Seoul, South Korea - Almost one year ago Blizzard officially announced a second installment to the very popular Starcraft series. For several years, fans have been looking for a long awaited sequel and now they have been given the reassurance of knowing this game is under development.

Back at BlizzCon 2007, the game was made first playable. However, only protoss and terran were available to play, not zerg.

On March 9th 2008 in South Korea, where Starcraft II was announced, Blizzard has also made the decision to announce the zerg race. Since the announcement, many fans have been left in the dark as to what the zerg race would include.

Several Blizzard developers, professional gamers, and press were on-hand to see the first glimpses of the new race in action.

Confirmed Zerg Units

Returning:

Drone - This is heart and soul of the whole zerg economy whose duty is to mine both minerals and gas. This unit will most likely have very similar roles as it did in the original Starcraft by having the duty of creating structures as well.

Overlord - This units main role will be the same as it was in the original. There are rumors that the overlord may have the ability to attack, but there are not many details as to how or the kind of damage it will cause. There is also speculation that initially the overlord will not be able to see hidden units until it is evolved into an Overseer.

Zergling - This swift, relatively inexpensive unit that we have all grown up to either love or hate. They will make their return with rather similar characteristics as they did in the original.

Hydralisk - The main ranged unit of the zerg will make its glorious return with a new look. They are now larger and much more fearsome looking if you compare the model with the original. Not all that much is known about this unit, but some are speculating that this unit will have both a ranged and melee attack.

Lurker - The evolved form of the Hydralisk who will most likely be able to only attack while burrowed. The difference is that they may very well be able to be attacked without a detector.

Mutalisk - The main force in the air for the zerg will be making their return. According to reports, they will act much like they did in the original, with the ability to evolve into a Swarm Guardian.

Ultralisk - The already massive melee force of the zerg arsenal is now even bigger and better. They are now equipped with even more blades which might very well be used to attack multiple units instead of just one. Another feature that has also been added is the ability to burrow and walk over Zerglings without delay.

Queen - While this unit shares the same name, it will have very different abilities than the original. Only one of these units can be created at a time much like the protoss Mothership. This unit will have the ability to expand creep, control base defenses, lay eggs, and take advantage of many other spells that will be available.

Infested Terran - This unit will be produced from an infested terran building, but work very differently than the original. This unit will no longer immediately die when it comes in contact with its enemies. They will now work very similar to a standard terran Marine except it will move slightly slower.

New Additions:

Baneling - The evolved form of the zergling. This unit was first viewed around the time that the game was officially announced, but not much was really known about it. According to reports, this unit will work much like the scourge or infested terran in the original.

Roach - This new, fast moving melee unit with the ability to regenerate hit points. It will require heavy amounts of focus fire to destroy quickly.

Infester - This can be best compared to having the original spells of the defiler and queen. This unit will be given the ability to use dark swarm and infest terran buildings (only the barracks and command center are confirmed to be able to be infested). A new characteristic of this unit is the ability to still move while buried underground.

Corrupter - The new air-to-air combat force of the zerg army. Instead of standard attacks this unit has been given the unique ability to infest their enemies units and turn them into their allies.

Nydus Worm - This unit will be given the role of transporting zerg units to and from different places on the maps. They will have the opportunity to bypass cliffs and various other obstacles on map.

Overseer - The evolved form of the overlord. This unit can see further than the standard overlord and is rumored to be able to detect hidden units.

Swarm Guardian - This unit is an enhanced version of the original Guardian which is evolved from a Mutalisk. This unit will have longer range and the ability to spawn Broodlings.

LINKS: Starcraft II | SCLegacy | TeamLiquid