Tribes: Vengeance Review

Finally, vehicles have been refined from the selections that were available in Tribes 2. The Jump Tank, with jump jets and a machine gun, a two-seater buggy called a Rover that acts as a mobile spawn point and inventory station are what aid in your ground assault. Likewise, two aircraft are available to help win the day. The Fighter Pod looks like a cross between a piece of fitness equipment and torture device. Sporting a single gun, this one-man craft is good for blowing up enemy emplacements or chasing down other aircraft. The Assault Ship seats three, the pilot can fire the main gun while the passengers have side mounted cannons to tear things up with. The vehicles aid in combat and can prove on some maps to be the difference between victory and defeat.

Do not shoot the grass. Grass is your friend.

We might look like hulking, clumsy metal things, but we're quite agile.

In all, the single-player game is done well. The missions you are presented with make for a pleasant departure from the frenetic online experience. It is refreshing to enjoy the hallmark Tribes game play elements set in a series of missions that make up the single-player, space opera story.

Multiplayer features five game types: Capture the Flag, Rabbit, Arena and the two new ones: Ball and Fuel. Ball is just like it sounds, grab the ball and score in the opponent's goal. Fuel has team members flinging around the map, collecting fuel cells to load into their depot. If a player dies, the depot loses on cell. When a team's depot reaches one hundred, they win the round. Currently there are twelve maps to choose from; not all are available in each game type. While this number pales in comparison to the number of maps that shipped with Unreal Tournament 2004, VU Games and Irrational tout that they are making their tools 'easily accessible' to the mod community. Based on the huge number of mods and maps that flooded the internet as the last two games were released, we can hope that we will see a large increase in maps and other enhancements soon.

Already though, the online portion of the game is fast, furious and fun much like the single-player game. Another change that I like a lot is how the scoring system has been updated. Points are awarded for defensive actions like repairing your base following attacks, offensive actions such as taking out other players and enemy base equipment and style points for scoring difficult shots. This system rewards those players that take on the role of housekeeping and defense and allows them to get the kudos they deserve for doing a formally thankless job.

Tribes: Vengeance joins the growing list of titles that you have to add to your collection for 2004. It finds its niche by providing great multiplayer action, allowing it to join the ranks as an alternative to Unreal Tournament 2004. While the character animations in the single-player cut scenes detract from the overall product (I guess Doom 3 spoiled me), Irrational Studios should be applauded for translating the action and intensity of the Tribes multiplayer game into a mostly satisfying, single-player setting.