Though it can be said that the PC is hardly a platform that’s left wanting for RTS efforts, it’s also perhaps equally true that fewer of those recent efforts have attempted to recapture the magic of Westwood’s legendary Command & Conquer series. Looking to address this most egregious of situations is Tempest Rising, an all-new RTS offering from veteran developer Slipgate Ironworks, which by all accounts is an essential pick-up for Command & Conquer fans. Here’s why.
Command & Conquer As An Influence
More of a mission statement than anything else, developer Slipgate Ironworks directly cites the Command & Conquer RTS titles of old as a direct inspiration for Tempest Rising. Indeed, in an interview posted on Steam, it is revealed that Game Director Fred Schreiber has had a ‘lifelong dream’ to bring back the core gameplay of EA’s Command & Conquer franchise alongside updated production values that take optimal advantage of current technologies. With a team of passionate creatives that clearly have such a unified love for the Command & Conquer games, it’s pretty safe to say that fans of that legendary series have a lot to look forward to in Tempest Rising.
A Familiar Modern-Day Alternative Timeline Scenario
One of the obvious ways in which Tempest Rising seeks to pay homage to the Command & Conquer games is in its setting. Presenting players with an alternate history setting which unfurls in 1997 after World War III has kicked off with a whole heap of nuclear devastation to boot, Tempest Rising shows us a world where the remaining factions fight over a precious resource known as Tempest in order to assert their dominance over a planet steeped in ruin. Sound familiar? Indeed, it does, and I’m absolutely here for it.
Separate Story-Driven Campaigns
From day one, Tempest Rising boasts a cinematic story campaign that can be played from the point of view of two very different factions, with a third, the Veti, due to arrive at some point after release, though a campaign for that faction has yet to be confirmed. The two factions that you will be able to play at launch are the Global Defense Force (which aren’t at all like the GDI faction seen in the Command & Conquer games) and the dark-clad Tempest Dynasty (which absolutely isn’t inspired by the nefarious Brotherhood of Nod) with each having their own eleven mission long story campaign.
Much like the beloved Command & Conquer games which have come before it, Tempest Rising focuses its single-player campaign stories through these factions with each not only having a wealth of missions that push along a narratively threaded campaign, but which also boast a bunch of interconnected, in-engine cutscenes that evoke the spirit of the Command & Conquer franchise. Both of the story campaigns are deemed canon, too, as they not only occur side by side to create a narrative whole but also paint each faction in hues of moral grey, leaving it up to the player to make key choices throughout to shift their respective moral compasses.
Finally, Tempest Rising also embeds smaller stories into each of these campaigns thanks to the specialists that can be found in each faction. Essentially hero characters, these uniquely named specialists not only give each side a devastating single unit to be used against the opposition, but also provide players with a unique story arc to follow in each case as well.
Traditional Command & Conquer Style Gameplay – Refreshed
Though the classic nature of the Command & Conquer formula might seem straightforward to replicate on the surface, Tempest Rising proves that there is a real degree of craft involved in getting it just right. For a start, though there are two (and eventually three) factions, each of them has been designed to be asymmetrical in gameplay terms, encouraging players to fully embrace the strengths and weaknesses of each faction in order to lead them to victory.
In tapping into the essence of the Command & Conquer games of yore, Tempest Rising is broadly all about base building, resource collection and, well, a whole heap of unit-on-unit real-time strategy warfare. In terms of the base building, Tempest Rising keeps things pleasingly simplistic, allowing players to construct buildings on a grid-style layout and then upgrade those structures in turn later on when a sufficient amount of credits and ranked units have been amassed to do so.
Much like the Command & Conquer titles, Tempest Rising also adheres to a classic ruleset in terms of how things behave in regard to base building and construction. Of course, every building craves a specific amount of power in order to remain active (resulting them becoming predictably non-functional should the dependant Power Plants be destroyed), but so too can cheeky engineer units not just take over buildings, they can also leverage the construction tree of the opposing faction should they prove lucky enough to take over an enemy Construction Yard.
Where the resource collection side of things is concerned, Tempest Rising again follows in the steps of its genre defining inspirations by enabling players to employ harvesters to scoop up all of the Tempest on a map, take a bunch of the stuff back to a refinery and then convert all of that material into credits for buying new units and structures.
Combat-wise, Tempest Rising continues to dig deep into its bag of classically informed tricks. Not only can players of both factions construct structures that can garrison infantry units, acting both as a secure location and one that those same units are able to open fire from, but each unit operates on a veterancy concept whereupon the more damage each unit deals to enemy targets, the further through the three levels of veterancy they progress, unlocking durability and similar buffs as a result.
Finally, in addition to being empowered to create a wealth of different infantry, ground and air unit types, Tempest Rising’s unit relationships also operate on a rock-paper-scissors style principle where some units are much more effective against others. Heavy vehicles such as tanks and APCs can easily crush and overwhelm infantry units, while airborne bombers and fighter craft can destroy most ground units unassailed, unless those units happen to have some ground-to-air offensive capabilities.
Tempest Rising isn’t just a loving tribute to the golden era of real-time strategy – it’s a fully realised, modern RTS that understands exactly what made Command & Conquer so iconic, while injecting fresh ideas to keep things feeling current. With asymmetrical factions, morally complex campaigns, and pitch-perfect base building and combat mechanics, Tempest Rising confidently walks the line between nostalgia and innovation. Whether you’re a long-time RTS veteran or someone looking to dive into the genre for the first time, this is one battlefield you’ll definitely want to be a part of.
If you’re ready to experience the adrenaline rush of old-school RTS warfare with a slick modern twist, don’t miss out – Tempest Rising is available now on the Green Man Gaming store. So why not lock in your copy today and command your faction to victory!
