StarCraft 2 Lead Designer Dustin Browder is holding court in the theater of Blizzard's main office in Irvine, California. We're waiting for the data from the game to be moved onto the computer hooked up to the projector, and numerous beeps from the PC behind him seem to be a distraction. Browder uses the time to answer some questions about the game.

"The Protoss are winning," he tells someone who asked about game balancing. "And they're winning alot." According to their stats, when Terran faces Zerg, or Protoss faces Zerg, the win/loss numbers are within 1 percent of each other. When Protoss faces Terran, there is a five percent advantage to Protoss. He says they're still gathering data, and points out that there are regional differences as well: on the Korean servers, the Zerg seem to need to be somewhat nerfed, as that race is dominating. In the US, the Zerg seem to need a little help.

We're not here to discuss the multiplayer though; there have been more than enough stories written about the beta that's currently live. Browder claims the team found it difficult to work with both the multiplayer and single-player portion of the game, so the data was split. He moves his hands apart to make the point. Multiplayer is all about balance and competition, and Browder tells us he's spending more than twelve hours a day with the balancing team working on tweaks, while the single-player is all about providing a rich and varied experience for gamers playing alone. This isn't a training exercise for multiplayer—Starcraft 2 single-player looks, feels, and acts like a game that's very different from what you'll play online with others.

Divorcing the two game types has proven to be a wise move: there is now more freedom to add units and gameplay mechanics that would never work against other human players. After the presentation finally breaks down and refuses to load again, Browder simply shrugs and kicks us out of the room. The place we're heading is much cooler anyway: a series of stations loaded up with the single-player portion of StarCraft 2.

How the single-player game plays

There is now a hub you'll visit between missions, and from this ship you'll be be able to talk to other characters, buy upgrades to your units and vehicles, hire mercenaries, and research new technology. This area adds a lot in the way of character, and you'll receive detailed briefings before each mission. Things around the environment will also change and evolve between missions, making it a good idea to click around and interact with the environment before you jump back into the next section of the game.

The hub sections are interactive, and it's worth your time to explore them. The arcade game in the background is playable, and the top-down title was created in the game tools included with the game.

You'll earn cash playing the main missions, and the upgrades you can buy increase the effectiveness of your forces nicely. The mercenaries you hire are units with special bonuses, the Devil Dogs are a group of firebats with a 60 percent bonus to health and an extra 25 percent damage. After each group is hired, you can use them a set number of times per mission by building a mercenary structure and paying for their services with minerals. The mercenaries don't need to be trained; they simply appear instantly and begin to kick ass once you pay for them. In other words, they can turn the tide of a dire-looking battle very quickly.

The upgrade screen explains what you're buying, and shows a video of the upgrade in action.

The fact that these units arrive in multiples and fight just like more powerful standard units goes a long way toward taking the concept of a Hero-type unit and making it work well in the StarCraft universe. The concept works very well, and doesn't take away from the large-scale feel of the game.

We played a mission called "The Dig." You're tasked with grabbing a Protoss artifact from the planet, and a huge mining drill has been placed inside a base to blast through the temple's walls. The mission is basically timed: you have to survive until you've gained entrance to the artifact. The Protoss are not happy about the Terran blasphemy taking place, and are very happy to send wave after wave of forces to your base.

At first it's a case of simply building defenses and allowing the Protoss to crash against them. As the units become more powerful however, you're given the option of taking control of the mining laser and aiming it at the Protoss. While removing the laser from the wall of the temple essentially stops the clock, it's hard to resist the draw of blasting Archons into a nearly instant oblivion.

The laser drill is an impressive unit, though immovable

The tension also comes from incoming intel: there are relics on the map, and collecting these will allow you to research more technology upgrades back at your base. To grab these relics you'll need to send forces out from the relative safety of your bunkered and siege-tanked base and try to survive long enough to gain possession of the rare commodities. You'll need to juggle the laser's attention between fulfilling the objective of cracking the temple and using it as an ultra-powerful weapon against flying and ground-based forces attacking you, all while trying to build a team of soldiers strong enough to survive in the wild and grabbing the three Protoss relics in order to research new technology for your forces. It is, to put it rather stupidly in the context, a blast.