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Tribes: Vengeance Multiplayer Preview August 17, 2004 Jakub Wojnarowicz |
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Summary: ...and God said "Let there be Tribes", looked upon it, and saw it was good. What man did with it thereafter wasn't quite up to snuff, but it seems we're learning. Learning very well, judging by Tribes: Vengeance. Faster, stronger, higher - normally terms reserved for the Olympics, they certainly fit Tribes: Vengeance to a 't'. Check out why in Jakub's glowing preview. (I'm not bullsh*tting you, you know like that orange... aura or whatever of his? I seen it! The preview glows!)
 History and art | Page:: ( 1 / 2 ) |
I'm a certified Tribes addict. In fact, one of the first articles I read on FiringSquad was CalBear and Thresh's Tribes review. I loved Tribes enough to love Tribes 2 at release, having a mistaken faith in Dynamix's ability to fix the bugs, and yet not regret my review at all. I was further hooked on the game when Rory pointed out Tribes 2 Classic.
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The demise of Dynamix seemed like a death knell for the franchise, yet several people helped keep it alive and even resurrected it. I'd like to therefore take the time to thank and pay homage to brand manager Alex 'Marweas' Rodberg, who has since departed Sierra/Vivendi Universal Games, and Michael 'KineticPoet' Johnston, former member of the Imperial Elite Tribe, and current designer on Tribes: Vengeance, as well as z0dd and ZOD, developers of Base++, the competition mod for Tribes 2, as well as Tribes 2 Classic. Pardon me if I've left any other notables out, my memory isn't what it once was. Now, the success of Tribes 2 Classic and the continued existence of the oh-so-warm-fuzzy-and-friendly Tribes community at TribalWar, despite the neglect over the years, permitted the greenlighting of yet another Tribes project.
Tribes: Vengeance isn't a sequel but a prequel. How this is possible in a world almost completely devoid of a story is difficult to say, but it clearly does occur before the other two titles. Everything has a more primitive, industrial look. One quick glance at the fighter aircraft or the armor on the tribesmen shows what seem to be what someone from the early 20th century would image Tribes being as. The styling has traded a lot of the slickness from Tribes 2 for a touch of mechanical character.
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Texturing and modeling are quite impressive, very much in line with the whole theme of the game. It's not super-realistic but more like that of very high quality animation. The game makes heavy use of bump mapping and other effects, so expect to need a beefy system to run it at full detail.
Another interesting change is the direction in which level design is going. While there is no lack of classic outdoor Tribes maps, it's the addition of interior ones that makes things different. Now I'm not talking about your typical Quake or Unreal Tournament level, rather, there is one map that's quite popular that is in a giant cavern.
What's so great about a cavern? Doesn't it reduce flying altitude and thus possibly skiing speed? You would be correct in that assumption, but it permits generous use of Tribes' newest toy, the grappler. This new item takes up one of the three weapon slots available to a class and permits Spider-Man like swinging from walls and ceilings. It takes quite a bit of practice to get decent with it, but the payoffs in energy savings on interior maps are totally worth it.
| Gameplay | Page:: ( 2 / 2 ) |
So Tribes: Vengeance returns to the original style of play with, well, a vengeance (pardon the pun). It's almost a shock to think how fast the game is now. Skiing is fast and vehicles, while no longer being the screaming jets of Tribes 1 and 2, tend to be more useful and rugged. For example, the fighter aircraft isn't like a fighter plane - more like an assault helicopter. It fires slightly explosive shells from two guns while being able to hover in place, go side to side, fly forward and reverse. It's great at destroying turrets, suppressing exits and entrances from bases and especially in dealing with those pesky heavies.
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In fact, while heavy armor is more mobile than it used to be, its survivability seems significantly diminished. Personally I blame it on the lack of a graphical shockwave effect on the mortar - since it's a far less imposing-looking explosion nowadays - but it may be that they have less health than they used to. Whatever it is, light armors seem to have an easier time with the heavies than previous.
Favorite tactics like spamming grenades during a duel and the air disc are still possible - in fact, more so. The four grenades fly out in rapid succession and hitting your enemies at short range with the disc is easier than ever. When we first suspected changes to the disc, an email was sent to Vivendi, and Michael Johnston explained that models were bigger than in previous games but the disc was slightly slower than the Tribes 1 model, which was significantly slower than the one in T2. This should explain why it's more difficult to hit enemies at a distance but comparatively easy up close, including in mid-air.
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Also present is the venerable chaingun, virtually unchanged. The spread increases with use, however, and while it's still a good weapon to chip away at a foe at long range, it's not a sniper rifle substitute any longer. The "ping" effect which sounds a hit with any weapon is particularly useful with the chaingun, leaving the player reassured that he's not using up his ammo for no good reason.
All classes are now limited to three weapons in addition to the stabbing energy sword and a deployable. Deployables are no longer acquired at inventory stations, but at their own specific station. There's a limited number of them - typically 3 mines and 3 turrets - and the deployable's stations are subject to destruction as is any other equipment in the base. It should be interesting to note that repair packs now repair everything within a certain radius of the player, speeding the re-establishment of base functions significantly.
This is a particularly welcome change because Tribes: Vengeance is all about offense. Not even in Tribes 1 public servers have I seen two teams exchange flag captures so quickly, nor bases be so vulnerable. Part of the reason is that turrets need to be deployed on flat, secure surfaces, but the bases are also much more accessible, Tribes 1 style. There are no longer the endless maze corridors so characteristic of Tribes 2.
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The dev team has really done everything right. All the important tweaks and optimizations from the second game have been combined with the fast pace and flow of the first. It seems like a simple accomplishment when put on paper, but we all know of those many sequels that never quite get the formula right. In addition, this third installment of the franchise adds its own unique flavor with not only the obvious artistic and styling changes, but gameplay tweaks. The grappler is a great tool for the interiors and the plasma burner gives lighter armors a chance of interdicting the heavy offense without needing to stay close.
All in all, Tribes: Vengeance looks not only like the best Tribes game ever, but the best multiplayer shooter we've seen. There's an absolutely incredible dynamic to it, a flow of glorious, violent action that not only meets the lofty standards of the original, but exceeds them.
Stay tuned for our upcoming coverage of the singleplayer component.
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