A lot of people still miss the way the first StarCraft handles features like unit control and economy. Three years later, fans are still debating whether or not StarCraft II's new units are overpowered. Enter Starbow, an unofficial fan-made mod that aims to recreate the best aspects of Brood War in StarCraft II. It's not Brood War copied into the StarCraft II engine. It's more like a combination of the two.


The main features:

- Mining is faster and your main only has one gas, so you have to expand a lot more.

- Units do less damage, therefore engagements and battles last longer. It's no longer about who drops the forcefields first—forcefields are no longer part of this mod, by the way—or who stims his/her marines first.

- Units spread out, instead of staying together in a ball.

- Unit abilities and cooldowns are radically changed in design to make everything micro-friendly.

- The Medivac is out; Medics, Vultures, Goliaths, Science Vessels and Dropships are back for the Terran.

- Dragoons, Corsairs, Arbiters and Reavers are back for the Protoss. And also the Carrier is now worth something. Sentries are out.

- Scourges, Lurkers and Defilers are back for the Zerg.


And that's just the tip of the iceberg. This thread on r/starcraft summarizes the changes in detail.

Finally, here's a special video cast—recently uploaded by Husky—and some Protoss vs. Terran action with waves of Siege Tanks, Dragoons and Carriers on a huge map:

Top gif via: Crank vs Hideortoss PvT [HuskyStarcraft, via r/starcraft]

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