Stormrise

Stormrise is a real-time strategy video game developed by The Creative Assembly's Australian Studio and published by Sega for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Gameplay
The game is a post-apocalyptic real-time strategy game, with the ability to control units in the air, on the surface, and underground. Stormrise is set in a post-apocalyptic world, presenting a civilization that has begun to once again emerge after a catastrophic event. Two warring factions arise from the rubble: the Echelon, a technologically advanced race that endured the planet's fallout by way of self-induced hibernation, and the Sai, a tribal society that adapted to the new environment and evolved. Units can be deployed in the air, on rooftops, at ground level, or below the planet's surface.

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

One of the units revealed was a massive spider/crab-like beast unit called the Matriarch, one of largest of the land units for the Sai. Its special abilities include spitting a huge barrage of acid rain across a field, and the ability to spawn small baby crabs that scurry off and attack at will.

Critical reception
Early reviews from Edge Magazine UK gave Stormrise for 360 a 4/10. Edge Magazine is quoted as saying "certainly, releasing it so close to Halo Wars suggests deliberate commercial suicide - that its genuinely progressive ideas will be ignored and lost as a result is a minor tragedy. Although Stormrise had some interesting concepts, its overall execution made for some horrendous gameplay."

The PS3 version has received similar reviews from GamesTM with a score of 5/10. GamesTM described Stormrise as having "Cumbersome controls and an ornery camera make any intriguing ideas irrelevant."

PushSquare scored the PS3 version 2/4 claiming that the game was "heavy on innovation but weak on execution". PSM3 Magazine UK gave the game 7.9/10. PSM3 said the game was "smarter than the average console RTS but not quite brilliant." Hyper's Daniel Wilks commends the game, saying "when Whip Select work[s] it is a brilliant innovation. The full 3D rendering of the landscape is great." However, he criticises the game for "the muddy graphics [that] hinder gameplay. Whip Select is awkward to use during pitched battles."

Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot said in his review of the game, "Stormrise is one of those games that makes you wonder, 'What were they thinking?' This real-time strategy game is, from top to bottom, misconceived, frustrating, frequently broken, and rarely fun." VanOrd claimed "Developer Creative Assembly has built an entire product around a fundamentally flawed control scheme and neglected almost every important facet of the RTS genre." He ultimately scored the game a 2.5/10. VanOrd summed it up by saying "This frustrating, broken mess is one of the worst strategy games in years."

Tom Price of TeamXbox gave the game a fairly good review of 7.3/10. Price said the game had "Some really cool ideas that needed a bit more help from the game’s interface and information-delivery systems." He also said the game was "almost too innovative for its own good."

Patch cancellation and departure of staff
Development of the second patch was cancelled on April 28, 2009 one month after release. The Creative Assembly indicated that the cancellation was due to the financial costs involved, stating "The second patch that has been worked on by The Creative Assembly Australia will not make it into the hands of the Stormrise players, due to costs and risks associated with testing and certifying the new changes and features."

The critical response and low sales have been cited 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.