Blizzard Entertainment grabbed April Fool’s Day by the horns and rode with it on Tuesday, April 1, announcing the side-scroller beat-em-up Outcasts: Vengeance of the Vanquished and renaming the title of the third installment to StarCraft II from Legacy of the Void to “ Herald of the Stars ”.
Outcasts: Vengeance of the Vanquished is a humorous concept where unsung characters from the various Blizzard games come together for a brawl, featuring various tricks to out do your opponent, such as paying a price to have Outcasts’ matchmaker put you up against someone who will have no chance of winning against you, and the option to swiper your credit card for more health.
Featuring such beloved characters such as Arcturus Mengsk, Deckard Cain, Treasure Goblin, Gamon and the battlecruiser from StarCraft II , you and your opponent will be able to duke it out across various stages of scenes from Blizzard’s games, such as Tristram, the bridge of the Hyperion, the Arboretum and much more.
What’s more, a dedicated fightstick has been produced in limited quantities for the game. Featuring an ergonomic design of a spiked stick, 32 buttons, a coffee tray and a credit card slot, Outcasts: Vengeance of the Vanquished’s peripheral keeps you up to speed with your in-game purchases and character buffs, and scaring your opponents and your house guests with the fact that you’ll be gripping a spiked joystick.
Herald of the Stars will feature a “revolutionary non-linear campaign,” which will be able to be played backwards or forwards at your decision. New weapons, new units, new armors, Herald of the Stars will come included with a number of new customisation options, including hairstyles for Protoss Stalkers and be able to change the color of lasers from a grand total of 10 different shades of blue. What’s more, there’s even a dance editor.
Also, in vein of the recent Twitch Plays Pokémon phenomena, you and your Twitcher viewers will decide if Artanis saves the multiverses.
As to why Blizzard changed the name, it was because–after some research–the players who play the studio’s games have a love for the HotS acronym. With the success of titles such as Heart of the Swarm , Heroes of the Storm , Hearth (of the) Storm , Blizzard has responded to this fan-favourite and thusly renamed Legacy of the Void to Herald of the Storm .
“ Developing the StarCraft II franchise puts a lot of responsibility on us at Blizzard, ” said fictional senior game producer Hony Tsu. “ There were many creative hurdles between Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void , and we just love the acronym HotS . We’ve spent so many hours of time searching for names in the past. In fact, more than half of the time we spend in development is on hair-brained, outlandish, theory-crafted suggestions from random co-workers.
With Herald of the Stars , our team saves not only frustration and time, but we get to hold on to superior acronyms. It’s hard, on the spot data that can’t be contested. HotS is like a … hug of the soul. HotS will hugely overhaul the sacred naming conventions of our games. I just realized that thanks to my name – Hony Tsu – my e-mail address is [email protected]. That just makes heaps of total sense. ”
Speaking of HotS , a new spotlight video for Heroes of the Storm was released last Friday, March 28, showcasing Tyrael, the Archangel of Justice.
Source: Blizzard.com / Battle.net .