Stormgate hopes to build on the foundations of the RTS genre that essentially pioneered the concept of eSports: StarCraft. Right from the outset, the similarities are quite obvious. Stormgate features an emphasis on asymmetric gameplay thanks to its three playable factions that all make use of wildly different play styles. Even the design of these factions have parallels to their counterparts in StarCraft, with the Vanguard playing a bit like the Terrans, the Infernal Hosts playing like the Zerg, and the Celestial Armada playing like the Protoss. While, on the surface, these similarities might make one think that Stormgate is simply copying StarCraft’s homework, looking deeper into the game and its various mechanics show that the new strategy game does enough differently from it to make things more interesting.

Before we get into the meat of the game, however, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Stormgate has an art style that can, at best, be described as divisive. While some players won’t mind it too much, since the simplistic art style actually helps quite a bit from a pure gameplay perspective, allowing for players to understand what’s happening on the screen despite 50 units duking it out against each other and using all of their abilities, many players may instead think it might be too simplistic and cartoony, especially for a modern game released in 2024. I personally stand on the side of mostly liking the visuals, with a few caveats.

While the game tends to look rather excellent and easy to understand in regular gameplay, the campaign is where the art style’s shortcomings become clear. Since the campaign features specific characters, complete with names and histories, they obviously have unique models to represent them and their nemesis throughout the story. These models look rather rough, and it’s obvious that some more work will have to be done to make sure that important characters from the game’s universe don’t look like melted plastic action figures. On the flip side, the art style tends to match the game perfectly, and once you figure out all of the playable factions and their units, you don’t really have to look at a battle more than once to understand what’s happening.

"Stormgate has an art style that can, at best, be described as divisive."

The game features a few different modes, namely campaign, co-op, and skirmish. While the campaign is fairly limited at launch, with three levels that serve as the prologue and three more that serve as the first act for the overall story, the meat of the game undoubtedly lies in the skirmish mode. Stormgate offers a variety of ways to play: 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3, with each mode having its own matchmaking pool. The game also features AI opponents that come in 3 distinct difficulties: “Peaceful”, “Basic”, and “Practice”. Despite its name, Practice probably features the most difficult AI out of the three but as you spend more time with the game, the mode is not very challenging after all. Sure, it might start things off with a bang and manage to be challenging for you quite early on, the Practice AI wants players to to be more proactive in researching technologies and focusing on defensive structures in its base. However, I was able to beat it quite decisively once I got the hang of how my faction is supposed to function.

That isn’t to say that Stormgate is an easy game. There’s definitely a learning curve here, and that curve will undoubtedly be steeper for players that don’t have experience with games like StarCraft. The pace of gameplay is generally quite fast, and you’ll often have to keep several different things on your mind all the time to make sure that you’re spending the resources you’re gathering on building a bigger army, while also making sure to build new bases to get an even faster flow of resources, while also managing small skirmishes so that you can keep your opponent at bay.

Interestingly, in an attempt to help out players new to multiplayer RTS, Stormgate also features a “Buddy AI”, which is there to help you out. This Buddy AI will operate the same base as you do, occasionally making some extra buildings, researching technologies or making sure you don’t have to worry about hitting population limits. While interesting in concept, I personally found the Buddy AI fairly annoying, since it liked using up resources I was saving for specific technologies on unnecessary buildings like sentry towers inside the base. The potential for the Buddy AI is pretty great, and it seems like a step towards introducing more players to the genre.

"The pace of gameplay is generally quite fast, and you’ll often have to keep several different things on your mind all the time"

The game’s campaign also works well as a tutorial of sorts, since it gradually introduces mechanics and units for you to play around with over the course of the prologue. The first chapter, while not exactly a tutorial, still keeps some of the guardrails in place so that players can gradually learn about the Vanguard faction. Unfortunately, the Infernal Legion and Celestial Armada factions don’t yet have their own campaigns, and players hoping to learn how to play those factions will have to hop into some skirmishes against AI or other players and slowly figure things out.

While it’s an early access title, Stormgate feels like it’s off to an interesting start. While its art style is incredibly divisive, some players may outright hate the colorful and cartoony look, its visuals help quite a bit in making sure there is a clarity to even the most chaotic battles. Each of the three playable factions offers quite a bit of depth, with their own unique mechanics, units, and technologies to research. Most interestingly, however, Stormgate also offers a way for newcomers to the genre to enjoy themselves even in online matches, thanks to the Buddy AI. While things might still be a bit rough, especially some of the character models in the game’s campaign, there will undoubtedly be plenty of work done on the game to smoothen its rougher edges.

While it isn’t exactly there quite yet, Stormgate is one of the more exciting strategy games for fans of genre classics like StarCraft. There is an emphasis on fast-paced tactical gameplay that isn’t really matched by many other titles out there right now, and that’s a niche that Stormgate, with a few updates along the way, can easily fill.

This game was reviewed on PC.

After introducing another faction – the Celestial Armada – with a new trailer, Frost Giant Studios revealed further details on the game in an interview video with several members of the development team, talking about the studio’s plans and hopes with its early access launch, the game’s core gameplay foundation, and more. According to Frost Giant, Stormgate is very much being designed as a Blizzard-style RTS, while emphasis is also being placed on high-speed gameplay with little to no downtime.

Meanwhile, Frost Giant Studios has also announced that Stormgate will launch in early access for PC on August 30. Though it’s free-to-play, players can also pre-purchase a bundle that will give you access to he game a month ahead of its early access release, on July 30.

Some of the gameplay shown off in the tutorial also showcases the game’s co-op mode, which has players teaming up with their friends in order to stop an onslaught of enemies.

Stormgate recently launched its Kickstarter campaign in an effort to get enough backing for a physical release of the game. The Kickstarter proved to be incredibly successful, smashing past its initial funding goal in a matter of minutes. At the time of writing, the campaign currently sits at $1.1 million pledged, with 55 more days to go.

The game was announced all the way back in 2022. Much like its major inspiration in StarCraft, Stormgate will feature asymmetrical factions as part of its story as well as multiplayer modes.

Goals for the campaign were met incredibly early. According to PC Gamer, the campaign’s initial funding goals were hit in just 15 minutes of the Kickstarter going live.

While development on Stormgate has been going on for a while—the title was originally announced all the way back in 2022—the goal of the Kickstarter campaign is more to help the studio release a Collector’s Edition for Stormgate. The studio has also stated that, with the large number of players requesting beta access for the game, it needs additional funding for the multiplayer infrastructure for a large playerbase.

Stormgate got a trailer earlier this year showcasing one of its asymmetrical factions—the Infernal Host. The game will be free-to-play when it releases, and will feature a host of content for single-player, co-op, as well as competitive players, including options for 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 competitive modes.

The video shows off how differently the Infernal Host will play when compared to mechs. Stormgate will place quite a bit of emphasis on the asymmetry of its factions in the vein of classic RTSes like StarCraft.

Stormgate will be a free-to-play real-time strategy game with an emphasis on social play. Every game mode in the title will be playable with friends, including the campaign.

The last time we heard of Stormgate was back when the studio had released a trailer showing off the title’s pre-alpha gameplay. The trailer showed off units like the Scout—a robot dog that acts as a scout that can detect units.

Previously, Frost Giant CEO Tim Morten has spoken about the studio’s choice of engine for developing Stormgate being Unreal Engine 5.

It also displayed the Lightforest, which conceals light units and is impassable by heavy units. However, develop some mechs (which can be dropped onto the battlefield with air units), and they’ll bust through the trees. Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as Frost Giant plans to reveal more modes, including team-based competitive play and three-player co-op vs AI.

New factions beyond the humans showcased, details on Story Mode, and more are also coming later this year. A closed beta is taking place in July, so interested participants are advised to wishlist the game on Steam and go to its official website to sign up.

Ravenlok

Cococucumber’s Ravenlok is the third title in its Voxel Trilogy – an action RPG set in a fantasy world reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. You’ll explore various realms, battle different monsters and bosses, complete quests, and discover new weapons and skills, all to defeat the Caterpillar Queen. It sounds straightforward but thus far, the visuals and gameplay look pretty compelling. Ravenlok is out in 2023 for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC along with Xbox Game Pass.

Stormgate is being described as taking place in a post-apocalyptic setting that mixes sci-fi elements with fantasy. The story takes place hundreds of years in the future after a calamity that almost caused humanity to go extinct. The calamity was caused by one of the playable races—the Infernal Horde.

The story will be told through a series of campaign missions that can be played solo as well as co-op with a friend. New chapters will be released over time, alongside new units, maps, and modes.

Stormgate is also set to have an emphasis on competitive multiplayer. Frost Giant is stating that it is going for a grassroots approach to esports, accessible from directly in the game. It will feature different leagues, suitable for all skill levels.

There will also be a 3-player co-op vs. AI mode where players level up heroes, collect rewards, and customise their forces to change up gameplay in the mode.

While Stormgate will be free-to-play, Frost Giant is making a definitive statement by saying that the game will not feature pay-to-win elements, nor will it feature any NFTs.

Frost Giant CEO Tim Morten spoke further about the game during the event. “It is classical strategy, but designed to be more social,” said Morten.

In keeping with the social aspect, Stormgate will feature different game modes for different kinds of players who prefer different types of gameplay.

Morten speaks about how RTSes are one of the only genres where hundreds, sometimes thousands, of units have to be shown on screen at the same time, completely synchronised between all the players in a match. Stormgate is making use of Unreal Engine 5 as its engine, with modifications made to support the large number of units.

Stormgate doesn’t yet have a release date, but it will be getting a beta in 2023. Those interested can sign up on the official website.

Stormgate’s cinematic trailer very clearly shows the StarCraft vibes, from the space-faring science-fantasy setting to the visual aesthetic and more. The trailer reveals two of the several playable factions in the game- the Human Resistance, and the demon-like Infernal Horde.

Stormgate will offer a full-fledged campaign that can also be played co-op by up to three players, as well as competitive multiplayer offerings, which, of course, will also include 1v1 multiplayer. Interestingly, it’s also been confirmed that the game is going to be free-to-play- though the developer ensures there won’t be any pay-to-win monetizations or NFTs, so you can breathe easy on that front.

Stormgate is in development for PC, and a beta is coming next year.