Evil Empire Gaming

Tribes:Vengeance SP Demo is Surprising

I grabbed the Tribes:Vengeance SP demo tonight and had a quick play (well it is rather short and a quick play is all you'll get). It's surprising because it's actually quite good!

Here are some of my impressions...

It uses the UT2004 engine so performance will not be a worry for most which is good because the gameplay is much faster than Tribes or Tribes2.

T/T2 fans better get set for a change because it's quite different. I think it'll turn some Tribes die hards off to be honest; it's another sequel that's not really like the original. The use of the UT engine can be experienced in the gameplay as well as the visuals. I read one bitter Tribes fan in the UVGames forums complain "Taking Unreal and glueing jumpjets onto the skins does not make a Tribes game". In one sense, yeah, he's nailed it on the head. But that said, it's a hell of a lot of fun!

Firstly, The weapons are far more responsive and usable. For example you can actually hit something with the chaingun. The default weapon is an energy blade of some sort. Quite devastating at close range. The blaster is now a cross between a shotgun and the UT flack cannon thingie instead of the lame poo shooter of Tribes. It's way cool! I also noticed the grenade launcher has a range finder reticle.

Weapon effects are more souped up. Disks really explode, the chaingun has heatsinks out the side that glow red hot from continuous use.

Another improvement: the repair pack does not replace your weapon. Simply activate it and it expends its charge repairing you or anything/anybody near you. Even, while you are firing. You see green beams still but they just sort of come out of you from somewhere. It's useful being in a firefight with your team mates and all they have to do is stay close to be repaired while fighting.

As far as gameplay goes, the demo is set in a sports arena, Roman colosseum style; you play one of the christians. It'll give you a small taste of the style of action you're likely to find in the game. I think Tribes/2 players will also be surprised to find a storyline.

It does not, however give you any sort of standard Tribes style gameplay. Which is a slight worry. I'm looking for inventory stations, loadout configuration, deployables, having to manage energy usage... I guess we'll have to wait to see if it lives up to the Tribes name.

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