'Starcraft II' can now be played for free, sans expansions
Blizzard is giving away the popular real-time strategy game "Starcraft II" for free.
After seven years, the critically-acclaimed video game can now be experienced at no cost. Granted, free-to-play users will not be treated to the full "Starcraft II" experience, but it is as good a place to start as any.
According to a news post by "Starcraft II" developers Blizzard Entertainment, free players can play through the complete Wings of Liberty single-player campaign. They can also participate in the ranked multiplayer ladder, albeit they need to achieve 10 "First Wins of the Day" quests first.
Of course, there are some limitations. For instance, free players' heroes are limited only to level five until they are purchased. The exceptions to this limitation are Raynor, Kerrigan, and Artanis, which players can level-up as much as they want.
Should players decide that they want to experience Heart of the Swarm, Legacy of the Void, and Nova Covert Ops, they have the option of purchasing said expansions. These expansions will cost the players $14.99 each, or they can shell out $39.99 for a bundle containing all three.
However, for those who have owned or purchased the base game before Oct. 31, there is a way to get Heart of the Swarm for free. All that needs to be done is to log in to Battle.net any time from Nov. 8 to Dec. 8 and there will be a notification saying that they can get a free digital copy of Heart of the Swarm.
However, for those who just want to try out the free version of the base game first, Death Rattle Sports compiled some simple directions. The steps are the same for both Mac and Windows users.
Basically, one needs a Battle.net account and the desktop client which can be downloaded from their official website. Once logged in, the client will have a landing page for "Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty" and from there, players can click the Play for Free button.
After picking the correct operating system, download and installation will be initiated. This will take quite some time as the game can take more than 20 GB of HDD space.
