Tempest Rising finally broke the RTS curse when it arrived earlier this year, delivering a thrilling remix of Command & Conquer's classic strategy action, while also remembering to add proper singleplayer campaigns alongside its competitive multiplayer.
If I had one complaint, though, it would be that keeping up with the pace of its singleplayer could be difficult sometimes. While I generally approved of Tempest Rising's balance between tension and fun, my reaction times aren't what they used to be during C&C's heyday, and having a little more time to think wouldn't have gone amiss in some of its scenarios.
Fortunately, this will no longer be a problem as of next week. Tempest Rising's next update will bring several of the community's most hotly requested features. Among these is an active pause feature and a game speed adjustment tool designed specifically for the singleplayer campaign, letting you tweak the pace of the action to your liking, or freeze the game entirely while issuing orders to your units.
Adjustable singleplayer speed isn't the community's most requested feature, however. That, apparently, is larger-scale multiplayer matches. Currently, Tempest Rising supports 1v1 and 2v2 scenarios. But the next update will introduce 3v3 matches too, supporting both multiplayer and single-player skirmish.
For these larger bouts, the update will add a new multiplayer map set in Kyoto with four and six player variants, while two existing multiplayer maps have been adjusted to accommodate 3v3 battles. Other improvements include a "full" spectator mode that expands upon the basic functionality added in June, a balance pass for the campaign missions (which should further help with pacing), and, curiously, a 'no bot' sandbox mode:
"We've heard from both new and experienced players that they'd like to load into a map without any opponents," developer Slipgate Ironworks says to explain this last feature. "In this next update, we're adding a 'No Bot' sandbox functionality to Skirmish mode so players can more easily experiment with units, buildings, and factions."
The update will roll off the assembly line on September 9. Sadly, there's still no word on when Tempest Rising's third faction will be made playable in the game, which is a shame as I think it's what the RTS needs to elevate itself from being a quality C&C successor to a classic in its own right.
