Tribes 2 was released in 2001 and was an amazing first person shooter set in the year 3941. It was a multiplayer online game with a small single-player tutorial mode. There’s still strong third-party community support for the game and you can still play it through TribesNext. Now there’s a sequel. Tribes Ascend will be releasing sometime in 2012 and the closed beta testing has started. The NDA has been lifted with the start of beta testing so there are some videos and reviews out already and I’m going to give you a little bit of a look at the game.
As far as story goes, this would probably be the weakest of the series. Before or after a game your team’s leader (known only by a voice) will say something about war and the invaders or how you should either take the land or kick the invaders out.
The graphics look amazing and there’s loads of bloom and bright colors to set everything apart from the same dreary mideastern military drab we’ve been fed for the past decade.
Verdente in our forums got an invite to the beta and this is what he has to say:
“It’s 3am and I have to be up in a couple of hours for work. The cramps in my hands went away a couple of hours ago. Now they’re numb and locked into position on the keyboard and mouse. Shazbot! It’s happened again. Somehow Tribes: Ascend has managed to steal another 6 hours hours of my life, and this is just the Closed Beta. Actually, that is not a fair statement. I willingly and shamelessly sacrificed those hours on the altar of gaming heaven.
Call me a fanboi, call me biased, whatever, but it has been years since I’ve had as much fun playing a PC game.
FPS games have evolved quite a bit over the years since I last played Tribes in 2000, but rarely have I played one that I have felt had the same combination of fast-paced action, tactically demanding gameplay, yet having substantial strategic depth.
The basics of the game (movement, weapons, game modes, etc) should be familiar to anyone who has played an FPS in the last 10 years. However, mastering the nuances such as skiing (or reverse slope speed operations), jump thrusting, energy management, disc-jumping, using the right weapon at the right time, will make the difference between a decent player and the person spamming “speed hacks!” on the chat channel. Those are just the individual player qualities to be mastered.
Where the fun really kicks in is in mastering the coordinated team play. You can most assuredly play lone ranger and while that may work for you in some games, against a Tribe that is even remotely attempting coordination, your efforts will be likely prove futile. Learning, practicing, and then mastering the essential elements of the teamwork components of the game will yield a much more rewarding experience. Critical concepts here are flag management, proper use of the team chat hotkeys, base asset management, and using the right “class” for your Tribe’s needs.”
For a pretty decent video of some gameplay and explanations of a few classes, check out this video:
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