I am a sports, RPG, and Rhytmn game fan upfront and most of all. I am not ashamed to say that, but I am very willing to go out of my way to try different kinds of games every day because I love video games; I love everything about them. When it comes to the RTS genre, it is one I have never touched but have heard of in the name of Starcraft, and that is a game that I still would like to play and experience today. So understandably, when I was approached to review Stormgate, I got excited. When looking at the trailer and reviews on its store page, I was pretty excited to download it. But when it finally finished, did it live up to my expectations? In short, Stormgate feels like a half-empty game with absolutely nowhere near sufficient content and too many technical problems to justify the $25 to $40 it asks from customers.
I would like to note that I see a foundation in place while playing the game. While the game feels empty, it is not soulless, though calling it that would not be a stretch. There are a few positives I can give the game, the first being that I like the cinematic cutscenes in the game, which might be the best thing about the game. While the story itself feels slightly separate from them, which is a huge problem in itself, the cinematics are top-notch and are where the story feels most competent and gives a glimpse into the game’s potential. Another thing that I like is their complementing normal cutscenes and mission briefing cutscenes; again, these are the places that provide the story in its best and most competent form. The accompanying music and voice acting in the game are good, better than one would expect when looking at a game this rough and new. Though I fear this is all the good that I have to say about the game.
The reason for this is that, for starters, the game is absolutely riddled with technical problems, both as a program and as a game, as well as content problems. On my very first time trying to boot the game, I had to look up a YouTube video on how to get it to launch, and every subsequent time I tried to log into the game, I never got in on the first try. I Would always have to press login and wait for my screen to unfreeze, only to say disconnected 1 or 2 times before I finally got in. This heavily discouraged me from attempting to play the game every day because it was such a genuine hassle to get into the game. Only to get into the game and experience one of the buggiest early-access games I have ever played. In multiple single-player matches, I got disconnected while trying to complete the campaign, and when doing online matches, I often would get disconnected, too. This discouraged me even more from wanting to play the game even more. I understand that this is an early access game again, so honestly, I would say this is the thing to fix and would help the game go much further.
The game’s content problems can be seen in the main menu. Stormgate features a campaign, a co-op mode that you can take on and online versus matches. Players can also set up their custom matches and open the lobby so other players can come in and have fun with them. If you picked on it, the game only has one offline mode, which I need to point out is kind of the most playable thing in the game right now because you will actually get into a game reliably that way. This makes the game feel a bit empty from the get-go. Again, I see and know that this is an early-access game, and I know that games, in general, can take big turns and chances with gameplay, modes, and features. Maybe that can be added to the game as far as single-player modes go because having just one mode in the game makes it feel slightly empty and would help players get to at least experience the game in another way offline besides replaying the campaign.
To take a short look at the story, it begins with a cinematic cutscene where you are in a room full of scientists, and one of them summons a demon from the underworld. During this, a man is on the phone with his daughter, and as a result of the demon summoning, the man dies, and you play as his daughter, Amara, to stop the demons from taking over the world. Throughout the story’s two campaigns that it has available, you follow Amara and her crew as she makes decision after decision that would have some type of cruelty or rash decision and learn what her crew is looking for, even if the crew members agree with Amara’s actions. While this is cool, again, this is where the story falls flat because it feels very cliche, like I am watching an old military movie. Sure, this works, but when I see that price tag and the game’s store page boasting glowing reviews, I do not see it in the story or its dialogue. While interesting at times, the story is ultimately a snooze fest due to the story’s basic writing, monotone-like line deliverance, and a plot that seems to jump around slightly. I understand that the game is early access, so this is one thing I would have to say. Maybe the team needs to go back and revisit and rebuild the story a bit because, again, the story is, in fact, interesting at times if the team can find a way to spread the high stakes and intensity from the cinematic cutscenes, and in-game cutscenes to the rest of the story and gameplay that would be awesome to see.
I would like to note that the game has a dedicated coming soon button on the main menu that, when pressed, does show the game’s promise, as well as the welcome page when you first turn on the game every time. They do mention off the bat that they are working on new modes and features, as well as story improvements and overall quality-of-life improvements for the game, which addresses a lot of the main concerns that I have talked about here in the review. We will also add leaderboards for the game, a 3v3 mode, more campaign missions, and more. Frost Giant certainly has a comprehensive roadmap for the game I would love to see come to life and play in the future.
In conclusion, did Stormgate manage to capture me? No, there is a game here that I played, but I only had a little fun. What fun I did have, though, was genuine; there are times when the gameplay, music, and narrative background genuinely got me hyped up and immersed in the game. However, due to the game’s numerous technical difficulties and lack of modes that I had a way to play or that can be reliably played, it is hard to recommend the game now. As I noted in the review, I do have some positives that I am walking away from the game with and will continue to be looking at this game and playing it in my own off time when updates come out, so I do think that eventually, the game will get to its desired destination which is a success. But, with all of its technical difficulties, lack of content problems, and story problems, it is hard for me to recommend this game, and I hope that the dev team over at Frost Giant Studios is working hard to iron out all of the game’s issues and introduce new modes and improvements as time goes on like the roadmap states. There is a great platform to build off of here, and I do hope the team uses this early access period to make the game as best as it can be.
