Shazbot!

I started playing multiplayer games more frequently after 2002, when I moved away from dial-up, and in many ways, I missed the Tribes series because of it.  Luckily, Tribes: Ascend has come out recently, and is showing me just how different a shooter can be.


I enjoyed Unreal Tournament quite a bit, and liked one particular game type that was rarely actually played -- one with low gravity, super jumps, and no friction on the map.  I found myself playing frequently against bots in this environment, leading to very interesting results.  That game mode died in the rush to make ultra-realistic shooters like Battlefield or Medal of Honor.  Luckily, Tribes: Ascend brings it back.

To demonstrate, here's an example of the high-flying fast-paced duels of TA go down:

Hi-Rez does a very good job of implementing a truly free-to-play system, though word is the brunt of this came in the last patch.  There are effectively three different currencies to pay for upgrades -- gold (real money), XP, and passive weapons upgrades based solely on use.  This third currency is new, and I was surprised at how quickly the upgrades came -- after roughly eight hours playing, I'd maxed out many of my weapons in three different classes.  Gold upgrades are cheap and plentiful, especially with the implementation of the Shazpack.  While I'm normally hesitant to buy fake currency to buy fake items, I put in roughly $50 and unlocked every class and weapon I could feasibly want, and still had plenty of gold left over to go hog-wild on silly upgrades.  There's also another benefit of having purchased anything at all -- you get bonus XP.  At this bonus XP rate, I earned enough in about four hours of play to unlock a few new items and be able to max out a weapon I'd not even touched.

It has a quick learning curve, too -- I quickly mastered the jumps, skis, and zooming about the map, but I'm still getting the hang of the momentum based weapons the franchise is known for.  I'd recommend any new player (either paid or free) to start with the Soldier, as it's a good all-around class that won't frustrate you at the beginning.  It's meaty, it's got a standard FPS-type assault rifle, and you live long enough to try out the actual gameplay.

The price is also good -- it's completely free to start, and you aren't crippled compared to people who pay money right off the bat.  The speed XP comes in means that you could after a single long session nab yourself a second class, if you perform well -- and I recommend holding off on selecting that class until you get a feel for all of the free classes.  If you do decide to pay for unlocks, the price is just right -- where Age of Conan required nearly $100 to get everything I might want, Tribes nets me everything I want for less than the price of a boxed retail game, and I felt like I had plenty of money left to throw around at upgrades I wasn't completely sold on.

Finally, Hi-Rez seems to actively listen to their fan base.  They've tweaked so much since the initial release that the Tribes community complained about, and the result is beautiful.  They've tweaked the physics, the classes, and they've made weapons unlock solely by use.  That being said, there are certainly improvements that still need to be made.  There need to be more maps - I hear they're throwing a few out in the next patch, but it needs many more maps to keep attention.  Grenades either feel completely overpowered or like they do nothing at all.  Something should keep players from spamming chat with "Shazbot" or "Woohoo" more than once a second.

All in all, I approve of Tribes, and think Hi-Rez has learned from their Global Agenda mistakes.

If you see me in-game as Herald42, shoot a friendly rocket my way.