Tempest Rising is probably one of the best upcoming games this year, and sadly for everyone who exclusively plays custom Command & Conquer 1v1 matches on their preferred title, they probably do not know how great a game Tempest Rising actually is. Hopefully, our combined efforts will convince more players to try out this finely tuned RTS.
The February Steam Next Fest has Tempest Rising among its featured games. The highlight this time is the campaign demo that gives players a taste of what they can expect from the full game. Players can also engage in Skirmishes in custom lobbies, complete with all the available units from each faction’s respective tech trees. Unfortunately, the demo does not support regular multiplayer lobbies, so you won’t be able to queue for regular matches. Your best bet is to bring your friends and create Skirmish lobbies. That’s exactly what we did with our Sirus writers, at least those who enjoy the finer parts of RTS games.
In terms of general feel, the multiplayer matches are relatively fast-paced for the genre. Enemy units can start to harass as early as the two-minute mark, provided the enemy commander has already discovered the location of your main base and has cut some corners to prioritize unit production. Larger fights with vehicle support fights don’t start until the five-minute mark. But it is possible to claim an early victory if the opponent folds under the early game pressure. Longer matches can go into into the 45 to one-hour mark, especially when you are new to the game and are trying to figure out all abilities.
The biggest hurdle to learning the game comes from familiarizing yourself with the numerous unit abilities. There are so many to keep track of that you sometimes feel like the only thing you can do is “attack move”. On top of that, there are commander abilities that may tip the scale in your favor in and outside of battle. However, cooldown management and monetary cost must be observed.
As if that’s not enough, gameplay-altering specializations called Doctrine further encourages certain unit compositions and playstyles. It’s all so jarring at the beginning, but learning some build orders and organizing command groups will go a long way in mastering the game’s imposing demands.
There are two factions available in the demo: the Global Defense Force, or GDF, as they are affectionally called, and the Tempest Dynasty. A third faction has been teased and is likely to be released when the game launches later this April.
The GDF are members of a multinational peace-keeping force dedicated to maintaining world peace at any cost. They rely on their technological advantage to gain an edge against attackers. They excel in defensive warfare, whittling down the enemy until an opening for a major attack presents itself.
The faction has a unique resource in the form of Intelligence. This resource is required to build the faction’s strongest units and is required for its highest-tier research. Your options for gathering it are limited to the scout vehicle’s active ability early on. But an Intelligence building can ensure a steady flow when you reach the mid-game.
It turns out that intelligence is the main bottleneck you’ll eventually face when transitioning to the late game. To keep up with the demand, you will either need to research ways for the infantry to gather Intelligence on their own, or you will need to build more Intelligence-producing structures. Costly ones. Once you get over that hurdle, however, you are well on your way to maxing out your chances for victory.
In contrast, the rebellious Tempest Dynasty is a confederation of rogue militias who oppose everything the GDF stands for. They are mostly descendants of those who survived the Tempest outbreaks across wide areas of Eastern Europe and inner Asia. Their units excel in mobility and raw firepower. Their Dynasty Guards and Rocket Soldiers are great early game units that have the potential of winning games within the first 5 minutes of the match.
The Tempest Dynasty faction can overload their power plants, which, in turn, allows nearby structures to produce units at a faster rate. Of course, this trick has its drawbacks. The structure(s) that benefit from the overloaded state will begin to deteriorate as long as the ability is active.
Players like myself who love to get an early economic advance usually activate this ability at the start of a match to quickly produce a second Tempest Rig well before the enemy team has a chance to build a standing army.
I can confidently say that Tempest Dynasty is tempo-based. It’s often that one that dictates the terms of the early game and well into the mid-game. They are regarded as a more aggressive and mobile force compared to the GDF, but they can’t sustain a prolonged attack against such a defensive powerhouse. They have to build a superior economy to make up for the difference, much like how Zerg in Starcraft 2 have to be two mining bases ahead of the enemy to effectively trade out when fights break out.
The Dynasty faction does not have a unique resource to call their own. They rely solely on the damaging properties of the Tempest phenomenon to achieve their objectives. Without this bottleneck, production costs for their higher-tier are significantly higher. They also need to build more silos for that increased currency cap. This unexpected Achilles’ heel is easily exploitable by any opponent worth their salt.
But if you manage to build that late-game army and that death ball rolling, you are nigh unstoppable.
Tempest Dynasty is shaping up to be the best RTS game to release in the Indie space since forever. Many developers have their hand in putting their spin on the Juggernauts of the genre. Of all the games I’ve seen this year, Tempest Dynasty has the best-feeling multiplayer I’ve seen so far. I can’t wait to see what this game can do for the RTS community when it comes out later this year.
