Tribes: Ascend
Tribes: Ascend is a first-person shooter that focuses on fast-pased Capture the Flag games with an emphasis on speed and maneuver.
Primary mechanics of Tribes: Ascend include:
-Walking
-Jumping (all directions)
-Jetpack (all directions)
-Skiing (negating friction between you and the ground)
-Aiming
-Firing/Using weapon
-Speciality actions (such as placing a temporary item)
Real-time control
All of the player’s movement actions (move, jump, jetpack and ski) occur within 100ms, giving the player the feel that he or she is directly controlling the avatar. The attack actions do not interrupt the player’s movement in the least. Even the heaviest of weapons can be fired while quickly on the move. Though the fired projectiles take time to reach their targets, the player still remains in control of the avatar between (and during) every shot. The specialty actions do not interfere with player control either. If a player interacts with the environment or places a static object such as a mine, movement and control are uninterrupted. Even the between-match menu screens offer the player something to do while waiting for the next match to initialize. This game has real-time control without a doubt.
Simulated Space
Simulated space is where Tribes: Ascend truly shines. Players superficially interact with the environment in the traditional way, walking over terrain and colliding with obstacles. However, the interplay between the jetpack and skiing mechanics make moving over the smooth, rolling terrain a game in itself. The jetpack naturally allows a player to take off into the air. This game’s jetpack is not as limited as those in other games. Players can reach huge altitudes and soar before their quickly-recharging “energy” runs out. Skiing is the most unique mechanic of Tribes: Ascend. Players can press the spacebar at any time to completely negate all friction between them and the ground. The player will slide forever on a flat surface, gradually lose speed on an uphill slope and quickly gain massive speed going downhill. Since the map is mostly comprised of gradual, hilly terrain, players can learn to gain tremendous speed by skiing down one hill, jetpacking up the slope of the next, and so on. This is in fact a very important aspect of capturing the flag, as there are so many defensive options available that it’s suicide to grab the opposing team’s flag at anything but high speed. Another space-simulating aspect of the game is the weapons themselves. Most weapons fire relatively slow-moving, explosive projectiles. Anyone caught in the blast will not only take damage, but will be knocked forcefully away as well. Interfering with other players’ fire by knocking them around with rockets is an important part of skill. The explosive impact of the weapons is another contributor to the player’s sense that he or she is actively existing in a game space. With these factors all working together, Tribes: Ascend definitely has an excellent quality of simulated space.
Polish
As a recent, AAA-category game, Tribes: Ascend has a whole lot of polish. The bump-mapped textures sparkle. Jetpacking and skiing have fitting and satisfying “whooshes” and “hisses”. Explosions thump and bang and guns crackle and roar. The HUD cracks and reddens with blood spatters when a player suffers a hit. This game has no discernible rough edges. It is polished.
Uninterrupted real-time control, a slick simulation of space and buckets of polish mean that this game most definitely has feel.
-Ben Stewart
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