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Dustin Browder, lead game designer

The first thing I can say about both of these interviews is that the interviewees, Dustin Browder and Samwise Didier, seem far more calm and prepared than the interviewer, Gamespot Editor in Chief, Ricardo Torres, still, that doesn't detract from the information you get out of Browder's and Didier's answers.

Browder starts off the short four minute interview by naming a few of the Zerg units that he thought were especially impressive, the Queen, the Roach, the Corrupter and the Ultralisk.

The Ultralisk is an old unit with some new tricks like burrowing and an AoE claw attack, while the Corrupter Roach and Queen are entirely new creations. Browder did mention that the Queen is basically "the ultimate in Zerg base defense ability" and from what I've seen in the gameplay videos and read all over the internet, he's absolutely correct. The Queen will involve a lot of micromanaging and basically will take the place of a lot the Zerg's old base defense abilities like the Sunken Colony.

While Browder doesn't have a favorite race, his two favorite units at this point are the new Zerg Queen and the Zerg Baneling. The Queen adds a whole new aspect to the Zerg that Dustin appreciates, while Banelings are basically suicide bombers that give him a good chuckle when he can burrow them and set surprise traps on his enemies.

Other additions to the game that have really made an impression on Browder are the doodads that now block choke points, the way cliffs block line of sight and the Xel'Naga Observation Towers. All of these new game mechanics are simple enough, Browder said, but they add all new dimensions to the game that change gamers' strategies and the way they play the game.

Kerrigan was touched on briefly during the interview and we know for sure that she will not be playable in multiplayer and will remain only as a character in the single player campaigns. The reason for this is because Kerrigan is essentially the "ultimate I win button of any multiplayer match," Browder said. Obviously this would create an imbalance and so I for one appreciate that she'll be left out of multiplayer.

It seems to me like the artists at Blizzard and the game designers have a really great relationship and that's one of the main reasons Blizzard is able to put out award winning title after award winning title. There are times when artists come up with ideas and hand them to the design team who is responsible for turning it into a playable game mechanic. However, there are also times when the design team will design an awesome game mechanic and then hand that idea to the artists who then flesh out the artwork to bring that mechanic to life. Browder's example of Blizzard's teamwork gives the public an excellent glimpse into why their titles are always top notch.

One difficulty Browder mentioned that Didier also touches on is walking the thin line between having the game art look fantastic and balancing how many units are on screen. The development team wants the game to look as good as possible but, sometimes when there are too many outstanding looking units on the screen at once it can confuse and overwhelm the player's eye. Striking a balance between the two will certainly be a big part of Blizzard's balance phase later this year.

At the end of the interview Torres shamelessly and hopelessly tries to pry a release date from Browder but, of course all he got for his efforts was, "when it's ready."

All-in-all not a lot of new information but a nice inside look at the lead game designer for StarCraft II. Die hard fans, if you're bored and want to be entertained for the next four minutes you'll want to watch the video below. Everyone else, you probably didn't even make it to the end of this blog and if you did, good for you but, you probably don't want to waste four minutes of your life watching this video.

Check out Samwise Didier's interview with Ricardo Torres here.

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