Let's not allow for any ambiguity: I don't think that Tempest Rising is a better game, overall, than the original Command and Conquer. Tiberian Dawn is more stylish, funnier, more satirical, and 30 years older – it is the giant on whose shoulders Tempest Rising stands. But if we're talking about mechanics, maps, and mission design, Slipgate's RTS gives even the best of the Command and Conquer series a run for its ore. It's more high pressure. It's more tactical. There's greater attention to pacing and rhythm. Perhaps it's unfair to compare them outright, but the Tempest Rising Steam launch suggests that, at the very least, it deserves to be called Command and Conquer's peer.
I go into more detail in my RTS game is a showcase of how to structure and stagger a giant battle. I don't want to spoil anything, but there's one later-game mission where you begin with just a tiny, ragtag squad. The first 20 minutes, you're carefully directing them between the enemy lines, pulling hit-and-run ambushes on patrols and then dropping back to repair your vehicles and heal your troops. Eventually, you find an allied base and start to build up a force – but after a spirited siege defence, you're eventually overrun, and have to fall back to a secondary fortification.
For the next half an hour, you're on the edge of annihilation, hastily organizing your infantry, hammering together refineries, and throwing everything you have into keeping your turret guns online. The enemy's casualties mount. They begin to lose heart. Slowly but surely you amass an armored division, an air force, and a team of special forces operatives. You venture outside the perimeter and destroy the closest enemy garrison. Gradually, you wage your war over longer distances, winning back swathes of the map until, finally, you recapture the original base. Tempest Rising guides you along. There are objectives, subtle directions, and a sense that every mission has an author and a story. But you're also free to strategize.
That's part of what makes the game work. There's structure and meaning behind everything you do, but so long as you meet the objectives and don't get killed, you're free to approach missions any way you want. It's tight, and there's a kind of choreography – but Tempest Rising keeps the burden of command firmly on your shoulders. It's a balance that Command and Conquer tries but often struggles to achieve. In the earlier games especially, missions are essentially sandboxes, where you harvest ore, train an army, then obliterate the Nod (or GDI) base in one swoop. Or they're set pieces that allow for only one approach – think back to the 'hunt the spy' or interior infiltration missions in Red Alert.
Tempest Rising draws the right lessons from Command and Conquer. While it mimics certain aspects of Westwood's classic in the name of homage, it's also full of changes and improvements, becoming something different – and occasionally even better. For further evidence, after its first week on Steam, Tempest Rising has already hit an impressive concurrent player high of more than 9,000; out of the 3,000 reviews posted so far, a huge 88% are positive. Command and Conquer 5 might not happen. Red Alert 4 may remain a mere dream. But Tempest Rising – which Slipgate plans to update with a third playable faction – is more than just their substitute.
Check out some of the other best grand strategy games on PC.
You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We've also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with of the team and fellow readers.