Number three, multiplayer

Tribes

Starsiege: Tribes was the defining game of my career. While most of the FiringSquad and gamers crew cut their teeth on Quake, it wouldn't be until years later until I appreciated the game. Tribes was revolutionary in so many ways, it boggles the mind. In days when the most advanced team play options were mods like Quakeworld Team Fortress, Tribes came onto the scene with complex team ideas that are only now starting to become standard.

Capture the Flag was the standard mode of play, but unlike ThreeWave CTF or Team Fortress, Tribes CTF involved the use of vehicles and depriving your enemy of resources. Bases had inventory stations at which players could switch armor and weapons or replenish their health. These areas and the major entrances were guarded by turrets, and all of this was powered by the generators.

Defending the generators was the second most important task after defending your own flag. If the gens go down, your entire base shuts off. The turrets stop fighting and the inventory stations obviously stop working. Without inventory stations, there's no way to get heavy armor and many of the weapons and packs - which makes offense and defense incredibly difficult.

Tribes was most notable for an unintentional design feature - skiing. The game physics permitted even the lumbering heavy armor to go down the side of a hill, gaining momentum, and with precise use of the jump button and jetpack, he could launch himself into the air from another hill. While in the air, the heavy would rain mortars down on unsuspecting enemies, and try to land on the edge of another hill to slide down and back up again. The light armor class would speed by in the meantime, making constant attempts from the flag.

In competitive play, Tribes was a completely different beast. Everyone would be charged with strict duties and the heavies on offense would often follow precise skiing routes in order to minimize travel time to the enemy base. Teams would act like clockwork, relentlessly repeating the tasks they were charged with until the timer wound down. That's not to say that individual skill didn't count, like getting air discs on a heavy trying to fly into the base entrance on Raindance, or gunning down a flag runner with the chaingun at 150m.

Michael "KineticPoet" Johnston, formerly a member of the famed, Imperial Elite tribe, later a contracted designer of Tribes 2 Classic and Team Rabbit 2, and now designer of Tribes Vengeance had this to say when asked about Tribes:

Vehicles. Vast outdoor environments. Focus on teamplay. Online support for at least 32 players. Base equipment and trinkets. Jetpacks offering full freedom of movement. Mixing and matching gear to create your own roles. Never the same game twice. Even today these features make Tribes stand out in a crowd of other FPS games, but several years ago when the original Tribes was released, it was downright revolutionary. Whether you bought the box, downloaded the demo, or "borrowed" it from a buddy, chances are you've tried Tribes. If not, then you've still experienced its influence in any number of other games that have since embraced its successful combination of features. So what happened to Tribes? It's alive and well in a sequel we're creating here at Irrational Games. Check out Tribes: Vengeance later this year, a full single player and multiplayer extravaganza in the spirit of the original Tribes.

For its emphasis on teamwork and fast, unique style of play, Tribes is FiringSquad's Number 3 Multiplayer Game of All Time.