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Tribes redefined the multiplayer FPS

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: October 02, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Tribes is one of the select few games that can hold my attention. Lately I have been playing an excess of this great game. I have a GeForce II MX and a Pentium 2 - 333 mHz, and I get good framerates throughout the game.

Tribes is a team-based first person shooter (FPS), playable online only (except for 8 tutorial missions). Finding a server to play on is as simple as clicking the Refresh button, and picking a server that meets your standards. The server IP, name, game type, game map, modification, players, ping, and CPU speed are all shown, and you can set servers you especially like as a favorite to be found easily. After a few seconds, you're in the game and playing. If the server is running a map that you don't have, it is automatically downloaded (and is hardly noticable, map files are very small).

Once in the game, you will be greeted with a friendly server message, possibly what kind of computer the server is, and any special rules such as no team killing (TK). Click to spawn, and you'll be inside your base (or however the map is set up). Most games played are Capture the Flag (CTF), where you run into the enemy base, touch their flag, then bring it back to your own flag without being killed in the process. If you aren't good at capturing the flag (capping), you can buy heavy armor from an inventory station and use mortars to bomb the base, but you will move slower and the jetpack won't carry you as far. If you have a high speed internet connection, you can be a very good sniper, but even dialup users can snipe effectively.

Winning is a team effort, the individual hardly matters in a game. If an entire team is trying to cap the flag, then nobody will be around to guard the flag. If everyone is guarding the flag, then nobody will be able to score. It relies on a balance. Even if you aren't a good fighter, you can help your team out by repairing all the base equipment and manning mortar turrets via a Command Station.

Being an online only game, lag can be an issue. But the Tribes net code has been optimized so only a minimal of data is sent client-server. I have a 56k dialup, and only experience lag probably once or twice per game, and then only for a few seconds.

I only have a few gripes. This game's 3D acceleration was built for Glide, a 3dfx only API, and OpenGL was added in a later patch. OpenGL can show some strange artifacting when playing from the third person perspective, but most of your fighting will be from first person so it isn't an issue. Also, some bots would've been nice, if for nothing else than being able to practice your skills offline.

Overall, Tribes earns an A+ rating from me. Great job, Dynamix, I can't wait for Tribes 2 to be released.

Looking for total combat immersion?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: November 18, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Then look no further. This game is so good, you can play the demo for months and be satisfied. Once you upgrade to the full version you will be blown away by the complexities this game offers. You have so many weapons to choose from, each with specific uses, strengths and weaknesses. And the best part is that they are all useful depending YOUR style and tactics. This game is not a "find the BFG and hold court" style game. Half-Life, Quake X and the rest can quibble over LAN-based & single-player play, but Tribes is a far superior internet-based multiplayer game and I thought Half-life was the best game I ever played!

Great online game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Starsiege Tribes is the best online game I have ever played. The cd itself is required only for installation, so if you lose the disc you don't have to worry. The game has a few short single player missions with AIs to get used to the missions, weapons, armor, etc. The AIs are kinda dumb though. They only use one weapon(disc launcher), and they don't use their jets, so they're kinda easy. Online, everything is amazingly clean. I mean, most people don't curse at all on the servers. There's no cheating to ruin the servers and the game itself like what happened with another game I've played, Diablo. Tks are no problem as team damage can be turned off either by vote or by the admin. There are more than a dozen different server types, so you don't have to play with the same weapons you get on single player missions. The missions themselves are usually time limited capture the flag games. The admin can change the time limit if he wants. You can generally be sure that the admin is a good guy because the only way to become an admin is to be voted admin for the server. Another good thing is that if someone with the same name as you joins or is already there when you join, the guy who joined most recently gets a .1 put at the end of his name(i.e. if your name is Guy and someone else named Guy joins the server you're on he is listed as Guy.1 while you remain Guy). The only bad thing about this game is that every few weeks you have to go to certain websites to get downloads to play new types of missions.

Are you Deep or Shallow?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: January 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

What a blast. Literally, I've played many games over the past twenty years and I have to say Tribes is one of the best. If your shallow you can just run around trying to gun the enemy, his vehicles, his weapons and sensor emplacements and generally blow things up, just watch out because the enemy is human too and there's not just one at a time. The game gives you multiple types of armor with a plethora of weapons and equipment you can outfit from. The servers that run the game, and theres alot of them, can modify every thing from the maps to the armor and weapons lists and abilities (Endless combinations). If Your deep, this game is deeper still the human equation really makes teamwork and stratagy paramount while stressing the need for personal skills. There is no end to the stratagies you can evolve personally and on a team scale. If you like to tinker and have a smattering of computer skills you can modify your client side, new reticles, Heads up displays for targeting or command screens and a bunch of other modifications that are out in the tribes community just to give the game specialized flavor for the individual user. The Playing community is extensive and one of the friedliest I've found for online games of this nature. One of the best things about this game is how easy it is to get into a game. There's always a game to be had any time day or night you just point and click and zap you going. Personally I like to play 10pm to 2am pst and I usually have a choice of 30-40 different games to join into with good ping rates. I have 5 or 6 favorites but a foray into the unkown is good once in a while, just make sure your ammo is full.

Definite must buy!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I wish that they had a rating of 4.8 since that is what this game deserves. The net code is so clean that I am amazed at how well it runs on my 56kb modem. The game is loaded with several weapons and armor classes. Only the light armors may fly planes, and the game has an interesting internal balance. But if you want crazy off the wall weapons then many servers run special mods that add boundless versions of everything. You can find servers that allow you to fly endlessly and fire hundreds of mortars in a few seconds. One problem is that I bought the game so far past its initial release date that there were few newbies for me to fight. So I basically get my butt handed to me by the experienced players. But you get better, and it has great replay value. Unfortunately I seem to have lost a little interest in it because the servers play the same maps way too often.

Incredible

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 10, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Bought every Action Adventure game that came out for four years. Since I started playing Tribes four months ago I have bought nothing else. Nothing else compares. It's a real-time multi player universe that is only limited by the game physics. Combines the best features of every great game I have ever played, plus adds the human element in a manner never seen in any other game short of a full up military combat simulation. Pick your Tribe, pick your weapons and kick butt trooper! [GZ] Rules

No better online game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 11, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is fantastic. It has an automatic game search which will check the internet for current games that are underway. It will also tell you how many people are playing and how many the server will accept, along with ping rates. This makes it extremely easy to find a site that you can join with little or no lag. The game itself is a blast. With numerous armor types, weapons, and defensive items the game can't be beat. It does have one flaw however, this is that it doesn't have a decent single player mode. What it does have is a training mode which lacks considerably considering the number of things that you can do in the real game. Overall, this game is unbelievable. Once you rise in your skill level it's a real blast. When you are first beginning the game don't be upset when you die over and over again by more aggressive players, this game does take quite a bit of getting used to before you're able to tackle the big boys.

Great

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: November 15, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I agree. I have bought many games and I have found "Tribes" to be one of the best. With hundreds of servers, great graphics,and gameplay how could you go wrong?

Addictive Tribes

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 28, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Tribes is an Idictive game with endless weapon selections. The only down fall to this game is that there are no real offline training to really give a "newbie" the feel of online battle. I wouuld give it 4 rating.

Good game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Tribes is a great ON-LINE game! I was extremely happy with the fact that is runs very very smoothly on-line with my 28k modem! Of course I also am using a P3, and 450 Mhz... But the MAJOR flaw in this game is that fact that basically, there is NO single player game... You have a couple training missions, but hardly tells you what you need to know... But it is still a GREAT GREAT game...

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