Stormrise

Overview

Stormrise is an Real-Time Strategy game developed by Creative Assembly's Brisbane, Australia studio known for their work on the Total War series. Unlike its past PC based games Stormrise was designed largely for consoles including a specially designed control system. Stormrise was released on March 24, 2009 on the the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
 

Creating A New Console Friendly Real-Time Strategy Game

In an attempt to solve the problem of poor controls that have plagued the Real-Time Strategy genre on consoles, Stormrise uses a new line-of-sight camera and control system as well as "Whip Select" which allows for unit selection without a cursor or min-map. In traditional Real-Time Strategy games players are above the battlefield looking down on the map but in Stormrise players see from the point of view of whatever unit they are controlling, this was attempt of making the game easier to control on a console and create a more cinematic experience.
 

Races

Echelon

A refined military organization that specializes in Technology and heavy artillery.  Due to their cryogenic sleep they have not been effected by the "Event" and rely on technology to survive on the surface for long periods of time.

Sai

A primitive set of soldiers that possess psionic powers, and have mutation based weapons. While remaining on the surface, most with no option otherwise, they adapted and evolved to thrive in the new environment and eventually developed their special powers.

Story

The world was going to end soon, mankind had done its damage to Earth, and something needed to be done to change that. 22 years after this realization, scientific research produced a force-field that would help stabilize and fix the deteriorating atmosphere. Essentially achieving the end to global warming, the force-field was a symbol of hope to all mankind and a showing of its technological prowess. But there are things that just are not meant to be controlled, things need to happen. Nobody knew it was coming, and nobody could predict its raw power, all that is known about "it," is the name, "The Event." What followed was the storms,  demolishing buildings, destroying roads, whole cities were flattened in just a matter of days. With all this devastation occurring, authorities made giant underground structures filled with cryogenic hibernation chambers, so they could wait out the storms. Word then spread out that there would not be enough room for the whole population in these chambers, and following that panic promptly ensued. After many difficult decisions were made, it was decided that the few privileged were assured safety. The massive doors were then sealed, with the thousands of people forced into a dreamless coma-like sleep that would last centuries. On the outside, however, everything was less than peaceful. The majority of people starved, many went mad, and ripped each other apart in the rage of desperation. 

As nature would have it, there were a few surface dwellers that managed to endure everything that went on around them, and began to slowly evolve into something more. They began to develop extra sensory abilities and became extremely agile. With very limited resources, this new race, "The Sai," began to rebuild what was lost by "The Event." They were left with the partial remains of the technology that their sleeping brethren left behind. Utilizing what was around them, The Sai built makeshift living quarters around the rubble that was once standing. What happened in the past and the 'old population' was only talked about in hushed tones over campfires.  But the cryogenic chambers were only meant to last for so long, and one dark, lonely morning they opened, awakening the long-forgotten inhabitants of the past. As they awoke, they set off to reclaim their planet, emerging as "The Echelon."
 

Echelon Units

The Echelon are made up of armored soldiers, mechanized units and state-of-the-art vehicles. Soldiers utlilze jetpack to traverse the environment vertically as they are not nearly agile as their Sai counterparts. The Echelon are few in numbers compared to the Sai and make every opportunity to preserve their troops with all the technology at their disposal. Their most powerful unit is the Eclipse, a massive vessel armed with the Polaris Rift and storm shields that nullifies Sai Abilities for all units underneath. The Echelon uses the most technologically advanced armor and weapons preferring long range combat and defensive tactics.
 

Gallery

Gallery

Sai Units

The Sai units include evolved humans with psionic powers,  vehicles and ferocious beasts. The Sai are gifted with incredible agility and psionic powers granted to them from their rapid evolution on the surface after the "Event." Not as technically advanced as the Echelon they are not without their own vehicles despite being hastily put together of whatever is left on the surface. The Sai's prized warriors are without a doubt the Sirens who's ranks are filled only with the most gifted women; raised from a young age to master the most powerful psionic abilities such as levitation,  teleportation, mobile shields and a decimating vortex. Unlike The Echelon The Sai generally don't wear a lot of armor but are agile and often prefer close quarters combat making them an aggressive adversary.
 

Gallery

Gallery

Characters

Name: Aiden Geary

Age: 31
Rank: Captain/Commander
Call sign: Geary
Bio: The main protagonist in this conflict, Geary was recently revived from a once lost Cryo Chamber. Before the "Event" he was strongly against the lockout of civilians from the stasis chambers and will learn first hand what has happened to those that were left behind.  
     

Name: Ava
Age: Unknown
Rank: Unknown
Call sign: Ava
Bio: <NOT AVAILABLE>
 
 
 
 

 
Name: Hunter Gray
Age: 37
Rank: Captain
Call sign: Huntsman
Bio: A skilled captain of Echelon, Huntsman is an unapologetic and ruthless soldier who strongly dislikes the entirety of the Sai race.
   


 

 
Name: Chey Harris
Age: 39
Rank: Major
Call sign: Vantage
Bio: Orphaned at a young age, Vantage joined and quickly rose through the ranks of the Echelon. A skilled soldier who rarely loses her cool she strongly dislikes incompetence.
 
  
 

 
Name: Lance Cooper
Age: 26
Rank: Lieutenant
Call sign: Coop
Bio: An impatient and headstrong young soldier, COOP has a lot to learn from the conflict ahead.
 
 
  
 
 

Name: Donovan Blake
Age: 55
Title: Chancellor
Bio: If there is one thing the Chancellor believes in its peace for the Echelon and Sai, he will do whatever it takes to achieve peace.
 
    
 
 

Name: Eona
Age: 23
Rank: Scion
Bio: Showing a huge potential at a young age, Eona was mentored by Gest and became a skilled warrior. During her Training she learned many skills including an ability to read minds.
 
 
 
 

Name: Sable
Age: 29
Rank: Neophyte
Bio: A strongly undisciplined and equally gifted Sai, Sable is unpredictable and extremely dangerous.


   
 
 

 
Name: Geist
Age: 40
Rank: Principle
Bio: A loyal and highly intelligent Sai, Geist is a powerful warrior and relentless adversary. Not much is known of his past but he has made quite a reputation.

    
 
 

Name: Meridian
Age: Unknown
Rank: Overseer
Bio: The Overseer of the Sai, Meridian leads her people to, what only her people can only assume to be, a future of peace. For unknown reason she holds deep seated distrust and contempt for the Echelon.
 
 
 
 

PC System Requirements

• Supported OS: Microsoft® Windows® Vista SP1
• Processor: Dual Core Processor @ 2.8 GHz minimum, Quad Core Processor @ 2.4 GHz recommended
• Memory: 1 GB RAM minimum, 2 GB RAM recommended
• Graphics: ATI 400 / NVIDIA 8400 minimum, A4850 / NVIDIA 8800 recommended
• Hard Drive: 9 GB available hard drive space
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
• DirectX Version: DirectX 10
• Input Devices: Keyboard, mouse