Tempest Rising Review – Nostalgia, Nukes, and New Beginnings

Tempest Rising Review

If I had to list those games for which I feel genuine nostalgia, it would have to include a trio of real-time strategy games: Command and Conquer, Age of Empires, and StarCraft. Those games had such a satisfying loop and addictive mechanics that it was hard to stop playing. Matches against people were fun. Matches against the computer were fun, and building new levels was a happy time sink. First announced in 2023, Tempest Rising is a new RTS game that openly and proudly embraces Command and Conquer and its peers to recapture the magic of those classics. It largely succeeds, even if it only adds a few new ideas. 

Like C&C, Tempest Rising introduces its narrative via hyperbolic cinematics that establish the premise. The Cuban Missile Crisis did not end in an uneasy stalemate, but escalated into a global nuclear conflict. Two warring factions coalesce. The Global Defense Force is made up of North American and Western European allies, while the Tempest Dynasty brings together Soviet and Asian superpowers. Both are driven to understand and harness a mysterious new resource called Tempest, which appeared years after the war. Two extensive campaigns – one for the GDF and the other for the Tempest Dynasty – offer a chance to become familiar with each side’s asymmetric tools and mechanics. The majority of classic RTS games were built on three factions. There’s a third, as yet unplayable faction in Tempest Rising, too. It’s deeply entwined with Tempest itself. We won’t spoil it, but you might be able to guess. 

Rock, Paper, and Scissors

The game’s two playable factions do not share units or strategies. The GDF focuses on technology, the use of intelligence gathering, drones, and weapons that can be deadly at a distance. The Tempest Dynasty uses powerful Tempest-forged weapons, harnessing the mysterious element for destruction. While both sides have infantry, vehicles, and aircraft, their tech trees are quite dissimilar. The Tempest Dynasty favors building upgradeable and easily repaired structures, while the GDF is more spry and mobile. Each side has some incredibly fun and powerful standout units, like the GDF Trebuchet, which transforms from a rolling death machine to a stationary destroyer.

Like classic RTS games from back in the day, the loop of resource gathering, building, and fighting remains untouched. What Tempest Dynasty brings to the familiar recipe is an upgrade path that takes place between missions. While the general flow is the same, each side builds out its bases in a slightly different manner. The GDF uses blueprints while the Tempest Dynasty uses a more traditional approach of placing buildings and watching them grow. As in the best RTS games, the pace of skirmishes straddles the line between being breathless, tense, and relaxed as you prepare for an encounter.

Old But New

Both the Tempest Dynasty and GDF campaigns have the same general trajectory that ends with a climactic encounter, though each endgame is different and unexpected. In more than a few strategy games, the campaign is little more than a functional tutorial. Both of Tempest Rising’s campaigns feel like actual games and not filler. There is a great variety in mission design, and each campaign takes its time introducing new units and strategies.

Twenty years or more passed the classic age of RTS games, the developers have taken note of ways in which the UI and player experience needed attention. There is a lot of easily accessed information about units and controlling everything in battle is painless and intuitive.

While Tempest Rising is set in a post-nuclear holocaust world, the maps themselves often look inspired by classic C&C and its brethren, obviously with a new coat of paint. Generally, the game looks and sounds impressive. Units and animations are detailed and full of interesting touches, zoomed in close. With the exception of infantry, each side’s units are quickly identifiable in the heat of battle. When things get hairy, this is important. The game’s eclectic music sits on top of some very effective battlefield sound design

A Few Missing Touches

The best games in the genre — StarCraft, for example — are built around three or more asymmetric factions. That’s coming to Tempest Rising, too, and I can’t wait to see how it re-balances the experience. The biggest disappointment is that Tempest Rising does not currently include a map editor, though you can dial in the parameters of one-off skirmishes. I hope an editor is on the horizon.

Tempest Rising comes at a great time, with few classic-type RTS games making an appearance. Tempest Rising easily recreates the fun of those early games and their addictive mechanics. At the same time, it looks and runs like a current title. Two impressive campaigns and the potential for endless enjoyment via skirmishes equals an impressive and exciting return to a regretfully absent genre.

***PC code provided by the publisher for review***