Note: This review specifically covers the multiplayer mode of Tempest Rising. For thoughts on the story mode, check out the Tempest Rising single-player campaign review.
The problem with Tempest Rising's multiplayer is that while it's perfectly competent at recreating a slice of the old Command & Conquer multiplayer with a pair of new and interesting factions, it's just that: a slice, rather than the whole pie. With only two factions, nine maps, and the most basic of options for customizing its two or four-player matches, just about everything here screams "minimum viable product." Combine that with the fact that Tempest Rising doesn’t aspire to be anything more than a revival of C&C’s gameplay, and there's not a tremendous amount to get excited about. It may well expand over time – such as whenever the Veti faction arrives – but like a vehicle factory that's only half built, it won't be super useful until you're certain you'll have enough harvested Tempest in the bank to complete it.
I could try to comment on unit balance, but like with any fresh-out-of-the-gate multiplayer game, anything I say will almost certainly soon be obsolete. My anecdotal experiences with the community's apparent preference for GDF over Dynasty, probably thanks to their self-replenishing drone swarms, is likely to either be nerfed in a patch within a week or proven completely wrong. Soon, I'm sure someone way smarter than I am will figure out a devastating counter that reduces the seemingly unbeatable (and admittedly pretty cool) strategy of loading Skycrane transport helios with drone operating infantry to automatically barrage anything in range to a garbage-tier strategy for fools.
So I'll leave that to the folks who are busily hashing out the best build orders and counter strategies for the unique characteristics of each faction, which are mostly remixes of C&C ideas with a few twists to get a hang of. I’m a big fan of the Dynasty’s Scrap Trucks, which let you quickly unfold a vehicle-repairing turret anywhere on the map and start plopping down structures that you can pre-construct at your con yard. Naturally, there's no end to the opportunities for showing off your micromanagement skills by deftly controlling the transforming Trebuchet tanks, picking targets for your long-range artillery and airborne units to clear the way for flamethrowers and armor, activating special abilities to disable groups of enemies and leaving them vulnerable, laying mines, scouting, calling in support abilities, etc. – all while building and protecting your own resource economy and climbing the tech tree.
Because of Tempest Rising's retro style and adherence to time-tested tech trees I've found it instantly familiar and easy to slip back into old habits; I've been enjoying going back to the classic engineer-rush where I steal the enemy's construction yard out from under their noses while a handful of infantry distracts them from the opposite flank. (That'll only work for a short while after launch, so I'm getting that trollish thrill while I can.) If it worked in C&C, it'll probably work here.
There are a few features that feel like they're built almost exclusively for the hyper-competitive set, such as the Doctrine tech tree that invites you to dump thousands of precious Tempest credits into upgrades that, for the most part, don't get all that good until you're several tiers deep. Boosting my infantry health by 15%, for instance, doesn't seem all that worth it until I have a lot of infantry in play (as opposed to building more infantry). At my skill level – and probably that of most people who aren't hardcore players – the vast majority of my games thus far haven't lasted long enough to build up the kind of excess cash I'd need to invest in that sort of thing, with most of them wrapping up before the 15-minute mark. But I'm sure that plenty of people will find uses for these to get the upper hand with specific builds, so it's good to know there's more depth to be mined if you put in the time to train up.
However, if you are a competitive player looking for your next RTS fix, know that Tempest Rising doesn't have a ton for you to play with at the moment. For one thing, if you play ranked, there are only 1v1 matches available. Even if there were 2v2 ranked matches (it's actively being worked on, the developers promise), there would only be three maps available that support four players in teams or free-for-all. 1v1 isn't much better in that regard, with just six options. Combine that with there only being two factions until whenever the Veti expansion comes along – which could be a while given the lack of a published timeline – and it feels pretty slim compared to a lot of the games that inspired it.
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There's nothing wrong with the maps that are here – each is a symmetrical layout with areas of high and low elevation, plenty of bottlenecks and alternate routes, all dotted with capturable neutral structures that can give you a "free" (for the cost of an engineer) foothold to build defenses and forward production off of, as well as a few that generate resources. It's simply that there's nothing unexpected – good or bad – at all, and that gives it a very bog-standard feeling. It’s hard to make the argument that Tempest Rising has gone for quality over quantity when there are no big standouts.
