Tempest is back for the first time in 18 years, and it’s time for you to “feed your head to the web.”
Tempest 4000
Developer: Llamasoft
Price: $29.99/$19.99(PC)
Platforms: XB1(reviewed) PS4, PC
MonsterVine was provided with a code for review.
Tempest 4000 is an arcade retro style high score chase, and a direct sequel in the Tempest franchise. Right away it would be easy to dismiss the game for its very simple, vector based visual styles. Tempest is full of simple shapes and bold lines, but very little textures to speak of. In a generation full of resolution wars and processing power, Tempest 4000 is beautiful in its simplicity. It is also rendered in 4K on platforms that support it, so don’t worry.
The gameplay is the same as it ever was. Control your ship that crawls along the edge of a tunnel, shoot everything that gets in your way. It’s simple, survive, rack up your points trying to get through the 100 levels, and gloat about your score to your friends. But the style of Tempest 4000 is mysterious, enthralling and is what kept me motivated to improve my skills and chase the top positions on the leaderboards. Each level the player starts with a fully charged superzapper (a screen clearing bomb that can be used once per level) but their ships progression over, back to the basic weapon, no jump ability and no assistant drone. The sound effects that pair with the upgrades are pure glee. I still don’t understand what triggers “TREASURE” versus “PLEASURE” to be said, but I get a kick out of every line of voice work.
Through the simplicity of its visual design, Tempest 4000 implies a simple experience, but what lies past the tutorial levels is some serious depth in challenge, combined with some rad, 90s era techno beats. The early levels are misleadingly easy, and perhaps one of my favorite aspects of Tempest 4000 is that not everything is explained. Strange voice-over work is timed to power-ups which seem to signify something important, but it’s something that the player has to learn. Quirky text on the title screen with bizarre references to old Atari era culture left me with a smile, even after suffering a crushing defeat. Mysterious objects and power-ups are collected which don’t seem to do much, but pull players into some interesting encounters. I am not fully certain what is new to 4000 that wasn’t present in the previous entries, as the authentic retro score chase of the originals could never pull me in long enough to find out. But with 4000 I found the head scratching mystery fueling me to practice, to push myself for a higher score, to master the bonus levels and to bob my head to the tunes.
The Final Word
The action and surface-level design of Tempest 4000 is perfectly retro, and after flying through more of the tunnels and rings that it has to offer, Tempest 4000 becomes something wonderful. A balance of everything wonderful about the high-score chasing games of yesteryear with details and engagement of something that only comes from iteration. I walk away humming the tunes and I laugh and smile at the oddities every time. And remember “Computers for People.”
MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
