Free as a firebird
Tribes: Ascend brings back the good old-days
Much before Portal taught us momentum conservation, before Halo: Reach demonstrated whizzing through the blue as a harmonised predator, and before Counter Strike demanded rapid debauchery, droves of gamers slouched in their dorms religiously tapping insane combos of keys to open-world, team-based carnage in Starsiege: Tribes.
Tribes: Ascend is a multiplayer, team-based FPS that looks extremely promising. Playing either Capture the Flag or Team Deathmatch modes, you’re equipped with the most outlandish munitions, grouped in the most generic of class-based load outs and tasked with wrecking the most absolutely precipitous mayhem imaginable. Oh, and did I mention you have a jetpack on you? With warzones that put the word “large-scale” to shame and verticality that warrants rapid reconnaissance, the gameplay seldom seems to stoop. You’re free to ski around the map to gain momentum, upon which you’re supposed to hurriedly maneuver around for a doable position and make a hasty, confident clump of shots in a furious attempt to register a kill or two. To say it’s fun would be to say that matter is made up of atoms — unsurprising, but profoundly true.
Currently in closed beta, you have access to two classes (Soldier and Ranger), which give you a good taste of what to expect. Should you like the pungency of its aroma, you can shell out some cash to get hold of more of its varied, enjoyable classes and weapons to dispatch some more red polygons on your screen in its iconic, unmistakable style. Pew pew!
