As EA still refuses to revive the strategy game series Command and Conquer, a developer from Denmark is taking matters into his own hands: Tempest Rising looks like the spiritual successor and already has a free multiplayer demo on Steam.
What kind of game is it? Tempest Rising is a real-time strategy game by developer Slipgate Ironworks and aims to “bring back the golden age of RTS”. This refers to the time around the turn of the millennium, which was marked by strategy games such as Age of Empires, StarCraft, and Command and Conquer.
You can see a trailer for the game here:
What is the game about? Tempest Rising throws you into an alternative timeline where the Cuban Missile Crisis led to the outbreak of a nuclear war. The old superpowers have fallen, and three new ones rise – supported by a powerful substance called Tempest.
Of the three new factions, two will be playable at release: the self-proclaimed peacekeeping force of the Global Defense Forces and the Tempest Dynasty – a coalition that resists the Global Defense Forces by any means necessary.
In 2 campaigns with 11 missions, you will fight for control of the Tempest Vines. This resource represents a powerful, albeit mysterious energy source in the new world.
Unofficial remake of a venerable series
In what way is the game the spiritual successor to C&C? Both in terms of story and visuals, Tempest Rising borrows quite a bit from Command and Conquer:
- We are in an alternative timeline of our real world and in a modern setting
- There are three unique factions that are supposed to play very differently
- We are fighting for a mysterious new resource – instead of Tiberium, it is now called Tempest
By the way, for the soundtrack, Frank Klepacki has been brought on board. And what he has probably worked on, you can guess three times – right, Command and Conquer of course. So Tempest Rising not only looks like its big predecessor, but also sounds like it.
When is the game coming out? Tempest Rising is set to be released on April 24, 2025, on PC for Steam. You can already compete in multiplayer battles with other players there. As part of the Steam Festival of Real-Time Strategy Games, the developers have released a demo.
In the demo, you play as the GDF or Tempest Dynasty in skirmish matches against other players. However, you cannot play the campaign missions or matches against AI. The demo is available until February 3rd.
Tempest Rising steps into big footsteps. Because although the Command and Conquer series has been around for many years, and the last new game is already 15 years old, the games were still among the list of the 15 best strategy games for PC last year.
