StarCraft II fans have a little under a month to go before the release of the first expansion for the real-time-strategy title. Â Heart of the Swarm will see a number of new features added to the game. Â New units, new social features, and of course the continuation of the StarCraft II storyline. Â Blizzard has been relaying the details in a number of developer diaries explaining the new features, and this latest one tackles the new multiplayer and esports features of the game.
Group Replays – StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm will allow players to watch replays with a group. Â A new “Watch with Others” button has been added to the interface in the replays section of the SC2 UI, which opens a lobby that other players can be invited to and watch the replay. Â The host of the lobby can direct the video’s speed and timeline.
Alongside the group replay features, players will also be able to jump into a game and control the action during a reply with a new feature called “Take Command”
Take Command – Will allow you to take over a game from any point in a replay. Â This can be used to test different strategies, see what could have worked in a given scenario, and coutless other possible uses.
Heart of the Swarm will also feature a game recovery feature that will basically allow matches to be recovered from any spot, in the event that a technical difficulty causes the match to drop. Â This functionality is also used out of the replay lobby.
Finally, a new observer mode will allow those spectating StarCraft II matches to use a number of different tools to deliver all of the in-game statistics to a tidy user interface. Â You can see the full map, unit locations, and stats like economy, technology, and army to see all of the action unfolding.
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm will be available on March 12th.
