable expansions Heart of the Swarm as well as Legacy of the Void) and Steam’s ongoing success, it’s proving rather challenging to claim that PC gaming is dead!

I’ve spent all night with the title and momentarily ripped myself away to write about it. Though this isn’t an official review, my feelings for this game are already evident – buy StarCraft II right away!

Have you played it yet, and was it worth the twelve-year wait?