Ende des Monats erscheint Segas ehrgeiziges RTS Projekt Stormrise, das von Creative Assembly entwicklete Spiel wartet mit einer völlig neuartigen, Whip Controll genannten, Steuerung auf und verspricht spannende Gefechte mit vertikalem Gameplay. Das alles klingt sehr interessant und es war eigentlich auch eine Demo vor Release geplant damit interessierte Spieler sich die Steuerung und das Gameplay ansehen können. Nun sorgt ein Post von einem Creative Assembly Mitarbeiter im Forum der Fanseite Sormrisers für Aufregung: Seiner Aussage nach gibt es wohl keine Demo, da man befürchtet zu viele Spieler könnte die Steuerung in der Demonicht überzeugen und das Spiel nicht kaufen. Hier seine Aussage im genauen Wortlaut:
Hey Jack,
Whether or not to release a demo for Stormrise is a hot debate at the moment. On the one hand, the you guys need to get a taste of game and the Whip Select controls so that you can have that „OMG this works and it’s freakin‘ awesome, when can I buy Stormrise?“ moment.
On the other hand, Stormrise is very innovative in its approach and while Whip Select is simple and efficient, it is likely to feel unfamiliar (at least until you free your mind and let the awesomeness click into place). The fear is that players may download the demo, play for a couple of minutes, NOT have their I-get-it moment and get turned off. There are theories in publishing circles that the back-lash against the demos for EndWar and the more recent Halo Wars have really hurt these products.
Strategy on console has always had a bad rap (mostly well deserved) and carries with it a lot of ill-will. So I suppose it is understandable that everyone is a little cautious as to how to grow Stormrise (which is a massive departure from other console RTS games) while trying to overcome the stigma created by RTS ports from PC. Whether a demo for Stormrise will help in this effort is still undecided.
Needless to say, we are producing demo builds for Stormrise here at CAOz. It will be up to Sega to decide when and if you guys get to download them.
Watch this space and we’ll let you know what the verdict is.
Ken.
Creative Director
The Creative Assembly Australia.