Atari today announced Tempest 4000, a visually stunning, action-packed shooter based on the classic arcade game, Tempest, will be available this holiday season on the PC. Developed by legendary game designer Jeff Minter, Tempest 4000 remains faithful to the original fast-paced gameplay while adding exciting new features and updated graphics.
The original Tempest, one of the first video games to use 3D vector graphics, represents one of Atari’s hallmark titles and is considered one of the most popular arcade games of all time. It has been featured prominently across pop culture – including in Ernest Cline’s dystopian Ready Player One novel.
Jeff Minter, Executive Producer of Tempest 4000 and founder of Llamasoft, said:
“At the end of the day, video gamers always win. I am very happy to work with Atari again to bring a long-awaited sequel of Tempest to our legion of fans and a new generation of gamers worldwide.”
Just as in the original game, players are once again in control of the Claw, a powerful spacecraft equipped to destroy deadly creatures and other obstructions with rapid-fire shots on vibrant geometric prisms. With three game modes to choose from and 100 levels to conquer, players must eliminate all enemies as quickly as possible to survive, aiming for the coveted spot at the top of the leaderboards.
Here are the key features of Tempest 4000:
- Arcade Style Shooter: Blast down hordes of enemies in this fast-paced arcade style shoot ‘em up.
- Unparalleled Graphics: Experience Tempest 4000’s mind-blowing graphics in beautiful 4K resolution.
- Multiple Game Modes: Pick from three different game modes including Standard, Pure and Endurance that will push your skills to the limit.
- Level Up: Progress and clear through 100 unique geometric levels by destroying enemies with various weapons and power-ups, and earn upgrades through bonus rounds.
- Climb to the Top of the Leaderboards: Post your high score in your quest to be recognized as number one on the leaderboards.
- Retro Techno Soundtrack: Enjoy the beats of a thumping soundtrack inspired by early 1990’s techno.
- Old School Gameplay: Feeling nostalgic? Relive the traditional gameplay of the original Tempest with enhanced graphics on current generation consoles.
Todd Shallbetter, Chief Operating Officer of Atari, added:
“The original Tempest is a beloved arcade classic with a unique style and intense, edge-of-your-seat gameplay. We’re thrilled to be able to work with Jeff Minter again, someone who is a legend in the industry and has made a huge impact on the history of video games, to develop this highly-anticipated next installment of the Tempest franchise, updated with today’s technology.”
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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I am soo looking forward to this, I have got Typhoon 2K1, Tsunami 2001 as well as the original for the Jag Emu, I hope Jeff keeps the original rave soundtrack or at least be optional !
Ditto! I own Tempest 2000 on Atari Jaguar along with a modded rotary controller and it’s still one of my favourite games ever made. I also have the hacked 60fps emulated version on PC which is so smooth albeit I don’t have a rotary controller to play it on PC which makes it a lesser experience. Oh, and I own the sublime TxK on PlayStation Vita. I’ve not played Tempest 3000 on nuon. Totally looking forward to this game!
whoa, you sound like a bigger fan than me ! and tbf, you NEED a rotary controller for the precise Claw movement on the rails, it’s very hard to do with a controller…I saw Tempest 3000 on the Nuon at a mates arcade expo but imo it looked very grainy, nothing like the Jaguar or PC version, but hey, at least you get a free DVD player 😉
Haha, maybe! Part of the reason I bought an iPhone rather than Android back in 2010 was due to Minter having announced Llamasoft would be making mobile games exclusively for Apple’s product so I suppose that makes me a fan of his, lol!
Indeed. Tempest played using anything other than a rotary controller just isn’t the same thing. Whether it be that Tempest 2000 hack on my PC with a joypad or mouse, Tempest X3 on PS1/Saturn, Tempest via MAME using a joypad or TxK on PS Vita… the experience is sorely lacking. For those who’ve never experienced it with a rotary controller then they don’t know what they’re missing!
Very nice. I’ve never seen a nuon in person and while Tempest 3000 received mixed reviews I’d nevertheless love to see and play it. I see there’s a nuon emulator available so maybe I’ll have to try getting that working some time.
I’d also love to see the PC release Tempest 2000, as opposed to the 60fps hack of the Jag version emulated. Wikipedia states that was released on CD-ROM firstly on DOS and then on Win 95. The CD-based soundtrack is said to sound even better than the stellar soundtrack of the Jag version!
imo Typhoon 2001 is astonishing, it’s *literally* the HD remake of the Jaguar version, same BGM same levels, enemies, all that… the only caveat is that after the third bonus stage, which is a variant of ” riding the bacon ” ALWAYS crashes…. but boy is it beautiful ! 😀
I totally forgot about that gorgeous-looking game so I’ll be downloading it again soon! I had it several years ago but that was on a MacBook Air where the frame-rate was excruciatingly poor.
it’s epic speedy now, I reckon it’s what Jeff would have wanted, given the tech at the time XD
Indeed. It was such a downer that the reputedly completed version of TxK couldn’t be released on PC but at least we now have the all-new Tempest 4000 to look forward to. Here’s hoping Tempest 4000 can be played in VR because that could be sublime!
Off topic:
Intel Launching 8th Gen Processors August 21st
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/6sed70/intel_launching_8th_gen_processors_august_21st/
Only 8 months since intel kaby lake 7ght…….. wow Intell greed.
Or AMD ascendance.