Drizzled veteran
Stormgateis a confusing proposition.
It’s an RTS directed by former Blizzard developers that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlikeStarCraft.
Do you want to be dead at 35?"
Well, I’m 36 now mum.
So who’s laughing through their heart palpitations now?
The most confusing thing about Stormgate, however, is that there’s a potentially interestingstrategy gamehere.
Unfortunately, the first way is, currently, the worst way.
The trouble is none of it is particularly compelling.
This dull wrapper contains some passable but unremarkable RTS missions.
All of which is fine, but nothing I haven’t seen in a thousand RTS' before.
Base construction, for example, is slick and satisfying, with pleasing animations for assembling structures.
Combat is flashy but lacks heft, especially when larger units duke it out.
Anything else is heresy.
To play the remaining three missions of the campaign costs nine pounds.
Had the previous three missions been rip-roaring entertainment, I might have been tempted.
But they weren’t, so I wasn’t.
It was here I discovered Stormgate at its most interesting.
Of the two, the Infernals are my favourite faction.
Frost Giant has clearly thought hard about how to make them feel properly demonic.
For starters, they don’t build structures, they sacrifice meat to literally raise them from hell.
Each building you “construct” opens a yawning fissure in the ground from which your structure eventually rises.
Likewise, you don’t really “recruit” units.
Each unit bang out automatically generates a charges over time.
Once a single charge is full, you might summon that unit instantly onto the battlefield.
Playing as the Infernals brings back fond memories of being a horrible little git to fantasy heroes inDungeon Keeper.
It’s a feeling that’s enhanced by the creative demon types.
They’re slower to put together an army than the Infernals, with a heavy emphasis on aerial units.
I should stress that this is a very, very basic introduction to these factions.
At present, Stormgate is a potentially good game that makes a poor first impression.
All that said, I don’t think it’s a game anybody should write off.
Behind its blandifying art style is a very tactically chewy strategy game.
