Playing A Game Stormgate PC

Stormgate's game-mode ambitions are pretty grand - narrative campaigns and ranked competitive and PvE co-op missions - its ex-Blizzard creators evidently aiming to make The Next Blizzard-Style RTS themselves. And while it's certainly normal for Early Access games to feel unfinished, well, Stormgate's got plenty of work left to do.

What I find funny is the game's apparent lack of ambition in faction designs. The Infernal Host grow drones into Giger-esque structures just like the Zerg; the Celestial Armada have glowing power networks and robotic, aloof moods just like the Protoss; heck, the Vanguard's worker units quip "In the rear with the beer" in un-subtle homage to the Terran SCV's "In the rear with the gear" line.

Sure, designing new themes and mechanics in the RTS space can be risky, but to so clearly ape a genre legend risks disappearing in its shadow. Like they say, you come at the king -- you best not miss.