Stormrise Explained

Stormrise is a real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly's Australian studio and published by Sega for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world.

Gameplay

The game is a real-time tactics game, with the ability to control units in the air, on the surface, and underground.

Story

In the near future, a network of orbital weather control satellites was created to prevent an environmental disaster, but the satellites malfunctioned, triggering a catastrophic event known as simply "The Event", in which firestorms ravaged the surface of the Earth. A select few were chosen to go into cryogenic stasis and rebuild society, while the rest were left to die. After a few decades, two civilizations began to emerge. Those who went into stasis would reawaken and form the technologically advanced Echelon, while those who were left behind would adapt to the new environment and become the tribal Sai.

Factions

The Echelon: A technologically advanced race that endured the planet's fallout by way of cryogenic stasis.

The Sai: A tribal society that adapted to the new environment and evolved.

Development

Stormrise was in development at Creative Assembly's Australian studio and was released for the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, and PlayStation 3 in March 2009.^[1] The Windows version requires Windows Vista as the engine has been built on and designed around DirectX 10.1.^[2]

Critical reception

The PlayStation 3 version received "mixed" reviews, while the PC and Xbox 360 versions received "generally unfavorable reviews", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.

Patch cancellation and departure of staff

Development of the second patch was cancelled on 28 April 2009^[3] one month after release. Creative Assembly indicated that the cancellation was due to the financial costs associated with testing and certifying the new changes and features.

The critical response and low sales have been cited^[4] as being factors in the financial decision.

Following the cancellation of the patch, Ken Turner, the creative director behind Stormrise, was released from the studio.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Creative Assembly building console RTS . Magrino . Tom . 10 July 2008 . . . https://web.archive.org/web/20090116142303/http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/strategy/stormrise/news.html?sid=6193595&om_act=convert&om_clk=newsfeatures&tag=newsfeatures;title;2 . 16 January 2009 . live . 3 August 2016.
2. Web site: Stormrise first DX10 only game - Interview with Lead Designer . Keipp . Kristoffer . 4 March 2009 . . . 3 August 2016 . 17 August 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160817105137/http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Spiele-Thema-239104/News/Stormrise-Vista-only-DX10-only-No-fallback-option-677895/ . live.
3. Web site: Stormrise Patch 2 Cancelled . 28 April 2009 . Stormrisers . https://web.archive.org/web/20090503073457/http://www.stormrisers.com/news/35_stormrise_patch_2_cancelled.html . 3 May 2009 . dead . 3 May 2009.
4. Web site: Creative Assembly & Sega Drop Stormrise Support . Burnes . Andrew . 30 April 2009 . Voodoo Extreme . IGN Entertainment . https://web.archive.org/web/20120214142853/http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/46673/Creative-Assembly-Sega-Drop-Stormrise-Support . 14 February 2012 . dead . 9 June 2009.