StarCraft (1998) wasn’t the first real-time strategy (RTS) game, but many would argue it was the most important. From the release of StarCraft to the eventual release of StarCraft II in 2010, the franchise dominated the RTS genre for almost two decades. However, it has been over a decade since StarCraft II was released and many years since any new content has been added to the game. This is where Stormgate will hopefully fill the void for players looking for another StarCraft-type RTS game.
Stormgate is a real-time strategy game developed and published by Frost Giant Studios. So why all the mention of StarCraft? Well, Frost Giant Studios is composed of former StarCraft developers, and they don’t shy away from this, as they know the audience they are looking for. Walking into my appointment at Summer Game Fest, they had an old-school StarCraft Battle Chest on the table for everyone to see.
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This is not to say Frost Giant Studios is trying to just remake StarCraft with Stormgate. However, this is something they are aware of. Frost Giant Studios, along with trying to refresh the genre, is trying to make the real-time strategy genre more accessible to players. The real-time strategy genre can be intimidating for some players, so making Stormgate approachable and accessible to new players was a focus for them.
One of the main ways Stormgate hopes to accomplish this is with a player-assist tool called “BuddyBot.” BuddyBot is an optional tool that will automate aspects of a player’s game. This ranges from maintaining workers to building bases to researching items and/or abilities. The good news is that BuddyBot is not all or nothing, as players can check what they would like to have help with and what they wouldn’t like to have help with.
Talking with the Frost Giant developers, they wanted to approach this as training wheels for progression. Players starting out could have all of them selected, and as they get better and more comfortable with the game, they slowly uncheck the items until they are comfortable with no BuddyBot at all. Of course, players are able to keep using BuddyBot for as long as they desire.
The second big part of making the game accessible and approachable was implementing what Frost Giant calls the “Quick Macro Panel.” This panel allows players to access any building to build and/or maintain their units at all times without finding a specific building or unit. It really allows players to focus on other things without having to search through their base to upgrade that specific ability.
There will be three factions: the Human Vanguard, Infernal Host, and Celestial Armada. The first two play like traditional factions that have been seen in plenty of RTS games over the years. Frost Giant wanted, however, to make something unique and special with the Celestial Armada.
The Celestial Armada is the a cosmic race that uses advanced technology build it’s buildings and armies. Celestials are unique in a few ways with the two main ones being they have no set base as their command center is essentially a flying structure called the Arcship that can move anywhere and since they have no set command center the Celestials also have no workers.
This allows them to expand and move throughout the map relatively quickly. All their structures require power, and thus, they start with max supply, but they are limited to how much power players can generate. Another limitation to the Celestials is that all their buildings must be built within a Cascade Field that works almost like a power grid.
All these mechanics lead to some very interesting gameplay and unique playstyles. The mobility of the Celestial is key, and having to constantly be moving and expanding will take players quite a while to get used to. Frost Giant devs told us Celestial is unlike anything we have ever played before in an RTS, and honestly, after playing with them, they were not wrong. It will have its advantages over the other races, but it will take lots of practice to master their play style.
Stormgate, at its core, is a competitive RTS that embodies the genre that players have come to know and love. Only time will tell if Stormgate lives up to previous games it wishes to inspire to be, however the game is shaping up to be a game that RTS fans should be on the look out and excited for.
Stormgate will launch into Early Access on August 13, 2024.
