It's 2024, does anyone still like RTS gameplay?
The answer is yes, for this game genre that was the most popular in the 00s and even led the trend of e-sports, RTS games led by the "StarCraft" series were the youth of a generation of players. As a work produced by Blizzard at its peak, "StarCraft 2" still has a large number of loyal players around the world.
And yesterday, Steam launched a new RTS work "Storm Gate". The game was developed by Frost Giant Studios and has been tested several times before. Built in Unreal Engine 5, it follows the RTS gameplay of StarCraft 2. In addition to the regular versus mode, a 3vE co-op game mode is also included.
Interstellar commentary Huang Xudong started to experience it as soon as the game was launched. It seems that RTS games are preparing to start a new decade.
However, this ambitious game suffered a word-of-mouth waterloo on the first day of release. The current positive rating on Steam is only 58%, which is not the passing line. The problems fed back by players are mainly focused on several aspects such as operability, game modeling, and content optimization, and the price of the game is also a relatively controversial point.
As for why everyone's discussion of "Storm Gate" is so high, we have to mention the background of the development of this game. In 2022, the Frost Giants, a studio made up of a former Blizzard staffer, unveiled its first game, Stormgate, developed by itself. In addition to following the RTS gameplay they are good at, this game also has the addition of James Anhalt, the former chief planner of StarCraft 2.
"Blizzard Veteran", "StarCraft 2 Spiritual Sequel", "RTS Gameplay", ...... When these elements come together, it's hard not to be impressed. Frost Giant Studios initially launched a crowdfunding campaign for the game with a goal of $100,000. As a result, with the help of 28,143 supporters, the team raised $2.38 million, more than 20 times more than expected!
Players had high expectations for Storm Gate. However, this time on Steam to open the EA test, the actual performance of this game is not satisfactory.
In the original vision of players, "Storm Gate" was even a combination of "StarCraft" + "Warcraft 3". However, as more and more game-related content is revealed, players' expectations continue to decline. And "Stormgate" is not a free-to-play game, players need to pay for the entrance fee, and even need to spend real money to buy heroes.
At this stage, Stormgate's still in beta is one of the few pieces of good news. Perhaps through further polishing, the game will become better and better in the future. If you're not in a hurry, you can also wait until August 14 when the game opens for free and try it out for yourself, and maybe you'll have a different opinion.
So do you think RTS games can be great again?