I have written about Tempest Rising before, but mostly out of my fears of it being passed off as shovelware or just being shoddily made. While I think I have been proven wrong by testing out the new demo they put out (that goes away on the 22nd), at least when it comes to the presentation, I did find the gameplay somewhat limited. It’s mostly just a rehash of old stuff, but in a fancy new engine. In some aspects, it’s a step back, since for example, you can’t garrison infantry in civilian buildings which have become a standard feature.
Presentation deluxe
Like I said, the presentation is pretty nifty. It even has a CGI intro (that might actually be made in-game) that presents the stakes, and shows some cool action. It’s very rare for a game to have this nowadays, so that should be applauded. The in-between cutscenes with the talking heads are also pretty cool, and reminds me of the good old days of RTS games when they went all in on FMV. However, the charm isn’t there. It’s slick, but lacking in camp, and it’s extra noticeable since Tempest Rising plays its inspirations close otherwise. The whole game is basically Command & Conquer, with a mix of Red Alert. I mean, alien material that slowly consumes Earth, but when it’s harvested it provides endless energy. Reminds you of something? The Global Defense Forces is a copy of GDI, and the Tempest Dynasty could as well be NOD, with some Russian Red Alert influences sprinkled on top. I don’t mind this so much, as it seems to go for a grittier tone, but I can’t help to feel that maybe the creativity is a bit lacking.
Blowing stuff up
On the gameplay, I find it okay, overall, but it’s very fast. I was getting serious Sonic vibes when playing, since everything had to go extremely fast! Building things are fast, movement is fast, harvesting is incredibly speedy, and the combat is over in seconds. Got to go fast! I had no time to go over the tutorial boxes, as everything is presented seemingly at the same time. I also had so much money from harvesting that I didn’t know how to spend it. In the end, I just made a massive army and A clicked my way to victory.
The scale feels wrong. The vehicles are fairly large, but they just feel a bit weird, and having tanks move like infantry does not help. There is also zero unit collision, so everything just clumps up and stands inside each other. Instead of maneuvering military units, it felt more like you were guiding a huge all-consuming glob, eating enemy forces to the left and right. When you move a group of units, they don’t match each other’s speed, either. It makes traversing a bit of a pain.
Despite all this, it was okay to play, and I will probably give it a go when it finally releases. However, it could have been so much more, as in actually making strides in the RTS genre, taking it to the next level, so to say. Now, it just feels like you have played this before, but now coming with fewer features. Yay, I guess. It’s a genre that is starved of new games, so you gotta take what you get… The graphics are nice at least, and it runs well!
Thanks for reading.
/Thomas
Tom's Gaming Vault 