As soon as I fired up the Tempest Rising demo for the first time, I had a good feeling. Watching the opening cinematic, which set the tone with cheesy dialogue from bulky armored soldiers and a reedy scientist, I couldn’t help but smile.
The music, UI design, and units seem tailor-made to take me back to high school, when I’d stay up late playing Command & Conquer with my friends, hopped up on Mountain Dew, taco-flavored Pringles, and sleep deprivation.
Recapturing the feeling through a new game in the modern era is a blast, and I’m excited to see what else the developers at Slipgate Ironworks have in store at launch and beyond.
Whether I was jumping into Skirmish to play against bots with clever AI, or Ranked Multiplayer, playing Tempest Rising feels as comfortable as putting on my well-worn baseball glove.My initial reaction is no accident, either.
The developers told me they set out to create a nostalgic real-time strategy (RTS) game that evoked the classics of the 90s and 2000s, with quality-of-life improvements expected of modern games.