Well this boils down into two categories, the new units and the new campaign, because there isn’t a lot new to the gameplay. Hilariously enough, for a game like StarCraft, saying there isn’t a lot new is like an instant 100 because no one really wants anything new. Heck, from what I feel like, this expansion almost emulates Brood Wars (Hellbats feel oh so much like Firebats because I mean, they are).

So let’s go over the new units. Terran gets Hellbats (Firebats) that are Firebats because well Firebats and Hellbats are pretty much the same. Firebats are a hilarious unit because they’re so oddly balanced in StarCraft. In the original they were pretty much super powerful and complained about all the game, so in SC2 they just took them out and put them in the campaign. In custom games they are usually hilariously overpowered because they have the heartiness of a Marauder with an OMG flame attack.

So how do you balance it out? Well, require an Armory to build Firebats, which puts at the late mid or early late game, which traditionally is like the Firebat free zone. Problem solved, they work, they’re cool, and late game mass Zealot vs. Terran isn’t a thing anymore.

Terrans also get Widow Mines because I guess someone decided to upgrade the Spider Mine. They’re overpowered, in a sense, since they burrow and “cloak” then fire missiles into people’s faces as random. Your dudes are walking around then BAM there is a missile to their face thanks Terrans.

Moving on, Protoss get a three whole new units, even though this is called Heart of the Swarm, and they’re all really Protossy. Mothership Core which is a casting unit that gives them Mass Recall (Jaina Proudmoore personally taught the Protoss how to do this) rather early and for less, although it’s sort of like a Queen for the Protoss. Then there is the Oracle which is a harrasement unit to move away from “deathballs.” The Tempest is sort of a Carrier replacement and acts as a powerful capital ship for the Protoss.

All neat stuff so far, but I’m really kind of eh about the Zerg. They get Swarm Locust which spawn Locusts which is neat, I guess, not that great to me. Then there is the Viper, a caster, that can lock down units and pull units (friendly or hostile) to itself which is cool too I guess, but eh. For an expansion all about the Zerg, the Zerg units are so underwhelming.

I’m not in love with the new units, they’re all similar to Brood Wars in certain ways, which is cool and all and works for SC because no one wants to change anything and new units should be designed to patch holes in the balance, but I don’t know. Not that great.

So the next part is the campaign, which is fantastic. You get twenty missions at about 20 minutes each, which comes out to be about 7 to 10 hours, but you also get the Master Archives which lets you replay missions with more powerful upgrades which, for me, gives me a lot more out of the campaign. Our previous review of SC: WoL mentioned that there wasn’t a lot of replay value but the Master Archives really fixes that, so big kudos to Blizzard there, lots and lots of extra DKP.

The campaign is a bit on the easy side though, like, really easy. The game gives you step by step instructions, side quests, and such but it holds your hand throughout the entire process. Harder difficulties are harder, but you can tweak it to remove the difficulty. The hero system is neat and if you work hard to do the bonus objectives you can melt away the difficulty of later missions.

Otherwise I’m not sure to say, there isn’t a lot new here and most of the changes were rolled out in a free patch anyway, so I really can’t count them. The game is fun, but there isn’t a ton of substance, but it’s also not a full retail box price.