Stormgate is a real-time strategy game (RTS – Real-time Strategy) developed by Frost Giant Studiosa studio founded by veterans of Blizzard Entertainmentwho are considered to bring success to the version Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void together Warcraft III: Frozen Throne ancient times.

Let's explore with MarkGame this game with a “heavy” mission through the following review!

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Traditional, solid and in-depth foundation

The core of Stormgate is a familiar yet streamlined gameplay platform, incorporating elements from both StarCraft II and Warcraft III. Players still perform basic tasks such as gathering resources (Luminite and Therium), building their military base, and creating armies to fight enemies.

Overall, the game is like a “brother” version of Starcraft and Warcraft Therefore, the game is so familiar to RTS fans of the above two game series that they do not need to read instructions or check keyboard shortcuts but can still command building houses, microphones or macros to control soldiers completely based on “muscle memory” – their control habits.

To make a difference, the game adds a number of map-based elements (or map objectives) such as neutral monster camps (creep camps) or more specifically, “Stormgate“, is also the name given as the game's brand.

Destroying monster camps or capturing Stormgate will bring random rewards such as resources or temporary support charms, soldiers with the ability to heal their soldiers, etc. This encourages players to try to control the map and create more small fights instead of just focusing on expanding the base and destroying the enemy economy as is the usual trend of modern RTS games today.

The core of Stormgate is a familiar yet streamlined gameplay platform, incorporating elements from both StarCraft II and Warcraft III

Unique faction design!

The biggest strength of Stormgate lies in the design of three completely different factions, each possessing unique core mechanics, requiring distinct playstyles. Similar to line Starcraft good Warcraft before.

• Human Vanguard: The main mechanism of this faction is “Veterancy”. Units that survive combat will level up, significantly increasing their strength. This encourages “conservation of force” play, focusing on careful micro-management to keep veteran units alive.

For example, a player may withdraw a leveled but severely injured Vulcan unit for repairs, as losing it means losing an experience investment that cannot be easily replaced. Vanguard has a build style and soldier color similar to that of Terran Starcraft II.

• Infernal Host: The mechanism of this faction revolves around “Shroud” (Dark Mist) and “Production Charges”. Troop production buildings can store up to three “turns” of production, allowing the player to summon multiple units at once almost instantly.

Infernal is similar to Zerg in the game series Starcraftbut has more diverse gameplay. This faction's army is both aggressive and large, and when placed on the “shroud” home field, it is also supported with extra health and the ability to use magic to defend and attack the opponent's base.

However, Infernal is not suitable for those who are just starting to play Stormgateespecially this faction requires both macro and micro abilities of the player to be able to determine the most effective magic.

• Celestial Armada: This faction has a unique nomadic gameplay style, revolving around a flying main building called the “Arcship” and a “Power” system instead of limited troops or a traditional main base. Arcship can fly anywhere on the map to establish a zone of influence, allowing “teleportation” of structures from orbit down.

This is also the only faction that has 300 supplies right from the game without having to build additional supply houses like the other two factions.

Celestial players can fly the Arcship to a hidden corner of the map and set up a secret troop production base, creating units right behind the enemy – a tactic that the other two factions cannot implement. Developing more bases gives this “nomad” faction more advantages in battle.

The biggest strength of Stormgate lies in the design of three completely different factions, each possessing unique core mechanics, requiring distinct playstyles.

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Identity crisis, no color of its own

Overall, Stormgate has a creative gameplay, with three distinct and evocative factions, worthy of being an RTS title worth playing and cherishing. However, all three of these factions remind players too much of the three very familiar races in the RTS world, especially those who have played the series. Starcraft. Vanguard, Infernao, Celestial have similar colors, play styles, and art styles to Terran, Zerg, and Protoss.

The fact that the game's graphics are “animated” further “trivializes” the game, causing it to be compared by some players to a mobile game, “copycat”. Starcraft IInot suitable for the serious atmosphere of a fight in an RTS game.

Character models are also difficult to distinguish from each other, especially the units of the Vanguard and Inferno factions, negatively affecting battles, making it difficult for players to “read” the match, when character models and visual effects are mixed together in large battles.

In addition, some military units in the game are similar to the units in the game Starcraft IIfor example, Exo (Vanguard), which is almost identical to the Marines of the Terran faction, or ATLAS (Vanguard) is like the “brother” of Siege Tank (Terran) in Starcraft. Additionally, the initial design of the Brute (Inferno) unit is similar to the two-headed Ogre unit in Warcraft III

The “animated” graphics of the game further “trivialize” the game, causing it to be compared by some players to a mobile game, “copycat”. Starcraft II

A few other shortcomings

As a game that just “escaped” Early Access, Stormgate Many technical problems exist. The community continuously reports game crashes, lost connections, pathfinding errors, and the most serious is “dropped inputs”, when the player's commands are not recognized or delayed by the game. You will feel extremely uncomfortable when you have ordered your “farmer” to build a house, but a second later you haven't seen it… start building.

In addition, the game's campaign part is “shredded” into many parts. When you buy the Basic version of the game, you only get to play a small part of the campaign and only when you buy the DLC or Ultimate Edition will you truly enjoy the main campaign, with 12 parts for the Vanguard faction.

In addition, you also have to pay extra to buy champions for Co-op or 3v3 play. However, to find current 3v3 or Co-op matches online is almost impossible when the game only has… a few hundred players at the same time in a week and this number is decreasing day by day according to the Steam page's statistics.

The community continuously reports game crashes, lost connections, pathfinding errors, and the most serious is “dropped inputs”, when player commands are not recognized or delayed by the game.