Whispers of Familiarity

Back in the StarCraft and Brood War days, the backstory barely intruded into the game at all, and it's hard not to miss that here. The narrative between missions in [Heart of the Swarm], more often than not, feels like wasteful filler.

Has it really been... huh, yeah, almost three years. And as for Legacy of the Void, or at least its "Whispers of Oblivion" mini-campaign preview, it looks like more of the same.

Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm turned Zeratul into a complete MacGuffin, appearing out of thin air to tease Raynor about the xel'naga or the hybrid threat, and - contrary to the other characters' flat personalities - never presenting any personality at all. If Legacy of the Void is to be his campaign, I dread a story that isn't just embarrassing, but outright dull.

But that probably won't stop me from playing it. Even though the mini-campaign's three missions didn't diverge very much from established StarCraft campaign mechanics (going so far as to combine a small base-building mission with an infiltrate-the-laboratory mission). It's still good fun. And if I can take out narrative enemies by massing Void Rays like an asshole, then, hell yeah.

Progress: Finished the Whispers of Oblivion prologue.