Stormgate is a breath of fresh air for RTS fans, being one of the biggest and most hyped RTS titles in recent history. It aims to make the genre social and bigger than ever, with a team of veterans at the helm of the project.
The game has always been touted as a Blizzard-style RTS – but what exactly does that mean and how will Frost Giant be taking Stormgate to the next level?
Is Stormgate Starcraft 3, Warcraft 4, or Something Else Entirely?
The Frost Giant team has always been clear that Stormgate will be a “Blizzard-style RTS” meaning that it will share some key features from the Starcraft and Warcraft RTS series. From various interviews, we already know there will be core gameplay similarities like two resources, workers, supply caps, standard production buildings, and more.
However, it’s never been quite clear which direction the game will lean toward – Starcraft Brood War, Starcraft 2, or Warcraft 3. All three are in the general sense quite similar, but also feature key differences. Starcraft 2, for example, is the fastest-paced of the three, while Warcraft 3 features heroes, items, and a unique upkeep system.
Luckily, we now have a juicy bit of information from Communications Director Gerald Villoria. In the Frost Giant Cave Discord, he stated: “I’ve heard one of our designers say that Stormgate is like 25% WC3, 25% SC2, 25% Brood War, and 25% Frost Giant’s vision for evolving the genre. So our game should feel at least 75% familiar and not-at-all like reinventing the wheel. We’re making a Blizzard-style RTS because we love those games and don’t want to fix something that isn’t broken.”
Of this, we already know the game aims to play at a speed between Warcraft 3 and Brood War, but many other details are yet to be revealed. Overall though, this hopefully means every Blizzard RTS fan will quickly feel at home in Stormgate and that extra bit of Frost Giant’s vision will lift the game, and genre, to all-new heights.
How Will Frost Giant Make Stormgate Unique?
Despite being still a way away from launch, we already know Frost Giant are making massive steps towards making Stormgate the best RTS ever.
The December update highlighted the power of Stormgate’s SnowPlay engine, which will introduce impressive features into the genre like rollback netcode, mass speciating, and more. On top of this, the team is led by RTS veterans, who all have years and years of experience, as well as, most importantly, passion.
Another core element that will make Stormgate a unique and interesting game is the social aspect. Frost Giant aims to make the game a “social RTS” where there will be many social features that aim to break the stereotype of the genre being quite lonely. Support for more than just 1v1 will be crucial, as well as a focus on the map editor, which will allow a custom game scene to shine.
Combine all this with the fact that the team is building and improving on errors they themselves have made in the past, Stormgate is shaping up to be a really special game.
