Starsiege: Tribes

A Quest Called Tribes

The impact of Tribes on the massively multiplayer action-game dream may not be realized for several months-as long as it takes gamers to get the teamplay mind-set going. It's one thing to play co-op in an RTS or RPG. It's another thing entirely to play a first-person shooter (where players are accustomed to shooting everything that moves) as a member of a team.

This was completely obvious in 90 percent of the Tribes matches I played. Individuals flailing about, shooting teammates in the back, blowing up their own base, ignoring pleas for organized combat. But the other 10 percent gave me a sliver of hope for the future of team action games: When a vehicle pilot would drop me off at the front door of an enemy base so I could tear through their hovel with heavy armor and mortar. When a squad flanked the enemy forces undetected because one of their members held the sensor-jamming pack. When a forward observer painted a target for laser-guided fire. Tribes at its best is very good indeed.

The only single-player options are a few simple training missions (a good way to get your bearings quickly), and the rest is teamplay. From traditional CTF and DM to other similar games such as Capture and Hold, Defend and Destroy (very, very fun), and Find and Retrieve. Like Half-Life, Tribes has a built-in server locator and ping tool. It was extremely easy to find different low-ping games-even on a dial-up Internet connection.

The game's got most of the tools in place. The battles are fought in huge outdoor settings, with diverse terrain and atmosphere (melee in the rain is a blast). The landscape graphics are very sharp-at first, I'd often catch myself just wandering around, enjoying the scenery (of course, a couple blasts to the head and happy fun time was over). To traverse these vast environments, players are equipped with jetpacks or they can fly vehicles, from a single-person scout to a heavy personnel carrier that holds passengers who can ride and fire.

Items are well balanced. Players can carry packs that increase ammo, protection, and energy recharge rate, or that allow you to repair yourself, other players, and equipment. Mines, remote turrets, motion sensors, and cameras can easily be carried and deployed around your base for security.

Weapons, on the other hand, aren't as balanced. The default weapon is an exploding disc thrower (basically a rocket launcher). Great indoors, but outside at longer range, forget it. It's nearly impossible to hit someone more than a hundred yards away if they see it coming. Ditto with the grenade launcher, plasma gun, mortar, and so on. The only instant-gratification weapon is the laser rifle, and not only does it take some practice to aim (though the up-to-20x zoom helps), but each time you do, you telegraph your position to every watching enemy.

The armor, too, has its issues. Heavy armor that slows you down to a crawl should be able to withstand more than a couple of disc explosions.

But I raise these criticisms because I really love playing this game. I'm willing to use inadequate weapons and armor, and to stay out of the heavy action to defend my base for the good of the team. And I'm willing to work with the morons who shoot friendlies to help fulfill the massively multiplayer dream-at least until Team Fortress 2 rears its head.

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