Tribes Aerial Assault

One of the PS2?s first online games hits highs and lows as Sierra?s Tribes: Aerial Assault brings PC-style team-based FPS action to Sony?s console.

One of the PS2?s first online games meets with highs and lows as Sierra?s Tribes: Aerial Assault brings PC-style team-based FPS action to Sony?s console.

For years, online PC action fans have been playing Tribes, complete with huge 32-player teams and the tactical excitement of organizing so many players on a side toward a common goal. The PS2 version brings the total number of players down to 16 and removes any real form of communication completely, while still offering huge, action-packed multiplayer destruction.

Most of what made the PC version so great is still here. Tribes? most beloved weapons, from the Spincaster to the Fusion Mortar, have all made the jump to the PS2, as have remote turrets, energy, ammo, shield packs, and the available-on-demand vehicles, which range from a small grav-bike to a huge flying bomber. Tribes? ?Team Deathmatch as Sports Entertainment? look and feel are also intact with colorful, if simple, graphics and blazing sound effects (tarnished only by annoying, repetitive taunts and cheers). The complex controls become simple with practice, and once you get the hang of the jet-pack mechanics and strange weapons, playing Tribes almost becomes second nature.

Unfortunately, though, the move to the PS2 meant the omission of any type of communication among teammates whatsoever. You can press one button to taunt or another button to cheer, and that?s it. Meanwhile, your team of eight players just chaotically goes about its business without any sense of teamwork whatsoever. Playing this game in multiplayer online is like trying to herd cats. In fact, if you?re going to play multiplayer, you might as well just start up an offline ?bot match and save yourself the cost of an ISP?especially since dial-up users can?t host a game with more than two players at a time.

This doesn?t mean Tribes isn?t fun; blasting people with rockets and strafing them with fighter jets always gets the party started. Just don?t expect complex tactics and flawless teamwork. Stick to the Deathmatch and Hunter game types, and you?ll find Tribes a decent way to coax your PS2 online.

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