New HotS Trailer Feb 26th?

[topsecret221]

I think that the problem is less the trailer itself and the implications that it brought for the story. Blizz cinematics are easy to take for granted considering how often their quality is so high.

[Hawki]

Noted the reference to the WoL launch trailer. I was actually overseas when it was released, and returned to Aus. only after the game and trailer had been released. But comparing Vengeance to Ghosts of the Past is like comparing a crayon drawing with the Mona Lisa.

Look at Ghosts of the Past, how it works on a structural level. Beginning, we deal with the past (Raynor's grief, Kerrigan's abandonment). Second part is the present. Dominion. Raynor in better states to show he's not completely down and out. And that's good, because we learn the zerg have returned. Third part, we see that the zerg have become the focus, likely with the Raiders and Dominion working together. The music shifts with each section, the emotions change with each section, and while I saw the trailer after WoL, I could recognise then and there that it was an excellent trailer. There's a reason that IGN included it in their top 100 videogame trailers of all time list (forget the number).

In contrast, we have Vengeance. Right from the start I could tell something was wrong. We get a brief snippet of Mengsk's speech, but then it goes to stuff we've already seen. This lasts for about a minute. Half the entire trailer. That's when the music switches, but unlike GotP, the mood doesn't change with it. Not only are we still seeing previous scenes, but we're still getting the same lines. There's no mood change. Kerrigan's established to have gone grimdark in the first half, and in the second, we see...that she's still grimdark. There's some interwoven mood shifts, such as her last line, but it falls hollow when we see that for all her words, Kerrigan has no problem doing what she's doing. In GotP, Raynor's actions corresponded to his words. Here...yes, Kerrigan's grimdark, I get it. I got that from the very first HotS cinematic trailer released in 2012. If anything, that trailer should have been the launch trailer IMO. The mood in that trailer was constant, but there was constant escalation. We started with Kerrigan in the lab, and ended with the zerg assaulting Korhal. In Vengeance, there's no such escalation, and Kerrigan's pretty much the same throughout the entire thing.

You know, I used to be excited about HotS. Excited because after WoL, even though a zerg campaign was coming next (least favorite race to play), that the story would continue to be as good, if not better. The new units, the 2012 trailer... But now, especially since the Q&As, something's...wrong, with it to me. The storytelling, the story direction, the atmosphere, the nature of the site short stories...Granted, the cinematic trailer that's the game's intro boosted my spirits a bit, but now we come back down to this. A return to grimdark (that like most grimdark, doesn't work), insipid writing and character development, and is basically designed to slap anyone who ever gave a shit about WoL.

I have HotS pre-ordered if only for the extra goodies. I won't cancel it. But I have no intention of stopping everything I'm doing to install and play it. I mean, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised, but...well, the last time I felt this way about a game was for Halo 4 in 2012, and that turned out to be my most disapointing game of that year. I've no reason to suspect that HotS will be any different.

Wake me up when there's a trailer for LotV.

[The_Blade]

So, these are my expectations on the plot according to everything we got so far:

Hidden Content:

[Flashpoint's Ending Labs]
-Kerrigan sobs after her nightmares.
-Kerrigan gets a rage attack against Valerian, White Marines are thrown around. Matt is screaming at everyone to calm down. Raynor walks in, "chill baby, I love you"
-Mengsk arrives with his fleet of BCs and drops Nova's squad on the facility.
-Kerrigan destroys her "room", killing Nova.
-Kerrgian flees in a dropship.
-Mengsk captures everyone and makes his speech.

[Path of Ascension]
-Kerrigan finds her Leviathan.
-Kerrigan finds Queens.
-Kerrigan gets lectured by Warfield.
-Kerrigan meets Zeratul, attacks him and scared him a little. Zeratul says, "Tidings of doom await you. You must travel to Zerus"

[Zerus]
-Kerrigan finds new strains.
-Kerrigan makes the swarm beautiful again.
-Kerrigan becomes the Queen of Blades again in a nice storm of psionic energy.

[Follow Zeratul]
-Get some knowledge about the hybrids and Mengsk.
-Find Narud/Duran, disguised as Raynor, inside a temple. Duran traps her inside a crystal. She breaks free and beats the crap out of the floor, because Duran banished.

[Korhal]
-Raynor is in Korhal as a hostage. Mengsk wants him in his office when the Zerg start an invasion.
-Kerrigan blows Mengsk's office, and kill him in the process.
-Kerrigan enters the blown up office and Raynor wakes up. He complains about invading Korhal with the Zerg. Kerrigan tells him about the Hybrids.
-*Cliffhanger*

[ImperialGuard]

-Kerrigan gets a rage attack against Valerian, White Marines are thrown around. Matt is screaming at everyone to calm down. Raynor walks in, "chill baby, I love you"

I believe this would happen after Mengsk's arrival, not before.

-Kerrigan destroys her "room", killing Nova.

Don't think so. Nova never entered the room. Plus blizzard stated that Nova will appear in LotV. >.<

-Mengsk captures everyone and makes his speech.

Interesting. Never thought of that.

-Kerrigan meets Zeratul, attacks him and scared him a little. Zeratul says, "Tidings of doom await you. You must travel to Zerus"

I hope Zeratul never says "tidings of doom" ever again.

-Find Narud/Duran, disguised as Raynor, inside a temple. Duran traps her inside a crystal. She breaks free and beats the crap out of the floor, because Duran banished.

I actually think there are two Kerrigans, a human one and an infested one. Watch 1:35 of the new trailer and you will see human Kerrigan stabbing the infested Kerrigan.

[Carsickness]

like comparing a crayon drawing with the Mona Lisa.

I wasn't referring to the trailer being a let down. Just the connection between trailer and actual game was a let down. The GotP trailer was amazing, I agree - but WoL wasn't (I think as a whole, we can agree to that). I feel abused when I go back and watch that trailer.

More analysis:


So far i see:
-Kerrigan vs Zeratul (in a hatchery)
-Kerrigan vs Raynor (pounding his face in)
-Kerrigan vs Nova (with a psi blade)

What's with the flame dog thing? new strain? Maybe its just part of a planet intro?

[Korhal]
-Raynor is in Korhal as a hostage. Mengsk wants him in his office when the Zerg start an invasion.
-Kerrigan blows Mengsk's office, and kill him in the process.
-Kerrigan enters the blown up office and Raynor wakes up. He complains about invading Korhal with the Zerg. Kerrigan tells him about the Hybrids.
-*Cliffhanger*

Definitely goes with that leaked ending we saw awhile back

I actually think there are two Kerrigans, a human one and an infested one. Watch 1:35 of the new trailer and you will see human Kerrigan stabbing the infested Kerrigan.

I was thinking it's Nova...but yeah, you're right. That's Sarah alright. Maybe some sort of internal battle while she's in that crystal pylon thing?

[Hawki]

I wasn't referring to the trailer being a let down. Just the connection between trailer and actual game was a let down. The GotP trailer was amazing, I agree - but WoL wasn't (I think as a whole, we can agree to that). I feel abused when I go back and watch that trailer.

"We" in this case doesn't include "me." I know I'm in what seems to be an increasing minority these days, but GotP represented WoL perfectly for me. Three-stage trailer, three-stage story, well told story and characters (no, this isn't an invitation for debate, I've had enough of that). If Vengeance is indicative in the same way, it means I can expect poor character development, poor writing, and a story whose only rythem is syncopated, with every beat driving a nail into my spine.

But then again, it's kind of a cop-out for me to say that "I don't want to discuss WoL" again while harping on about HotS. Gotta start doing some work anyway. If the trailer floats your boat, well, more power to you I guess. For me, it sunk my battlecruiser, and HotS will likely sink the rest of my ships as well.

[The_Blade]

Hidden Content:

Don't think so. Nova never entered the room. Plus blizzard stated that Nova will appear in LotV. >.<

A ghost gets inside the main room where Kerrigan is contained. What's your source for that statement from Blizzard. The reveal trailer shows Nova under the same lighting from the whole scene.

I actually think there are two Kerrigans, a human one and an infested one. Watch 1:35 of the new trailer and you will see human Kerrigan stabbing the infested Kerrigan.

That is one of the Queens. Kerrigan is looking up to a much taller oponent. She might steal the Leviathan from her.

[Carsickness]

"We" in this case doesn't include "me."(

Fair enough.

That is one of the Queens. She might steal the Leviathan from her.

No that's definitely Kerrigan (Pre-Zerg w/ a ....psi blade??) vs Kerrigan (after Zerg)

[Visions of Khas]

TL;DR Grimdark.

-Find Narud/Duran, disguised as Raynor, inside a temple. Duran traps her inside a crystal. She breaks free and beats the crap out of the floor, because Duran banished.

I'm pretty interested to see this part. Kerrigan is definitely laying down the law on Raynor's face. But is this Raynor? Is this an hallucination or dream? Or is Duran or some other agent of the Dark Voice impersonating Raynor? I think there's some significance to Kerrigan's different glowing colors, and this may have to do with her seperate Sarah/QoB personae.

[topsecret221]

That weird jungle animal looks like a pre-infestation hydra to me... at least based on it's basic geometry.