Publisher: Vivendi Universal
Ages: teens & up
Parental
Advisory:
Violence
A frantic shooter that lets players jet-pack through its worlds, Vivendi Universal's Tribes: Vengeance offers a fun, first rate battle experience. This latest version in the well known series comes with a fun single-player campaign, new weapons, faster and more versatile flight and in-depth strategic team action, as well as fantastic multi-player battles, a hallmark of earlier versions.
For the first time, Tribes offers a good single-player campaign that lets players experience the action through the eyes of six different characters and across multiple timelines. The fun of the game, of course, is that players get to soar into battle with jet packs, as well as ski and pilot through engagements on land and in the air. And the campaign serves a series of interesting levels that throw fresh challenges at players as well as tell a story.
New battlegrounds range from subterranean caverns to huge coliseums, and there are challenging new team strategies that let up to 32 players engage in online tactical warfare. With this many players jet-packing around, the action becomes wild, frantic and fun. The title offers several good multi-player games, but none feature computer-controlled characters.
New weapons include the rocket pod and grappler, and powerful new vehicles include the all-terrain rover and assault ship. Players can personalize their Tribes experience with customization features that affect control and offer replayability. And if they're so inclined, players may use mapmaking tools to design their own battlefields.
The game looks great with detailed environments and characters. As a shooter, the title serves lots of violence. On the other hand, for a shooter, it's relatively modest with the blood.
Tribes: Vengeance is a great game that will appeal to those who fell in love with the original Tribes, and to those who simply enjoy a solid first-person shooter. Definitely take a test flight on this one.
10/20/04 www.daytrum.com Editorial Staff
