[PC-PR] Tribes®: Vengeance Goes Gold!

[Knightshade Dragon]

Having been in the beta, I can say that I am absolutely without a doubt buying this one.  If there is enough interest, I'll serve it up too!

__________________________________________


LOS ANGELES, CA (September 21, 2004) – Vivendi Universal Games announced today that their upcoming PC first-person action game Tribes: Vengeance has gone gold and will ship to retail stores in the United States on October 5th.  A multiplayer demo for the game will be made available online before the game is released.

A single-player trial version for Tribes: Vengeance and more information about the game can be found at the official website: http://www.tribesvengeance.com.

In Tribes: Vengeance gamers become immersed in a roiling galactic thriller. Throughout the game, the player catches glimpses of myriad interrelated stories that unfold behind-the-scenes and is given the opportunity to experience the full scope of the single-player story through multiple viewpoints and characters. Utilizing the all-new Vengeance Engine powered by Unreal™ technology, the world is brought to life with characters that have facial expressions and fully-realized personalities, vehicles that kick up dust as they pass by, and weapons that display spectacular effects.  Tribes: Vengeance will also build upon the Tribes series’ legendary online multiplayer action by continuing to focus on team-oriented goals and fluid movement.  Particular focus is being given to making Tribes: Vengeance easily accessible to the video game modification (MOD) community.  Irrational Games and VU Games have worked together to ensure that Tribes: Vengeance’s game modification tools are easily accessible and robust.

[Roguetad]

I played this one all weekend, and man, what a quality game.  The single player game is outstanding, which came as a complete shocker to me.  You get to play as all the major characters in the story at different times, both "good" and "evil".  Graphics are excellent, sound is pretty good although I wish the weapon sound effects were a little beefier, and the gameplay is great.  I haven't even spent that much time messing around with MP, which is a testament to the SP game.

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

I thought Tribes: Vengeance was a real disappointment.  Irrational made the game feel like a UT2004 mod, not like Tribes or Tribes 2 at all--which is a crying shame because the first two were absolutely fantastic games.

I was a rabid Tribes fan, but after playing Irrational's beta, I couldn't justify buying Tribes 3.  It's not Tribes at all.

[Jow]

That might be a seal of approval for some folks that didn't particularly LIKE the first game.  Personally I thought it was ugly and didn't run very well on my then-current rig.  There was also enough of a learning curve, especially with skiing, to be offputting, and the "leet" attitude of the community in regard to treating less-than-experts like dogshit didn't help much either.  It just wasn't a great experience, so when I hear "not like Tribes at all" my ears perk up.

[hepcat]

ya know, i'm on the fence on this one.  i pretty much ignored it as i wasn't a big fan of the first two (probably more due to only playing them a couple of times, not enough to understand the nuances).  Then, this past weekend, I played a bit at a friends and I completely loved the whole jetpack thing.   plus, i really enjoyed the single player portion that he loaded up for me that included the numerous arena games.  I may pick this up, after all.

Of course, the lack of bots so i can practice offline is holding me back.

[Valael]

I'm kind of with LE.  


Tribes: Vengeance isn't a bad game at all, but it feels way too much like UT2k4 for me to justify a purchase.  I can just load up UT2k4 itself and get a pretty close game.


I never really played Tribes 1 too much, I lived in Alaska at the time and the pings were horrible.  (This was before Broadband was even available up there, and the fastest our internet connection went was 28.8, even with a 56k modem).



I loved Tribes 2, though.

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

That might be a seal of approval for some folks that didn't particularly LIKE the first game.  Personally I thought it was ugly and didn't run very well on my then-current rig.  There was also enough of a learning curve, especially with skiing, to be offputting, and the "leet" attitude of the community in regard to treating less-than-experts like dogshit didn't help much either.  It just wasn't a great experience, so when I hear "not like Tribes at all" my ears perk up.

You can make the exact same argument about any other multiplayer game that has some element of unconventionality that requires practice and skill.  Quake 2 had the grappling hook--you either learned to use it, or you sucked.  Counter-Strike has its tactical element--play the game like a run-and-gun shooter, and you'll be sitting out most rounds.

There are games like Quake 3, UT/UT2k4, and now Tribes 3 for those who want an experience that starts and ends with "hold the fire button and keep the crosshair over the enemy."  If you want a shallow-but-newb-friendly game like that, power to you, there are your games.  Some of us wanted a deeper game than the low-ceilinged, hand-holding newb-a-thon that's Tribes 3, though.

Heaven forbid you actually have to learn how to play a game to do well in it.   :roll:

[Roguetad]

I never played the first 2 Tribes, so I’m experiencing Tribes:V for what it is and not what it ought to be.  The single player campaign is solid, and is actually a lot of fun.  It’s not like UT in that the SP just links a bunch of the MP game modes together in a tournament format.  The SP game is a legitimate story with some very fun (and long) missions.  Every few missions you’ll switch sides to another character to play out the story from their perspective, which is pretty darn cool for a FPS.  Many of the MP aspects are worked into the SP campaign, but they’re done in a gradual way so that you can get used to using jetpacks, skiing, using the wench, arena play, driving and piloting the vehicles, taking down bases, killing vehicles, and the differences between the armor types and weapons.  I’d recommend Tribes:V just on the SP campaign alone.  

I really enjoyed both of the Heavy Gear games, and prefer the meched up heavy infantry feel to the mech warrior, large vehicle feel.  Tribes:V has a somewhat similar feel depending on the armor types you choose, although the weapons are definitely shorter range and more geared to anti-infantry.  Either way, I get that same feeling running around with a heavy armor suit and a speed pack lobbing mortars at baddies that I did in the HG games…which = fun for me.  I’m not sure how the previous Tribes games stack up against this one, but for what it is, the game has been fun for me.

It did make me realize however that I would really love to see a new game in the HG universe.  I don’t think the HG games sold well compared to the Mech Warrior titles, which is a shame because they were a different take on the whole giant robot mech genre.