GC22: Watched Tempest Rising, felt a lot of Command&Conquer vibes – News

Developer Slipgate Ironworks gave the first glimpse of its premium graphics real-time strategy game Tempest Rising. This presents itself as old-school RTS, not to say it very consciously arouses associations Command & Conquer. After a new world war, the earth is devastated, there are only three major factions that are at war because of the deposits of the new miracle raw material Tempest. The Western GDF is more bureaucratic and emerged from the metropolises that survived the World War. The Tempest Dynasty formed in Asia and sits there directly on very numerous Tempest sources, so the natural history is charged there with a certain religious meaning and is considered the birthright of the dynasty. Tempest Rising will let you play out this conflict on both sides in two campaigns, each of which will comprise around 15 missions. There is also a third playable faction in the finished game. Slipgate doesn’t want to reveal anything about it at the moment, but it should stand out from the two “more conventional” factions.

The GDF mission experienced at the trade fair begins with a briefing with a general who, as it were, reports in a zoom call from the operations center and gives context as to why we are now invading this area with tanks and soldiers. With troops we need to secure a zone first before base building becomes available on the map. After the guy is done, you could ask questions like in role-playing games, whereby the dialogue option is marked, which ends the conversation directly. After that, the view of the General remains at HQ, but an interface extends to the side. Here you can invest earned points between tasks. They unlock special units, but also “group-wide advantages” (probably general bonuses) should be obtained in the course of the campaign. After a coherent cutscene in the in-game graphics, it’s time to get down to business.

In addition to briefings with render NPCs, there are also cutscenes in in-game graphics that bring you closer to the action.

Initially, only a few standard shooters are available. They are strong compared to the equivalents of the other factions, but they are also slow, the developers explain. So they get along great with the scattered patrols, soon followed by more foot soldiers accompanied by drones and finally tanks. The graphical quality of Tempest Rising is also shown here. Not only do the models look chic, but the way the artillery tears open the snow cover and reveals mud underneath is something to be proud of.

This eliminates even more enemy formations, and finally a Tempest deposit comes into view. These are huge red flowers, with red lightning crackling between the leaves and blossoms. Now the base is set down and the first thing to do is erect a harvest building. The tanks secure the bridge to the south, from which enemy counter-offensives occasionally break in, while the barracks are used to raise troops for the further advance.

The design of the base construction is reminiscent of Command & Conquer and Starcraft.

The studio is working extensively to ensure a good rock-paper-scissors balance so that the range of unit types can be kept relevant as the battle progresses. For example, only with GDF tanks you will not be happy when attacking enemy infantry, because they are very ineffective against them (unless they manage to roll over the opponents). GDF and Tempest Dynasty also intentionally have troops for similar functions, but they should play differently. For example, the mentioned foot troops with the drones (which can be sent ahead in a manageable radius) are anti-artillery units, but function a little differently than the more straightforward rocket launcher gunners that the Tempest Dynasty uses to attack heavy vehicles. Both factions also proceed differently when harvesting the Tempest. The GDF does it in the typical Command & Conquer style: build harvest camps and send the harvester rolling off the conveyor belt to the next deposit. These machines are quite resilient, but the Tempest Dynasty mobile harvesting bases are a different story altogether. You are a bit more flexible with them, but human harvesters are sent out from these bases to bring in the Tempest and they are very vulnerable.

New riflemen and tanks are ready and marching south, soon they will have stronger enemy contact. In order not to burn the troops, an armored medic with a ballistic shield is ordered to patch up nearby allies. This is what is known as a specialist. Each of the three factions will have five of these special units, of which only a limited number can be recruited in each mission. Used efficiently, their special effects should increase the effectiveness of other troops enormously.

Models and effects are extremely handsome for a real-time strategy game.

After that, the remaining resistance is quickly broken, the GDF rolls past the walls into the enemy base and dismantles the enemy headquarters. This was probably made a bit simpler for the demo, so I didn’t see any enemy automatic turrets.

Needless to say, for those who long for a classic RTS with a solo campaign, Tempet Rising is definitely one to keep an eye on. The release is scheduled for 2023.