StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Goes On Sale Today
It's finally here!
It's been two years and seven months since StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was released. That's 959 days since we saw the release of the first new StarCraft game in a decade. Now, just over two and a half years later, we're celebrating the launch of the second title in the StarCraft II trilogy.
Dubbed StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, the game is an expansion pack for Wings of Liberty and is hitting shelves today. With 20 missions, Heart of the Swarm includes seven new multiplayer units from Wings of Liberty, as well as a continuing campaign focusing on the Zerg.
As an expansion pack, the price for Heart of the Swarm is slightly lower than the price of Wings when it was announced. The Wings of Liberty collectors edition was priced at $99 at time of launch whereas the Heart of the Swarm Collector's Edition price is set at $79.99. The regular, non-Collector's Edition price is $39.99. The Collector's Edition includes a behind-the-scenes Blu-ray and DVD two disc making-of, the soundtrack, and a 144-page art book.
Just in case it wasn't clear, Heart of the Swarm does require Wings of Liberty to play. GameStop currently has WoL on sale for twenty bucks. Blizzard has not yet discussed a release schedule for Legacy of the Void, the second StarCraft II expansion.

It's not a DLC... It's an expansion.
It's not a DLC... It's an expansion.
using either wine or something else
They really did put enough content into Wings of Liberty to justify being called a full game, it is just a very disappointing design concept to not include campaigns for two of your three races in the first game; to expect your gamers to wait to play a story experience for the other other two in 'expansions.' I disagree with that route.
I loved the starcraft series. However to play devil's advocate, most of the original members of blizzard have gone away. Although this is a normal experience that the gaming industry will see, you also see that blizzard has been shifting its resources to provide the least amount of work with the highest return (IE: "Copy/Paste" game creation). I'd highly urge others in order to stop allowing themselves be duped into thinking their money is going to quality products when most indie titles have far more re playability.
Inside info (beta/alpha)? Or just from what they posted on their website? Any changes in specific compared to WOL that may make it more appealing?
It offers quite a bit more than your typical expansion pack, though I agree a lower price tag would've been preferred. For those who preordered it was pretty easy to pick up for $30, a price I find reasonable for the new content.
There's a long list of significant changes, though I can't speak from experience as I haven't had the chance to play it myself yet. There's a new UI, revamped engine, a slew of new multiplayer features (many of which have come to WOL as well), new units, a new ~30 mission campaign, etc. I've been watching the multiplayer beta evolve for the past couple months, and it's looking really good. It's too bad you won't be giving HOTS a chance (sounds like you didn't even really give WOL a chance), I think you're going to be missing out on a great RTS.
Semantics. What Blizzard calls an expansion is sold as a DLC for other games (BF, MW, SC2, etc) by companies aren't raping you (yet) for everything you have. Your paying near full price for a couple of levels and 6 extra characters, I buy new games cheaper than that.
I betcha the same people complaining about SimCity, D3, and A:CM buy this and complain. Writings on the wall.
edit: by SC2 I mean Supreme Commander not StarCraft, stupid mistake
You have absolutely no idea of what you are talking about. If you ever played any blizzard RTS expansion, you should know that they are the real game changers. SC:BW and W3:TFT both brought the original game to a new height.