Is that a claw?
Tempest 4000 is an interesting story. Most thought the game would never see the light of day after so much legal drama between its creator and publisher. Well the game is finally dropping onto shelves and it feels like nothing has changed…literally. Tempest 4000 is essentially a 4K port of a game that was released on Vita years ago, just now of course running on newer consoles at a higher framerate.
To make things even more complicated Tempest 4000 is not only pretty much the same game as TxK from the Vita, but TxK was in no small part a port of the Atari Jaguar title Tempest 2000. So in essence this is a 4K update of an Atari Jaguar game. Think about that, let that sink in. Still, Tempest has history, and Jeff Minter (the creator of the series) has been making games almost as long as the medium has been around.
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: Xb1 (reviewed), PS4, PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
So now that Atari and Minter are on terms again Tempest 4000 is finally available. I wish there was more to this story, or even the game, but for those that love Tempest there is now a version on current consoles.
Summing up what Tempest is to someone who hasn’t played it does no favors. The game revolves around moving a ship(?) that looks like a giant claw around a grid while firing at incoming objects. It is from the heydays of arcade shooters and relies on quick reflexes and skill. This is the kind of game that would thrive in VR, which makes it even weirder that the PS4 version doesn’t support PSVR. Again it is likely due to the fact that everyone involved simply wanted to get this thing out the door after so many obstacles in front of it.
There simply isn’t much else here though. If you have played TxK or Tempest 2000 this is essentially the same game just at a higher resolution. It feels like a game that sat finished for years and just finally made it out the door. While the 4K is a nice bullet point, the visuals in these games are more based on performance rather than fidelity.
Tempest 4000 is another Tempest game. If you are OK with that and perhaps need an excuse to retire the Vita version, then this package will be worth it. Otherwise this game feels like a relic that didn’t really need the 4K upgrade.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
