Starcraft Ghost
The third of our 'games that never made it'
Some of the people who read this with a further interest in gaming (i.e. you’ve been on the internet and googled ‘video games’) will be aware that Starcraft 2 in South Korea is like cocaine on Wall Street – it’s really addictive and everyone is doing it. This game is so huge over there that you can register as a professional gamer with a professional organisation to play in professional tournaments at it. I’ve said professional so may times to try and convince you it’s a serious profession, not like an artist or something (take that, universities who offer creative courses!)
And it is serious business. $300,000 a year of serious business in some cases and single tournaments can have over $75,000 as a first prize. However, the game also boasts an often skipped over story line which for my money is one of the better in Blizzard’s repertoire.
Starcraft: Ghost offered us the chance to explore this storyline in depth, and it’s now widely accepted that it was set to explore what has become the driving force for all three games in the Starcraft 2 franchise. A bonus mission is included for those who can find it, as an homage to this cancelled gem.
Not only that, but this was to be Blizzard’s toe in the water when it comes to third person shooters. You can’t imagine how that would probably have been, unless you do crystal meth and play Half Life 2 – even then it’s probably not the same. As for why it was cancelled, I can’t entirely say. Blizzard bought the company who made it and seemingly it was too close to the end of the Gamecube’s under appreciated lifespan to ever be viable. But please, don’t get so upset you do crystal meth and play Half Life 2.
