Devotees of the old ways might well remember the Command & Conquer series, those beloved progenitors of the RTS. Well, Slipgate Ironworks, 3D Realms, and THQ Nordic do, so here's a game that reminds me more than anything of some kind of Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun from an alternate reality. Tempest Rising, announced during today's THQ Nordic showcase, is an extremely classic looking RTS coming in 2023.
With three factions total, two of which have a campaign to play, Tempest Rising focuses on a conflict over a nuclear-fueled plant that produces pure liquid energy, or somesuch technobabble. As good a reason as magical space rocks to shoot at each other, is what I'm thinking. The self-styled Global Defense Forces are a peacekeeping organization with advanced tech. The Tempest Dynasty is a resistance alliance against GDF occupation with "overwhelming firepower and impressive defenses." The third faction isn't yet announced, but my money's on nuclear radiation eating plant monsters and/or mutants.
Tempest Rising has that classic RTS gameplay you may be familiar with. You'll build up a base and produce an army by pulling resources from fields using extractor units. That means a focus on micromanaging your units to both protect and harass enemies' economies and map control. It's definitely got the classic stuff you want, like explosive red barrels, but has some more modern conceits like call-in abilities and connected side-goals between campaign missions to get bonuses.
