Though the real-time strategy genre is nowhere close to being in the sort of shape that it once used to be, fans thankfully still have some solid offerings to choose between, and every so often, something new and interesting usually tends to come along. Of course, in the absence of AAA studios, indies and smaller teams have had to fill the void, and with the upcoming Tempest Rising, developers Slipgate Ironworks and 2B Games, and publishers 3D Realms and Knights Peak, are looking to do. With the game’s launch now around the corner, here, we’re going to cover some pivotal details that you should know about it and what it’ll bring to the table.
STORY AND SETTING
Tempest Rising is set in an alternate history Earth where the Cuban Missile Crisis went in a drastically different direction, sparking World War 3 and leaving chaos in its wake. Thirty-four years later, huge portions of the war-torn planet are heavily irradiated, though as luck would have it, these areas are also where the newly emerged, mysterious, plant-like energy source known as Tempest is found. As you would expect, Tempest is highly coveted by warring factions, who are locked in conflict as a result.
INSPIRED BY COMMAND AND CONQUER
In case it wasn’t abundantly clear by now, yes, Tempest Rising is heavily inspired by Command and Conquer, to the extent that its developers have outright described it as a spiritual successor. From its war-torn setting and the narrative premise at its core to other gameplay and narrative details (that we’ll get into in a bit), the game is wearing its Command and Conquer influences pretty proudly on its sleeve. What’s more, Tempest Rising’s music is also being composed by Frank Klepacki, who is best known for Command and Conquer.
CAMPAIGNS
As you’d expect from a real-time strategy game claiming to be inspired by Command and Conquer, Temptest Rising will feature two campaigns. Two factions, as we touched on, will be at the heart of the game’s story, and each of the game’s two campaigns will see you playing as a different one.
CAMPAIGN LENGTH
By the look of it, Tempest Rising will boast pretty substantial single-player offerings, with each campaign set to be eleven missions long, and cutscenes interspersed throughout. What the runtime for each campaign will be remains to be seen, but speaking in an interview with Gameshedge, lead game designer Brandon Casteel promised “beefy” missions with “plenty of gameplay time per mission.” Missions will also be varied, and not all following the same structure, according to Casteel.
MULTIPLAYER
No RTS (especially one inspired by Command and Conquer) is complete without a full suite of multiplayer offerings, and sure enough, Tempest Rising will have plenty of modes on offer. It’s been confirmed that in addition to multiplayer skirmishes, custom matches and ranked multiplayer matches will also be available.
FACTIONS
Two factions will be at the heart of Tempest Rising’s story with the Tempest Dynasty and the Global Defense Force, each starring in their own campaign. In multiplayer, meanwhile, players will also have a third faction to play as in the form of the Veti, an ancient and technologically advanced alien race. Each faction will bring their own unique roster of units, systems, and play styles. The Veti, however, will not be available at launch. Exactly when the third faction will become available is currently not known.
GLOBAL DEFENSE FORCE
In what’s left of the world in Tempest Rising’s universe, the Global Defense Force (or the GDF) is the largest military on the planet. A coalition of the militaries of the United States, Canada, and Western European nations, the GDF specializes in technological advancements, scientific research, space exploration, surveillance, and intelligence warfare. In gameplay, the GDF will priorizite precision offense and high mobility- though heavy weaponry will also be an option should it become necessary.
TEMPEST DYNASTY
Where much of the western half of Earth formed the GDF following World War 3, several Eastern European and Asian nations came together to become the Tempest Dynasty. With man of the dynasty’s former nations having suffered heavy irradiation, it also finds itself with large quantities of Tempest within its borders, which is now very much to their advantage. Armed with Tempest, in gameplay, the faction is able to use high-energy systems, units, and buildings to its advantage.
SPECIALISTS
As you’d expect, each faction in Tempest Rising will also feature its own roster of exclusive, higher-powered units touting unique abilities. The GDF, for instance, will have the drone assassin Comandante Vasco Delgado, the riot medic Captain Dylan Tremblay, the comms officer Captain Ed Hayes, and the sniper Captain Bronagh Cregan. The Tempest Dynasty, on the other hand, will have, among others, the physicist Dr. Aigul Yusupova, the machinist Sergeant Srdjan Radojević, the anti-vehicle sniper Bataar Nergüi, and combat support specialist Mykyta Moroz.
SUPPORT POWERS
Each faction in Tempest Rising will also have its own set of support powers, which will supposedly work not too differently from how super weapons did in Command and Conquer games. The GDF’s support powers will let you unleash air strikes, deploy troop carriers loaded with peacekeeping forces, use communication jammers, and more. On the other hand, the Tempest Dynasty’s support powers will let you fire extremely volatile Tempest missiles, seed battlefields with dangerous mines, deliver automated infirmary pods on the battlefield, and more.
SPECIALIST MISSIONS
Similar to Commando missions in Command and Conquer games, Tempest Rising’s campaigns will also feature missions where players will be playing only as a Specialist unit. How many of these we can expect is unknown, but speaking in the aforementioned Gameshedge interview, lead game designer Brandon Casteel confirmed that Specialist-only missions will indeed be featured.
NO NAVAL BATTLES
Naval battles were often a big part of the gameplay loop in Command and Conquer titles, but this is one area where Tempest Rising is deviating from its biggest inspiration. Speaking with Gameshedge, Casteel explained that the complexity that naval gameplay would have added to the experience led to the developers’ decision to not have it be in the game at all. Whether or not it will be added in at some point in the future remains to be seen.
“Naval as a gestalt concept introduces a tremendous amount of complexity to a game,” Casteel said. “You have to worry about what happens on the coastline, about how air units and ground units engage with naval units; you will have to figure out much more complex map design challenges, and it will decrease the number of units you will be able to produce for air and ground as well. I feel like it’s tricky enough to worry about getting the basics of an RTS right, and we would have done ourselves no favors trying to figure out the very complex challenges inherent in adding a naval layer to the game. Never say never, but I think a lot of people drastically underestimate how hard it is to make naval work. Very, very few games have done it right.”
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Recommended system requirements for Tempest Rising haven’t yet been revealed, however, its minimum requirements are available, and thankfully, they’re not terribly demanding. To be able to run the game, you’ll need at least either an i5-7400 or a Ryzen 5 1600, along with either a GeForce GTX 1060 3 or a Radeon RX 580, and about 30 GB of free storage space.
