Tempest Rising is a polished, performant and brilliant real-time strategy (RTS) game powered by Unreal Engine 5. That’s a sentence I never really expected to say just a few years ago, but a whole host of contributing elements here make this game fun to play and, thankfully, technically sound. This is not typical multi-platform game that I’d review for DF, but a PC exclusive in a genre that defined the platform’s earliest days. Slipgate Ironworks and 3D Realms have crafted a new entry into that classic genre that lives up to the legacy of its finest works, and I think a big reason for that is due to the incredible single-player focus.
While you can of course play the game in a skirmish against the CPU or in multiplayer, what sets Tempest Rising apart from many modern entries in the RTS genre is its intricate 22-mission campaign. Like some of the most legendary RTS games, you have a choices of factions: the NATO-adjacent, high-tech and synergistic Global Defence Force or the Tempest Dynasty, an eastern/southern force with heavy weapons platforms and flamethrowers.
This dichotomy might sound familiar and that’s purposeful, with the game’s developers being open about their inspiration from Command and Conquer, and the storyline isn’t far removed from the beats found in the first two games in that series. A devastating nuclear war has led to the spread of the veiny, organic and titular “tempest” across the globe, a sci-fi lifeform whose byproduct conveniently acts as a fuel source and weapon. The two factions vie for the future of the species by fighting over the remaining land and resources.
The game’s interstitial story moments also feel like something ripped right out of the first Command and Conquerr, albeit with more modern technology. Instead of filmed FMVs, these sequences are instead rendered in real time, with digital actors representing ranking leaders or second-in-commands that brief you on your mission and optionally give you more information and context about the world and your objective. From here you can see your next mission laid out in front of you on a animated geographical map, and upon deploying you’re treated to a short FMV sequence where new unit types are shown off and the combat scenario ahead is prepped.