The Human Campaign!

Nostalgia can be a powerful thing. Take the original Starcraft for an example. I seem to recall that fabled RTS to have a very deep, complex story which started out with a bang. I remember the human campaign being filled with tons of cool characters, political maneuvering, and general bad-assery. And, compared to many games at the time, maybe it was complex and deep.

Today, though, not so much.

The human campaign is very basic. You have Jim Raynor, who is basically a law-man. Sarah Kerrigan, a kick-ass girl. Mensk, a corrupt, even revolutionary. And Duke, a confederate general. There is also some type of android chick with pipes in her face, is there for exposition only and she is never named.

Of these characters, only Duke is not an iconic character for the series. Jim Raynor is a deeply tragic character, and perhaps the most interesting character in the series besides (perhaps) Tassadar later. Jim is a character that really doesn't get any brakes, and looses everything that is important to him. Especially Kerrigan. Yet, while I remember there being a deep abiding romance between the two, in practice their 'romance' happens almost completely off screen. They go from not knowing each other, to working together, to strong flirtation in just 3 missions. And you never really get the sense that Raynor really cared about Kerrigan until AFTER she's betrayed and he walks away from Mensk in disgust. It's also interesting that both characters, especially Raynor, the heroic one, go along with Mensk's plans. The plan to lure the Zerg to Tarsonis in a bid to destroy the Confederate capital is monstrous.

Based on the human campaign, both of these characters would be completely forgettable. Kerrigan becomes an icon character later, of course, and is a prominent feature of the Zerg campaign. And Raynor is an important part of the Protoss campaign. And both are quite important in Brood War later on.

Mensk is actually more interesting here. In hindsight Mensk seems like a character with a plan. He uses people, and is very good at taking advantage of the situation to complete his objective. Even his lies are at least plausible, though honestly his rise to power here seems a bit too staged. And Duke, well, he's just there. His turn from asshole confederate military commander, to revolutionary is laughable. But I guess could really signify a knack for seeing which way the wind is blowing and shifting alliances accordingly.

But the other thing missing is that the game really doesn't show the depth of the devastation. The humans in Starcraft are not really the big players after all. The humans are really just caught in the middle of a much larger war between the Protoss and the Zerg. The Zerg's interest in humanity is not really clear (at this point); while the Protoss simply are willing to kill everyone who gets in the way with little regard for the innocents caught in the middle.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the Zerg campaign, where hopefully my memories will begin meshing more with the actual game.