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Honestly, the experience I had with Storm Gate these past few days was a bit beyond my expectations.

This is not only because I am an old player of "StarCraft 2" (hereinafter referred to as "StarCraft 2"), but the Frost Giant Studio that developed "Storm Gate" is almost entirely composed of "veterans" who participated in the "StarCraft 2" project. More importantly, in this era of decline of RTS games, there are still people who choose to go against the version and continue to choose this niche and hardcore category. This behavior itself is commendable.

In addition to the nostalgia, I was also surprised by the quality of Stormgate's gameplay. As a small studio that needs crowdfunding and is far smaller than Blizzard, Frost Giant not only built a complete gameplay framework for Stormgate, but also the actual experience of these gameplays is almost the same as StarCraft 2.

However, for the small-scale Frost Giant Studio, polishing the core gameplay layer by layer also means that they will give up focusing on other aspects of the game. This is not only a series of dissatisfaction caused by the strategy of "Stormgate" to split the game content and sell it, but also a negative review caused by the relatively "poor" art level. The expensive game cost and a not-so-good-looking "appearance" have become the biggest shortcomings of this game.

As a game still in the EA stage, these shortcomings of Storm Gate are not fatal. As long as the Frost Giants can take these problems seriously and solve them in the future, I believe this work will become a RTS game with great potential.

Like StarCraft 2, but not quite

From the moment the Storm Gate project was announced, it was not difficult to see the Frost Giant team's design idea: retain the core gameplay framework of StarCraft 2 while making modern adjustments to it.

Similar to StarCraft 2, the game modes of Stormgate are divided into three parts: campaign, PVE and PVP. The design of the campaign part basically continues the style of many RTS games such as Warcraft 3 and StarCraft 2. Players need to play a series of levels with different styles under the drive of the story, and in the process, they will continue to get familiar with the gameplay of different races and prepare for playing other core modes later.

Currently, Storm Gate only contains two chapters with six campaigns, all of which are stories about the Vanguard faction. However, the Frost Giants have also made it clear that they will continue to add campaign stories to subsequent chapters to make it more complete. In terms of plot, Storm Gate uses the classic "Idiot" template that players are familiar with.

The father of the protagonist Amara disappeared during the invasion of the "Ballan" 20 years ago. In order to stop the demon, Amara kept searching and finally found a powerful artifact. She used it to kill the demon. But at the same time, this artifact also made Amara fall into the quagmire of revenge and was eventually backfired by the artifact...

In terms of gameplay, the campaign of Storm Gate is also a basic reproduction of the in-game experience of the StarCraft 2 campaign. You can control Amara to be "unparalleled" in certain levels, or you can conduct a serious operation. At the same time, you can also experience classic scenes that have appeared in StarCraft 2, such as "defending the drill" and "grabbing the point to charge".

Although it cannot be directly equated with the campaign of StarCraft 2, but apart from the artistic performance, the current single-player levels of Storm Gate bring a classic RTS campaign experience very similar to StarCraft 2. It has everything an RTS campaign should have, which is enough. Because for an RTS game, PVP and PVE modes are the core gameplay.

As one of the earliest forms of RTS games, the core of PVP mode has always been only one, which is to defeat the opponent by various means. So in the PVP of Stormgate, what you need to do is similar to other RTS games: building troops, scouting, expansion, attack/defense.

It is worth mentioning that in the map design, the game has added some occupyable locations similar to "neutral camps". After defeating the defending wild monsters, players can occupy them and then gain different benefits such as vision, speed buff, resources, etc. However, despite some changes in map design, this will not affect the threshold and gameplay of the PVP mode. A lot of practice, quick response, appropriate tactics and operation processes are still the "basic skills" necessary to play the PVP mode well.

Another cooperative mode, which is derived from the game of the same name in StarCraft 2, also inherits the gameplay logic of StarCraft 2. Players need to choose a commander from different styles and cooperate with two other teammates to complete levels with different gameplays such as defense, advancement and even MOBA.

If you have ever experienced the cooperative mode of "StarCraft 2", then the cooperative mode of "Stormgate" will be almost no difficulty for you.

Whether it is the "Night of the Dead" where you attack during the day and defend at night, or the "Metals of Steel" where you need to advance and attack the enemy convoy at the same time, you can see the "re-engraved version" of these "StarCraft 2" cooperative levels in "Stormgate". At the same time, the enemy's attack prompts, the triggering of the map mechanism, and the combination of AI arms, the cooperative mode of "Stormgate" is almost a one-to-one carving from "StarCraft 2". As long as you are a little familiar with the construction and gameplay of each commander, old players can quickly get started and once again enjoy the fun of crushing the enemy with various unit combinations in the cooperative mode.

Lower threshold

Of course, Frost Giants also took into account players who have no experience in cooperative mode. To this end, they have specially added some designs to help players in the game. For example, in addition to the tutorial, the cooperative mode has a total of eight difficulties to provide players with step-by-step challenge options; and the other biggest change I personally think is that the game has added an auxiliary option called "computer partner" in the cooperative mode. Simply put, when this option is turned on, the AI ​​will automatically implement five types of mechanical operations that need to be performed repeatedly for players, including producing farmers and troops, allocating collection, maintaining population, and building buildings according to your settings.

Although in my actual gaming experience, this "computer partner" occasionally has problems with uneven worker distribution, over-building and expansion, but in general, this option is still very useful most of the time. Whether you only turn on a few options or turn them all on without thinking, it can reduce the burden on players in operation, so that they have more energy to operate the front battlefield.

There are many similar designs in Stormgate that can reduce the operational threshold. For example, the game does not directly adopt the "attack and defense" mechanism of StarCraft 2, which requires multiple upgrades for units and only provides attribute enhancements. Instead, it arranges upgrades for most units such as unlocking new skills, increasing attack speed, etc. to enhance combat effectiveness through mechanisms, while ensuring strength.

At the same time, the skills or upgrades of most low- and mid-level units in the game are set to passive or switchable automatic casting modes. Only a few mid-level and high-level units need to use skills frequently. This expands the upper and lower limits of the game at the same time, allowing new and old players to enjoy the fun of the game.

In addition, the game has integrated the "Select All Buildings" button directly into the five QWERT buttons. In Storm Gate, you only need to press these five buttons to control all troops, research buildings, and conduct research and production in batches. These simplifications in design or operation not only reduce the overall game operation volume of players, but also lower the threshold, making it easier for new players to join.

Mechanism integration and optimization

After talking about the changes in the operation of "Stormgate", the next is another core part of the game, units and races. There are currently three races in "Stormgate", which are the "Vanguard" composed of humans, the "Balloy" filled with demonic power, and the "Sky Fleet" with a sense of technology (hereinafter referred to as "Sky Fleet").

In terms of artistic expression, these three races are more like the Terrans, Zerg and Protoss in "StarCraft 2". The "Vanguard" troops are mainly composed of flesh-and-blood infantry and various mechanized troops, the "Flames" are full of twisted demons and monsters, and the "Celestials" who have high technology but are forced to wander around are in sharp contrast to the other two races.

In terms of gameplay style, you can see the influence of StarCraft 2 on these three races, and you can also find many classic designs from other RTS games. In addition to the "wild monster camp" derived from Warcraft 3, the "panel skills" possessed by all races come from the cooperative mode of StarCraft 2; and the "outpost" defense building of the "vanguard" faction has almost the same function as the multi-functional turret in Red Alert 3. Depending on the type of infantry stationed, the outpost can play a variety of roles from healing infantry, stealth to repairing buildings.

Similarly, the "Celestials" not only inherit the high quality of the Protoss units in "StarCraft 2" and the need to summon buildings within a specific range, but also add an "energy field" similar to the "electricity" system in Red Alert. Units can replenish energy at node buildings to cast skills and improve combat effectiveness. Buildings and panel skills also require energy, and the Celestials have a variety of tactical means from clearing wild monster camps to establishing teleportation portals.

In short, although this large number of races and different mechanisms may make people feel confused when they first start, in essence, most of the mechanisms of these three races are derived from classic and interesting designs in previous RTS. Just play a few games in the campaign and cooperation, combined with the various low-threshold designs mentioned above, "Stormgate" makes old players feel familiar, while also allowing new players to experience the fun brought by these classic designs, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

Shortcomings and Problems

After talking about the highlights of Storm Gate, it’s time to talk about some of the more prominent issues in this game.

First of all, there is the issue of the price before entering the game. After the EA version is officially released on August 13, Stormgate will become a free game and open to all players. If you want to play the entire game between July 31 and August 13, you need to first spend 298 yuan to purchase the early access qualification, the last three levels of the campaign, and three co-op mode commanders, and then spend 50 yuan in the game to purchase the fifth co-op commander.

Although I can understand the Frost Giants' motivation to split the game content and sell it separately, and they have also made it clear that they will continue to update the campaign and cooperative mode content, for Storm Gate, which currently only has 6 levels of single-player campaigns, 5 cooperative commanders (one of which is free) and a PVP mode, the experience cost of nearly 350 yuan may be a bit too high.

Another thing that affects everyone's experience and is also criticized by the community is the art performance. Stormgate uses a cartoon-like art style. When the player plays the game from a bird's eye view, the characters and units are not very clear, so it does not affect the experience at this time. But when I trigger the plot, the game camera is pulled down in front of the characters, and scene effects such as rain and fire are added, the whole picture shows an indescribable "plastic feeling".

Whether comparing it with "StarCraft 2" from more than a decade ago, or the mainstream works on the market today that also use the cartoon art style, the art of "Storm Gate" still has a lot of room for improvement. Coupled with problems such as the dark-skinned female protagonist, 2D avatars, and simple UI, these have become the biggest shortcomings of this game at present.

Although I understand that pursuing graphics in an RTS game seems to be putting the cart before the horse, for Stormgate, which wants to attract more players, this not-so-good-looking "appearance" and the somewhat expensive price have undoubtedly lowered the players' "first impression score" of it. Perhaps the Frost Giants will adjust these problems later, but judging from the current "mixed" reviews of Stormgate on the Steam store, this game still has a long way to go.

Conclusion

As a trial work created by "StarCraft veterans", the launch of the EA version of "Stormgate" not only represents that the Frost Giant Studio has used its love and experience to complete the feat of "creating "StarCraft 2" from scratch", but also the emergence of "Stormgate" has added fuel to the vast number of StarCraft enthusiasts and even the entire RTS game field. As far as the current experience is concerned, there is absolutely no problem in using it as a substitute for "StarCraft 2".

However, as an EA version, the game still has some problems in terms of art and pricing, which have a significant impact on the actual experience. But I believe that with a complete gameplay framework, the Frost Giants are fully capable of improving these before the official version is released. As for the quality of the final official version, it will only be tested by time.