hace 4 horas
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I wasn't definite if I wanted Command & Conquer to travel back. Some things are conscionable gone, a merchandise of their time, your fondness for them tied to immoderate ephemeral capableness oregon regulation agelong since stretched retired oregon hammered successful by clip and, successful the lawsuit of games, a wealthiness of fresher and much convenient alternatives.
But Tempest Rising is not C&C again. Even though I've summarised it arsenic specified successful a fewer emails, fixed the wide similarity of its plan and setting. It feels much similar an archetypal enactment made with modern tools by a 2nd squad with astir the aforesaid remit, and portion I don't emotion it, I bask and respect it truthful overmuch much than a level remake.
Tempest Rising builds an individuality of its own. Two factions (a presently AI-exclusive 3rd is successful playtesting) successful a nearish, perchance apocalyptic future, look off. The NATO-esque Global Defence Forces lucifer C&C's GDI, and Tempest Dynasty are a reasonably fanatical absorption service rooted successful Eastern Europe and Asia, which suffered the brunt of a atomic war. Tiberium crystals are replaced with tempest; sinister invasive tentacles and pods that nutrient invaluable sap. There is, of course, a warfare implicit it.
Tempest works somewhat otherwise than you'd assume. Crossing it slows astir vehicles, gathering up to "overcharge" if undispersed, which neutralises and dilatory kills them. The Dynasty, being much astatine location among the stuff, person respective weapons that instantly termination overcharged vehicles. They're a spot much repair-focused, too, and tin tally their powerfulness plants ragged to nutrient units faster. Mostly, though, they enactment by hitting harder, and switching betwixt 3 "combat plans" to boost building, harvesting, oregon attack, for immoderate flexibility.
The GDF are much fancypants, with shiny lasers and portion powers leaning connected stealth, suppression, passive bonus radii, and a secondary assets acquired chiefly done tagging and sidesplitting enemies. There are much differences betwixt factions, astir notably however they spot buildings. None of it is outlandish (although I bask the audacity of the Dynasty's salvage van/centres, which tin person careless force vehicles backmost into cash), but they consciousness antithetic enough.
Much of GDF play revolves astir choosing targets to people and weaken, moving possibly a small faster and much opportunistically, portion the Dynasty suit hard daze assaults. Or, astatine least, I deliberation so. In signifier I recovered immoderate of the item excessively fiddly; portion there's immoderate rock/paper/scissors interplay that keeps things mixed and loose, managing the progressive abilities of idiosyncratic units feels cumbersome.
GDF jeepy things tin people enemies, but you person to archer them to power to peculiar ammo for that, and past to power backmost again to combat infantry, due to the fact that units don't negociate targets good (and often kite themselves if not told to enactment put, erstwhile I mostly request thing successful between). Scouts tin propulsion a mine, but you person to manually bid it for each of them. Technicians tin spot tiny minefields, but volition past basal adjacent to them and get changeable without a babysitter. Specialists person evident inferior but propulsion distant excessively overmuch absorption extracurricular of segments devoted to them (not helped by their introductory briefing implying I'd beryllium penalised if they died, truthful of people I did the Starcraft happening of parking them safely successful a corner, and learned to bash without).
Trying to find that 1 technician with a acceptable cooldown is hard too, arsenic Tempest Rising has a portion differentiation problem. I admit that units tin beryllium to aggregate power groups astatine once, but infantry are tiny and dice successful droves, and though everything looks large successful question (explosions and laser effects successful particular), determination are an atrocious batch of grey tanks and blocky grey armoured cars. The silliest conveyance is simply a charmingly '1940s warfare bureau feline frowning astir a cigar' elephantine sphere that rolls implicit you, and adjacent that is mostly grey. It's not ugly, and determination are exceptions (Dynasty refineries are vehicles that transportation small babe harvesters), but units don't consciousness similar the characters they ought to be. Moreover, they're harder to prime retired astatine a glance, and easier to propulsion into a blob alternatively of bothering with thing clever.
I was ne'er frustrated, though. At least, not successful a game-ending way. The campaign's fewer hard parts are much surmountable than they felt with my mediocre clicking skills, and nary of the levels consciousness phoned in, oregon acceptable up to dick you about. Frustration is not needfully atrocious successful this benignant of RTS. Levels that look impossible, situations that consciousness similar you've reached a no-win situation, but successful information aren't, are arguably thing to strive for. Though I wouldn't accidental Tempest Rising is heaving with them, it's that benignant of vexation - the bully benignant - that immoderate of its moments flash-fried maine in.
Each run mixes things up immoderate with opportunities to usage the enemy's facilities, arsenic good arsenic the quality of a third, weirdo faction. Success provides points to walk betwixt missions connected "doctrine" bonuses to tweak your playstyle a little, and the "armory", whose items enactment much similar RPG equipment, slotting successful and retired for per-mission perks similar hardier aircraft, punchier infantry, oregon entree to an force conveyance type. The doctrines endure from immoderate crap options sandwiching a bully one, but I tin beryllium precise fickle astir that benignant of thing.
Without conscionable saying "modernises" and moving on, It's hard to verbalise however the gathering and warring of Tempest Rising thread the needle of resembling C&C portion feeling original. Partly it's that the portion roster isn't conscionable a postulation of 1:1 stand-ins. The 2nd GDF portion is the drone operator; a barely-armed wee feline whose miniature aerial portion outranges inexpensive defences, spots for artillery, and respawns if you don't termination him truthful there's nary crushed helium won't shingle hands with danger. Some of it is down to the UI, with the familiar, old-fashioned building/training broadside sheet rebuilt for modern clarity and speedy usage tabs. Lots of tiny things adhd up to marque it consciousness similar the autarkic offspring of an ageing design, not a soulless clone, oregon a confused teen forced to deterioration its uncomfortable clothes.
This comes done astir of each though, successful the narrative. Tempest Rising's crippled is, y'know, fine. It loses astir of the campy melodrama, but this feels an intentional displacement from a wide bully vs evil affair. Sure, C&C's Brotherhood of Nod were somewhat played arsenic a Red Menace, but were an evil cult of property foremost, leaning connected the memorable look and show of Joseph D. Kucan (also dependable manager for astir of the series) arsenic Kane. The GooDIes, meanwhile, were adjacent archetypal heroes of American exceptionalism, with a fewer sops to mildly criticise their interaction connected the satellite easy fixed with well-meaning fervour. Anomalous atrocious pome out, occupation solved.
For each its intentional ham, Nod were a savvy concept: wide absorption to a militarised planetary hegemony, exploited by an egomaniac to signifier a paramilitary cult whose near-worship of the ecologically disastrous tiberium heavy outweighs immoderate valid disapproval of the GDI. The bid ne'er truly went anyplace with that, but it made them consciousness a small much interesting.
Tempest Rising doesn't spell successful hard connected its themes either. Campaign missions don't consciousness precise connected oregon contextualised, portion its communicative wisely sticks to fewer moving parts and wastes nary of your clip pretending to beryllium wherefore you're here. Its characters are forgettable, but much realistic and approachable, helped by the intimate, face-to-face ngo briefings with basal dialog options. The archetypal you spot of the GDF enactment is an American not adjacent bothering to larn the sanction of the Icelandic territory he's invading, and a Dynasty fig who tries to termination you expects you to conscionable judge that it was a governmental happening and determination connected with a shared intent and a Slavic shrug.
Rising feels much believably astir "Western" (primarily US and Landlordian, let's beryllium real) powers alternately exploiting and abandoning Eastern Europe, whose radical suffered astir nether its fictional atomic warfare and the ensuing dispersed of tempest, and suffered excessively nether the USSR, and negociate to somewhat unite implicit it. Even tempest is little sinister than tiberium: though invasive, it lowers radiation and burns clean, making it arguably an improvement, and successful the eyes of a much sympathetic reddish faction, a assets much rightfully theirs than successful the grasping hands of a distant satellite police.
The Dynasty are dressed to oppress, a bust successful the inheritance recalls Lenin, and their occasional po-faced prevarication oregon blatant maltreatment of authorization are vestiges of Soviet powerfulness structures, but they're neither Russian oregon communist. They're their ain unusual thing, much due for an epoch wherever your person has an cognition successful Armenia, you've conscionable got into a Polish sitcom, and you conscionable alt-tabbed present from flirting with a Czech woman. Less "the baddies", and much politically driven, with a rank much committed to self-determination than to leader worship of a ruler, oregon hating the GDF due to the fact that that's what the baddies do. The Dynasty, and crippled itself, callback their evident humanities influences, yet are chiseled from them, becoming thing of their own. That's a hard tightrope to walk, and astir apt wouldn't enactment if the plan wasn't contributing with a likewise "the aforesaid but different" energy.
Tempest Rising is not astir these things, due to the fact that it doesn't instrumentality itself that seriously, and nor should it erstwhile the extremity remains pulpy sci-fi fun. But its mounting and real-world themes resonate conscionable capable to consciousness sincere and vaguely plausible, making it casual to attraction astir what's happening. Not deeply, but capable to assertion some its ain individuality and a large inheritance.
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