There are a surprising number of RTS romps knocking about these days, but few of them have managed to leave a mark. Pessimism has overtaken me, but there are some exceptions.
Tempest Rising—Slipgate Ironwork's sci-fi throwback—is one of them. If you've ever dreamed of a reality where EA didn't completely wreck Westwood's Tiberium saga, this one's for you.
Last summer's demo convinced me that it's on the right track. There really hasn't been a Command & Conquer successor so primed to carry on Westwood's legacy before.
A couple of missions, though, don't tell the whole story. Multiplayer might not be at the heart of real-time strategy (despite the number of developers who have been mistakenly convinced that it is), but it's still a vital component.
Certainly it's one of the reasons why StarCraft 2 managed to sit at the top of the pile for so many years. The good news, then, is that Tempest Rising's latest demo is showcasing its multiplayer chops.