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StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops

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StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops
Developer(s)Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher(s)Blizzard Entertainment
Designer(s)Jason Huck
Writer(s)Valerie Watrous
SeriesStarCraft
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, OS X
Genre(s)Real-time strategy
Mode(s)Single-player

StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops are downloadable content (DLC) single-player mission packs to the military science fiction real-time strategy game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Consisting of nine missions, it will be released over the course of three installments as DLC, with three missions per installment.[1] The first mission pack was released March 29, 2016, with the second releasing on August 2, 2016 and the final mission pack was released on November 22, 2016.[2][3]

Gameplay

Nova Covert Ops is focused around the hero unit of Nova, similar to Kerrigan in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. New technology and weaponry are available for Nova and other units to unlock. The mission pack places a greater emphasis on tactics but retains the base building mechanics of StarCraft.[4]

Plot

Chapter I

The campaign takes place a few years after the epilogue of Legacy of the Void. Nova Terra, along with her fellow Terran Dominion ghosts Stone, Delta Emblock, and Theodore Pierce had all been captured by an organization called the Defenders of Man. They manage to escape the compound they were being held in, but Nova gets split up from her fellow ghosts.[5] After escaping Sharpsburg, she is detained by Terran Dominion forces and taken to the planet of Borea. It is there that she meets up with Admiral Matt Horner. He tells her that she had gone missing in action, says there was evidence showing she was working with the Defenders of Man, and that she is wanted for treason. Horner has been skeptical of the accusations, and after the base is assaulted by feral zerg, Horner asks Nova to aid them. Nova agrees, and with her aid the terran base is able to survive until a fleet of terran ships arrives. The arriving terran fleet is not, however, the Terran Dominion fleet showing up to save them as they had expected; it is the Defenders of Man fleet.[6]

Matt and Nova escape and meet up with Emperor Valerian Mengsk. Valerian meets with Nova, and gives her a new command ship, as well as her own Covert Ops Crew. He also puts a new weapons and technology specialist, Reigel, under her command, who attempts to reactivate the memories she had lost while working for the Defenders of Man. The device shows her the ruins of her home Tarsonis. Nova, Reigel and her Covert Ops Crew head to Tarsonis. After securing the perimeter, Nova infiltrates the Defenders of Man base. The Defenders of Man notice her, and activate a psi emitter in their own base. Nova continues further, and discovers that the Defenders of Man were luring zerg to civilian worlds to discredit Emperor Valerian Mengsk, and are now planning to have a civilian world destroyed to prove the new regime's weakness.[7]

Chapter II

Arriving at the planet, Nova's forces encounter the Zerg. They also encounter the Tal'darim, who are attacking the Defenders of Man on the planet. Nova repels the alien presence from the planet despite the high civilian casualties.[8] After the battle, Nova encounters Highlord Alarak of the Tal'darim. Alarak makes a deal with Nova, showing her the location of Terrazine gas, located on the planet Jarban Minor, which will be able to restore her memories.

On Jarban Minor, Nova comes into conflict again with the Tal'darim not under the command of Alarak. She manages to successfully retrieve Terrazine.[9] Using some of it, she realises that the planet of Antiga Prime is of importance. On Antiga Prime, she discovers that she was used unwittingly to facilitate a Zerg invasion of the planet, overruning it. She learns that the Defenders of Man is led by Dominion general Carolina Davis.[10] Valerian abdicates as Emperor of the Dominion.

Chapter III

Valerian surreptitiously forms a plan to apprehend Davis with Nova, using his abdication as a bait. Davis is captured and most of the Defenders of Man rejoin the Dominion, but the Tal'darim attacks. The Dominion forces defeat the attacking Tal'darim fleet, but Davis escapes. Nova tracks her down to a space station, cornering her. Against orders Nova executes Davis. Nova and the crew of the Griffin including Reigel go rogue, pledging to assist the Dominion. Valerian allows them to leave, as the alien attacks cease.

Development

The writer of Legacy of the Void, James Waugh, serves as the story director for Covert Ops. Valerie Watrous, a co-writer on Legacy of the Void, serves as the primary writer of Covert Ops. Covert Ops is intended to demonstrate Blizzard's transition into releasing more frequent content.[11]

Reception

The first and second mission packs have had a generally mixed reaction. IGN noted that the story of the first two-mission packs felt poorly executed and the length too short.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ "GS News Update: Blizzard Say Warcraft 4 And StarCraft 3 Development "Depends On the Players"".
  2. ^ "Nova Covert Ops".
  3. ^ "Third and final mission for pack StarCraft 2's Nova Covert Ops due November 22". PC Gamer.
  4. ^ "Patch 3.2 Preview: Nova Covert Ops - Mission Pack 1". Blizzard Entertainment.
  5. ^ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II (PC). Level/area: Nova: Covert Ops, mission 1: "The Escape".
  6. ^ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II (PC). Level/area: Nova: Covert Ops, mission 2: "Sudden Strike".
  7. ^ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II (PC). Level/area: Nova: Covert Ops, mission 3: "Enemy Intelligence".
  8. ^ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II (PC). Level/area: Nova: Covert Ops, mission 4: "Trouble in Paradise".
  9. ^ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II (PC). Level/area: Nova: Covert Ops, mission 5: "Night Terrors".
  10. ^ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II (PC). Level/area: Nova: Covert Ops, mission 6: "Flashpoint".
  11. ^ Megan Farokhmanesh (November 6, 2015). "StarCraft: The past, present and future". Polygon. Retrieved October 5, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ TJ Hafer (April 5, 2016). "StarCraft 2: Nova Covert Ops Mission Pack 1 Review". IGN. Retrieved October 5, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ TJ Hafer (April 5, 2016). "StarCraft 2: Nova Covert Ops Mission Pack 2 Review". IGN. Retrieved August 4, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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