Stormgate review: a confident RTS that blends old and new

With Stormgate leaving Early Access, it feels like a real-time strategy game full of confidence that draws on classic foundations while also offering meaningful quality-of-life improvements and new design ideas. The game shows the flurry of the pre-match scenario along with the brisk sets of base-building, scouting and skirmishing offered through the game.

A Familiar Heartbeat with Modern Reflexes

Anyone who grew up playing RTS games in the late 90s or 2000s will find Stormgate comforting. Its gameplay features worker splits, build orders, and micro. Its minute-to-minute polish, however, ensures it doesn’t feel like a mere throwback.

Rapid access control groups, production and upgrade menus, and smart touches on the interface reduces busy work without trivializing mastery. The outcome is a faster loop that is less fussy yet demands strong fundamentals.

Factions Invite Mastery

Human Vanguard: Easiest entry point but certainly not the simplest. Keeping units alive gives them power and makes them dangerous. This one change directs efforts to careful placement, target priority, and withdrawal discipline. Attacking promoted pieces gives your opponent the option to flip the script and create a value tug-of-war.
Celestial Armada – once unyielding and cumbersome, now much more approachable but retains it’s identity. The role of Morph Cores is more clear, Arcship timings make sense, and power management is less baffling. The visuals may not technically be as good as other factions, but the mechanical clarity is a massive step forward.
Infernal Host: the removal of the Animus bar, the relocating or cutting of various top‐bar abilities, represents a controversial redesign, weakening a theme/gameplay link. The studio has stated their intention to reintroduce improved versions later, but at the moment, the faction seems to have lost a key hook.

stormgate-review-a-thrilling-rts-experience-for-veterans

Map Objectives that Divide Opinion

Previously, creep camps fostered early confrontations for non-expansion sites, generating natural pressure points. The new Stormgates act as magnets that bring players together to contest randomised boons. They can incite flashy confrontations, but they also tend to create basic trades and disengaged jousting rather than large mid-map battles. The concept is good but fails to deliver on the execution.

Campaign Rebuilt, Mostly for the Better

Stormgate’s campaign has undergone a substantial overhaul. Throughout the entirety of 12 missions, experience a fresh art direction, a more grounded tone, and strengthened structure for the Vanguard. The Raptor 1 deck, along with cross-mission hero and army upgrades and an item locker, facilitates a light RPG persistence that rewards experimentation from mission to mission. The design of missions is assorted and difficult; optional objectives challenge planning and execution.

Production rough edges are still visible. Some cutscenes skip over key moments and have off-screen resolutions. Some voice reads, like amara, don’t have the emotional cadence big story beats deserve. Cohesive is the destination arc than the Early Access draft, and the gameplay scaffolding surrounding it makes repeated runs pleasant. Players can purchase all 4 episodes as a paid bundle while competitive and experimental modes will remain free. This strongly implies a clear pathway.

Onboarding and Learning Curve

The game assumes a fair bit of RTS literacy. There’s hardly any player hints about the Infernal shroud management or Celestial Arcship play. The menu link takes you to a video of short external pieces, some of which are out of date. This disappointingly lacks the polish elsewhere. BuddyBot takes care of your base tasks in unranked but offers no teaching lessons. An intelligent trainer that offers context-based advice would be helpful like spending float, supply planning, camera cycle for newer players.

Custom Games and Co‑op Experiments

In an experimental state, the map editor and custom lobbies are now online! Despite many missing features, such as an extensive trigger system, the community is already making great scenarios and modes. Users imagine a vibrant workshop scene with possibilities continuing to grow as the tools are accessible and flexible. You can now find the 3vAI co‑op mode in the Sigma Labs experimental hub. It is still a delight to play; this method allows for a more hero-centric way to play. Plus, there’s some progression and cosmetic unlocks here; these give you a few gentle long‑term goals.

Structure, Price and Longevity

1v1 and experimental modes: free to play.
You can buy a four-episode bundle for the campaign.
In Development: The studio has flagged ongoing faction reworks, graphical passes and new modes that are currently listed as in development.

What clicks.

UI improvements that are genuinely helpful with Macro and Micro Response.
Vanguard veteran mechanics enhance combat without adding to thematically complex.
Celestial upgrade enhances identity and flow.
The ongoing updates to the campaign bring new design persistency alongside new mission variety along with a more grounded tone.
Custom tools are inspiring valuable content from the creative community.

What needs time.

The rework of Infernal got rid of a thematic resource that gave power to the faction, which was unjustified.
Stormgates start strange base trades rather than open-field clashes.
BuddyBot automates onboarding rather than assists with Assist.
Some campaign moments were lessened by voice delivery and other cinema issues.
Celestials are in need of a visual refresh and a campaign chapter in which to feature.

Final Take

Stormgate is a competitive RTS that feels like a real evolution: familiar enough to be welcoming, different enough to get one excited. The intent behind faction mastery is clear as the campaign’s rebuild and thoughtful UI upgrades reflect it. The process for learning some of the experimental swings is yet to land fully and needs care, but the core loop is nice; you are invited into another queue by winning or losing. With the same care that has gone into the campaign rework and teaching tools, Stormgate could become a long‑term home for strategy players.