Starcraft 2 : Hell, its about time

Yes, thats more appropriate for the subtitle of Starcraft 2. After watching the intro movie, which actually ends with the human marine say "Hell, its about time." That exactly sums up the feeling about Starcraft 2.

However, after viewing through the gameplay video, I have some doubts. The general graphics still feel the SAME as in Starcraft. Finer, no doubt, but quite the same. There is a 3D engine inside, but it doesn't really stands out too much. I just can't shake the feeling this may end up like another Command and Conquer Tiberium War (which incidently also has a good intro movie). Will Starcraft 2 become the same? Only time will tell...

Another thing I am not too comfortable is that the so call improvement are all focused on micro management. This includes the usage of unit power such as Blink etc. This is exactly the reason I like Warhammer 40K Dawn of War and disklike Company of Heroes. Micro is always something the computer will do better than us. And we can't micro everything! W40K has just enough of that, giving the hero the powers. Thats pretty cool enough and we did not have to power up the laser or set manual unit actions much. On the other hand, people who love COH will love SC I hope.

The most powerful unit. Yes, since Microsoft's Age of Mythology, we have Titans. Is that the only thing in RTS? SC has something like that too as far as I can tell. And I suppose, it will be the same more or less with all other RTS. The effect is cool is all I can comment about this. Especially the blackhole effect. But I do forsee lots of balancing going to happen.

Finally, the story. I do not see any mentioning of our anti-heroine The Queen of Blades anywhere? What happened? Are they going to make this in a alternate universe? SC has one of the best story I must say. Although the background is not so original here and there, but I really like hte story. If there is a good reason to recommend SC, it would be the story. Will SC2 live up to this? In terms of background and races, I would still prefer W40k because of the depth and story that covers the various races in the W40k world.