the good ol' days of RTS games? real-time strategy game Tempest Rising is the blast from the past that strategy fans need, tapping into classic Command and Conquer gameplay while polishing up the graphics, smoothing out performance with Unreal Engine 5, and even bringing award-winning Red Alert musician Frank Klepacki back in to helm the soundtrack.
Taking place in an alt-history 1997, Tempest Rising spins the idea that the catastrophic fallout of the Cuban Missile Crisis led to mysterious, energy-emitting Tempest vines stretching across the planet. The exact nature of this potent new resource is unknown, but its potential wartime uses are, as you might have guessed, abundant, with multiple factions looking to claim territory by employing the mysterious energy.
You'll build your base from scratch and strategically manage units to fortify your defenses and hold off the opposition. You'll also manage resources and build your armies before sending them out to destroy your enemies. Expect surprise attacks, flanks, and devastating retaliation.
On launch, you can choose between two available factions: the peacekeeping Global Defense Force (or GDF) or the heavy-hitting Tempest Dynasty, each with its own units, resources, and core mechanics.
The GDF has three unique avenues powering their plans: Comms, Intel, and Networked. Comms uses the GDF's SyComm technology to enhance fighters in real-time, improving their reactions, while Intel enables their forces to analyze enemy units and structures to help perfect in-depth strategizing.
For ranged-based attacks, focus on Networked units to vastly improve the power and distance of powerful strike-based weaponry. All of these work in tandem and tap into the GDF's wider gameplay goal of precision strike-focused and positional warfare.
Opposing the GDF is the brutal Tempest Dynasty. Their unique resource mechanics include Building Upgrades, Distribution Mode, and Plans.
Building Upgrades does exactly what you would expect it to do, allowing for the enhancement of critical pre-existing structures. Distribution Mode focuses on logistics and production-based facilities, powering up nearby factories and their weapons with Tempest to increase their damage.
As you might expect with the over-reliance on a radical new resource, getting too giddy with the use of volatile Tempest energy risks frying your systems. This can lead to a major setback in your defensive strategy, giving the watchful eye of the GDF a huge opportunity to launch a counter-offensive. Give equal attention to the Tempest Dynasty's Plans mechanic to provide key boosts to defense, attack, or resource collection, to strike a balance and minimize the potential blowback of a miscalculated use of Tempest.
All of these resource mechanics tap into the Dynasty's high-risk, high-reward playstyle, making them perfect for those who live life on the edge. They'll be ed by the eerie Veti, an ancient civilization that has weaponized Tempest and that may even be able to travel through space. They'll play a major role in the game's two launch-day campaigns, but won't arrive as a playable faction until a little later.
The Global Defense Force and the Tempest Dynasty each have complete single-player campaigns at launch. These are mission-based and narrative-driven skirmishes akin to C&C's Tiberian Dawn or Red Alert campaigns.
Skirmish is a PvE mode that enlists you to achieve objectives while out on the battlefield. As you craft and curate your base of operations along the desolate wastelands, you'll discover valuable neutral buildings you can garrison or take over to boost your army's potential.
With each faction possessing units unique to their combat styles, you'll need to master both to understand how to fight against the other side. Tweak and customize your unit's abilities between missions to tackle each objective in a creative new way, exploit poor enemy positions, or patch any weaknesses in your favourite strategies.
As unique cutscenes bridge the gaps between each of the 11 main missions in either campaign, you'll get a better sense of the war between the factions fighting a deadly war of attrition for control over the Tempest energy bubbling along the surface of the planet.
Multiplayer sheds the objective-based mission to focus on classic, hard-hitting PvP war games across competitive ranked and more casual matches. They're perfect for testing out high-risk or bold new strategies before hitting the ladder.
Tempest Rising is a must-play RTS, offering gameplay that's both familiar and new. Avid RTS players will recognize its base-building and resource management, but its faction-specific playstyles really mix things up, challenging you to think on your feet and adapt to the competition. Switching army builds between missions also keeps things fresh and unlocks a deeper level of in-depth strategizing.
Developed by Slipgate Ironworks and published by 3D Realms and Knight's Peak, Tempest Rising launches on April 24. Want to practice your strategies to conquer the ladders as soon as the flood gates open? Grab the Deluxe Edition to enjoy a week of early access from April 17. So ready your guns, polish your plans, and dive on in – give 'em hell!