Last time, we established that the majority of improvements between Starcraft 1 and Starcraft 2 were actually improvements from Starcraft 1 to Warcraft 3. From the basic 3D camera to the UI and control improvements, a lot of the credit Starcraft 2 has received for its advancement since the original is probably a tad overstated.

More puzzling, however, was the large number of RTS innovations included in Warcraft 3 that are absent in Starcraft 2. The previous article focused primarily on anti-cheesing measures built into each race’s infrastructure that decreased the rock-paper-scissors aspect of early game rushes. With them, Warcraft 3 managed to remove the majority of all-in cheese from the game without placing awkward terrain or time restrictions on players.

What else did Blizzard’s oldest RTS include in its newest offering? For one thing: dynamic environments.

If you’ve played a Battlefield game, you’ve probably encountered a scenario where an idiot on your team ran towards the nearest plane/helicopter/fighter jet, took off, and immediately proceeded to slam it into a mountain/a tree/the ground/your team. But, as upset as you are, you understand your team’s concerns. Aircraft are a scarce and powerful commodity. For each time you crashed one into the ground, the ace pilot on your team could have instead used it to rack up a dozen kills.

With precise instruction and just the right amount of sarcasm (a lot), PixelEnemy delineates a grocery list of skills necessary for success, from the seemingly obvious to the “holy hell, why didn’t I think of that?”

The “C to Shining C” achievement in Super Street Fighter 4 looks straightforward at first. For the uninitiated, the achievement requires the player to reach an online rank of C with all 35 characters in the game. Considering you can’t even lose rank before rank B, this would appear to be a cakewalk (if not a bit of a grind). So, what’s the problem?

Makoto

Tactical Tuesdays and Thursdays

Every Tuesday and Thursday, T3 will highlight videos and articles from the darkest recesses of the ‘net, exposing the most devious, well-executed tactics and strategies out there. From bunny-hopping hilarity to all-in SCV rushes, if it works and it’s entertaining, you should see it.

By now, it’s a well established fact that the Gunslinger is the greatest weapon in Team Fortress 2 (and gaming history, excluding the Cranial Bore). No other upgrade has done so much for its respective class than the Gunslinger, which has single-handedly (ha-HA!) turned ninjaneering and offensive Sentry placement into legitimate, hilarious strategies.*

While I’ve certainly learned from experience, experience requires time, effort, and thought. Not particularly willing to dedicate all three of those resources to Starcraft, I discovered two YouTube channels with incredible educational and (dare I say it?) entertainment value.

Have you got rhymes? Have you got rhythm?
Have you got a complete lack of shame?

Congratulations!
You might have what it takes to win a free copy of DJ Hero for Xbox 360!

Here at Top Tier Tactics, we understand that sometimes it’s not just enough to beat your opponent into submission, desecrate his corpse, and high five your teammates. No, in order to truly win, you’ve got to write a rap celebrating the ownage.

That’s why, if you want a shot at your free copy of DJ Hero, you need to prove it. With a rap. (You should have picked that part up already.)

If there’s one thing gamers of middling skill hate, it’s button mashers. We all know a button masher: a sibling, a child, a significant other, or even a mildly disabled cousin. He/she has a basic understanding of how a given game works, but when the shit hits the fan, strategy and planning give way to wildly spamming as many commands as possible with no discernable logic. Lucky for us pro, top tier gamers, these mashers rarely win.

Right?

Just a quick note: the next installment in my Spy video series should be complete sometime late next week (possibly earlier if I have the time). It’s just a year later than I promised, but it will feature Goldrush (though I haven’t decided on RED or BLU yet).

Among the nuanced changes we’ve seen come to gaming in tandem with the Internet age, online transactions are probably the second most obvious (behind, of course, broadband online multiplayer). Whether it’s DLC, episodic games, or tie-in merchandise for your avatar, the credit card is increasingly a factor when stepping into the virtual arena. But, in a separate category common to Korean-based grind-fests (and recently seen in Battlefield Heroes), many publishers are also offering a different kind of downloadable content: grind-saving shortcuts.

Eric Lancheres, killmaster extraordinaire and author of Fragging Fundamentals has recently approached me to offer a special partnership deal with the Child’s Play Golden Charity fundraiser. For every copy of his guide Fragging Fundamentals sold, Eric will donate $20 to Child’s Play Charity. Additionally, he will donate $100 out of pocket toward this cause, regardless [...]