Review: Tempest Rising: The Veti’s Wrath

Tempest Rising Veti The Veti's Rising Review

Tempest Rising was launched in April 2025 as a modern take on the classic real-time strategy formula, bringing fast-paced base building and faction-driven warfare back to the forefront. Developed by Slipgate Ironworks and published by 3D Realms and Knights Peak, the game launched with two playable factions, with a third, the Veti, teased for a later release. A year later, The Veti’s Wrath finally introduces this ancient civilization through an 11-mission campaign and adds an entirely new way to approach the battlefield. After spending time with the Veti, it is clear that this is more than just another faction; it changes several fundamental aspects of how Tempest Rising is played. This is our review of Tempest Rising: The Veti’s Wrath on PC via Steam, in which we explore this new faction and sacrifice our enemies for increased power.

Unlike the GDF and Tempest Dynasty, the Veti faction is not human. Instead, they are called the First Tenants of the planet Earth, a civilization that existed long before recorded human history. The Veti excelled at controlling Tempest and created huge biomechanical cities. However, early humans stole their technology and eventually turned it against them, leading to the fall of the Veti civilization and forcing its survivors into hiding deep beneath the Earth’s surface. Now, centuries later, human warfare has awoken this sleeping civilization once more, and they are returning to claim their planet.

The Veti completely rethink base expansion. Instead of relying on a conventional construction yard in the same way as the other factions, they use mobile platforms and aerial support to establish their presence across the battlefield. The Dominance Arc can deploy into a Dominance Anchor, providing a limited build radius alongside defensive firepower, while the Caretaker can establish build areas and construct Ascension Anchors that enhance nearby structures. This gives the Veti considerably more flexibility when expanding their base and positioning their infrastructure.

The Veti combine multiple structures into a single structure for certain tasks. Their power plant also serves as a Tempest storage structure, and their Tempest collection refineries are also built directly on Tempest fields. Their refinery also operates in a way that the field is never empty, so you never run out of Tempest to collect. The remaining structures operate normally, such as the Ziggurat producing infantry, War Assembly producing new units, while the Celestial Gate produces aircraft. The names and designs are different, but they serve the same purpose as other factions.

The Veti also differentiate from the two base game factions in their fighting style by heavily relying on two principles: Subjugation and Sacrifice. While playing as the Veti, when your units kill any enemy infantry, their dead bodies are automatically converted into mindless zombie-like creatures called the Enlightened. These Enlightened not only fight for you, but they also sacrifice themselves to increase the power of your units and buildings. Veti’s units and buildings can be powered up or made more effective by sacrificing these Enlightened units.

For example, if you tether it to a defense structure, it will deal additional damage to enemies. Tethering it to a factory or barracks will result in that structure producing veteran units. Similarly, if you tether the Ascension Anchor to a power plant, it will produce additional power. After placing an Ascension Anchor, you can garrison an additional number of Enlighted inside it to level them up and further increase their benefits for the tethered structures. Each Veti unit also has a passive ability where they can automatically call nearby Enlighted units to sacrifice themselves and grant buffs like reduced damage from incoming attacks and more fire rate for a limited time.

This creates an unusual resource loop where combat itself feeds the Veti’s economy and progression. Every enemy infantry unit becomes a potential resource, forcing you to think not only about killing your opponent but also about how those kills can be converted into additional power.

Compared to the other two factions, I found the Veti to be considerably more powerful once I understood how their mechanics worked. However, their strength comes with a higher degree of mechanical complexity, particularly because you need to manage Enlightened units, sacrifices, Ascension Anchors, and their positioning simultaneously. Veti’s armor and aerial units hit really hard, and even a small army is able to take out a relatively larger opposition if you have some Enlightened surrounding them.

My favourite units from their lineup include the Warden and Subjugator, along with Revenant in the Infantry and Constellation and Messenger from the aerial lineup. Since Veti comprises Tempest and heavily relies on its use, its units do not take any sort of status effects from driving through Tempest fields as well. Most vehicles also apply Tempest Charge on enemy vehicles.

As far as I am concerned, the Veti has quickly climbed to the top tier of my favourite factions in any RTS game that I have ever played. Not only is this faction brutal, but its unique building style gives players freedom that very few factions ever offered in an RTS. The unit design and base buildings are original and look great. While this faction might be inspired by C&C’s Scrin, it reminded me more of StarCraft’s Protoss rather than Scrin.

The Veti immediately reminded me of StarCraft’s Protoss, particularly in the way they use powerful aerial units, battlefield structures, and interconnected infrastructure. The comparison isn’t one-to-one, but the overall philosophy feels familiar.

However, despite me getting strong Protoss vibes throughout the campaign, the important thing is that the Veti don’t simply reskin the existing RTS formula. They change how you think about expansion, resource management, unit preservation, and battlefield positioning. While the GDF is too mainstream of a faction, and Tempest Dynasty feels like a typical villain faction, the Veti brings enough new mechanics to the game that makes it worth checking out.

The biggest issue is the expansion’s $19.99 price. Since the Veti faction itself is being made available for free in Multiplayer and Skirmish to owners of the base game, the paid portion is essentially the 11-mission campaign. The campaign provides a substantial amount of content, but the price may feel steep for players primarily interested in the faction rather than its single-player story.

On the technical side, since The Veti’s Wrath is an expansion rather than a standalone game, it doesn’t make any significant changes to Tempest Rising’s technical foundation. The base game is already well optimized, and I did not encounter any technical issues during my playthrough of the DLC campaign.

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Final Verdict:

The Veti’s Wrath is an excellent addition to Tempest Rising, introducing a faction that feels genuinely different from the GDF and Tempest Dynasty. Its Subjugation and Sacrifice mechanics, Enlightened units, Ascension Anchors, and flexible base expansion create a fresh strategic experience that rewards players who take the time to understand its systems. The 11-mission campaign provides a strong showcase for the faction, although the $19.99 price may feel steep for players primarily interested in the Veti, especially since the faction is available in Multiplayer and Skirmish for base-game owners. Despite this, The Veti’s Wrath delivers one of the most distinctive RTS faction experiences in recent years and is a strong addition to Tempest Rising.

Final Score: 9.0/10

Disclaimer: An Early Access code for The Veti’s Wrath campaign expansion for Tempest Rising was provided by Sandbox Strategies on behalf of 3D Realms and Knights Peak. For a detailed breakdown of our scoring and review process, please refer to our Review Policy.