Stormgate: We need a new definition of 'generic'

Frost Giant Studios, founded by former Blizzard Entertainment developers, promised to bring back the golden era of real-time strategy (RTS) games with their latest title, Stormgate. Yet, despite the high expectations and the team's pedigree, the game has fallen short, leaving players more nostalgic for the past than excited about the future.

Generic Gameplay and Unoriginal Factions

From the outset, Stormgate makes no attempt to hide its inspiration, borrowing heavily from iconic Blizzard titles like StarCraft and Warcraft III. The game features three factions: the Vanguard, Infernal Host, and Celestial Armada. Unfortunately, these factions are little more than thinly veiled copies of StarCraft's Terran, Zerg, and Protoss, offering nothing new or innovative. The gameplay itself is a familiar mix of base building and resource management but lacks the polish and creativity that once defined the genre.

The character design further detracts from the experience, with visuals that seem to draw more from games like Paladins but with lighting that feels amateurish, as if done by a fresh graduate who just finished a Udemy tutorial. This lack of professional finesse only reinforces the game's overall generic feel, making it difficult to distinguish Stormgate from countless other uninspired titles in the RTS genre.

The campaign is similarly disappointing, with a story that attempts to draw players in with a mix of sci-fi and fantasy elements but ultimately feels like a poor rehash of stories we've heard before. The narrative is so predictable that it becomes a game within a game to guess which old Blizzard plot point will be rehashed next.

Underwhelming Performance on Gaming PC Hardware

Perhaps the most glaring issue is the game's poor performance, even on high-end systems. In our tests, Stormgate was run on a rig featuring a Ryzen 9 5950X CPU, 64GB of RAM, and an AMD Radeon 7800XT 16GB GPU. Despite this powerful setup, the game struggled to maintain a frame rate above 100fps. To add insult to injury, the game's visuals are underwhelming, looking worse than StarCraft II maxed out, a title that was released in 2010 - yes, this was 14 years ago.

Bug-Riddled Early Access and Dubious Pricing

We also tested the early access version and encountered an endless list of issues, including glitches, sound bugs, pathing errors, stuttering, and frequent frame drops. Nowadays, it seems that anyone can slap the labels "early access" and "alpha" on a product as an excuse for a subpar experience. However, charging up to €80 while excluding key features like co-op commanders from the base game is unacceptable. This pricing model, paired with the game's unfinished state, feels less like a legitimate early access and more like a cash grab.

High-Ranked Players Left Unimpressed

In an attempt to generate buzz, Frost Giant invited several high-ranking StarCraft II players to test Stormgate, including well-known figures like Won ‘PartinG’ Lee-sak from South Korea, Grzegorz ‘MaNa’ Komincz from Poland, Hu ‘MacSed’ Xiang from China, and Derek ‘TheoRy’ Travisano from the United States. Despite the involvement of these top players, the feedback has been mixed, with many expressing disappointment at how the game fails to innovate and instead clings too closely to past successes without delivering the same quality.

Failed Promises and Disappointing Execution

What stings the most for many fans is the unfulfilled promise of something better. Frost Giant Studios marketed Stormgate as a spiritual successor to StarCraft, claiming they would surpass their former employer, Blizzard. Instead, they delivered a product that feels like a second-rate imitation, lacking the innovation and finesse that made Blizzard's titles legendary. The game's current state, marred by bugs, uninspired design, and a lack of originality, suggests that Frost Giant still has a long way to go if they want to live up to their ambitious claims.

In conclusion, while Stormgate may appeal to hardcore RTS enthusiasts craving any semblance of the old Blizzard magic, it's hard to recommend the game in its current state. For casual players or those expecting a polished, groundbreaking experience, Stormgate is a stark reminder that even the most promising projects can fail to deliver.