Ascend is the first time Tribes has had classes, and I don't think their addition hampers the joy of finding a job on the battlefield and making it yours.

Movement isn't the only fun thing to do on Tribes' busty topography, thank goodness. It all lends Tribes an aspirational quality I love: when you see someone moving fluidly, you want to get better. Expert flag-runners drill to find good routes. Masters of fast-movement throw explosives at their own feet to achieve max momentum. The entry point for skiing is relatively low for anyone who plays shooters, but the skill ceiling is appropriately high. Overall, though, I admire the way Hi-Rez hasn't allowed Tribes' free to play accessibility to translate into dumbed-down mechanics it's a damn pleasure to play an FPS that reveres movement again. Right now, your best tutor is probably YouTube or loading a local server to drill by yourself or (when dedicated servers are available) with an experienced friend. The lone walkthrough talks you through it, but there's no dynamic, evaluative system in place to tell you if you should've jetpacked a half-second earlier or landed a bit more to the left of where you did. Après skiįor learning the basics, however, I wish Ascend's skiing tutorial was built in a way that provided real moment-to-moment feedback. If I flub a landing, I can see the dent it makes in my velocity immediately.

Hi-Rez's smart addition of a speedometer to Tribes provides welcome feedback.

The hard and satisfying part comes in orienting yourself in the air to a trajectory that lets you land gently and without losing any momentum. That seesaw repetition between your thumb and the right mouse button is simple work.

Tribes 2 match