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T2 also adds another dimension to gameplay with the inclusion of pilotable vehicles. Hoverbikes, Fighters and Mobile Field Bases can only accommodate one pilot or driver, but vehicles like Gunships, Bombers, and Tanks can accommodate more than one player allowing for gunners and bombardiers. Control-wise, some vehicles need a bit of tweaking. Fighters and Tanks are more sluggish than they should be, but Bombers and Gunships fly like they should. Weapon-wise, Tank weaponry definitely needs to be improved the most. The main gun seems to be no more than an unguided mortar that could have benefited from some basic HUD information in order to facilitate better aiming. Also, the chain gun on the Tank hardly hits anything and sometimes doesn’t even shoot off a tracer to indicate where your shots went (another problem that exists with the Fighter as well). The terrain for most maps tends to be hilly, limiting the use of the Hoverbike to those who are somewhat less inclined to get motion sick due to the frequent jostling about one gets while riding one at high speed. Each vehicle has energy that can be allocated between weaponry, shielding, and engines. Thus, energy management is critical for vehicles and particularly so in the case of ones whose successful deployment depends on the co-operation of those on board. For example, a Bomber can’t engage its afterburners and also maintain a steady stream of weapons fire at the same time. The pilot and bombardier must leave some energy for shielding to in order to protect their ride from enemy weapons, especially missile launchers. In my opinion, this is great for encouraging stronger co-operation between players, because failure to do so would lead to almost certain death.

In addition, those of you who are more inclined towards command will appreciate the inclusion of a “command circuit” that allows you to co-ordinate your team’s strategy. This “command circuit” provides a top down view of the map where you can keep track of the team’s people and vehicles, give out commands, and assign waypoints as well as look at the tactical situation from any of your teammates’ perspectives via a small window in the bottom right corner. Each map has different tactical approaches for victory, since some maps don’t have vehicle stations or they may have many natural obstacles like large hills or bodies of water. Thus, the challenge for the commander would be to effectively deploy his/her/its team, adjusting for each circumstance.

In terms of player customization, you can choose to be represented on the battlefield as a human male or female or as a BioDerm (who seem to be all males?) and be able to choose a “skin” for your avatar. As far as skins are concerned, there are only a few skins available but rumour has it that folks are working on more like Battletech skins or even pornographic ones (that would be somewhat amusing, wouldn’t it). A wide range of character voices for your virtual self can be selected too, which brings us to...

Sound

For the most part the voices in the game can convey important information for the team without having to glance at the chat window at the top left corner of the screen. Also, T2 makes it easy to communicate in this manner through the use of numerous hotkeys. In addition, global messages and taunts can be made which can be fun and a curse at the same time. Certain people may exploit the hotkeys and repeatedly spam the audio channels with annoying chatter just for the hell of it (usually resulting in a player initiated vote to kick off the offending player, another great feature of T2) and thankfully you can even mute voices and text from the offending player. You can bypass the premade voice chatter altogether and utilize T2’s real-time voice communication capabilities provided you have a microphone. This is limited to two channels however, and can only be heard by your own teammates.

Other sounds in the game such as explosions, vehicles, and weapons fire effects are great. Your chaingun gives off an appropriately throaty sound and the sniper rifle gives off that electronic sounding, high pitched whine of capacitors flushing and recharging. The sound of bombs whistling through the air before detonating with a deafening roar has got to be one of the most satisfying sounds in the game provided you aren’t the recipient. The music of the game is techno in nature and although it is of high quality, the default tracks aren’t that memorable. Turning off the music usually helps detect enemies that are invisible due to cloak packs however (you can hear the faint hum of the device working away as well as footsteps), and can allow you to hear other audio cues that would have otherwise been obscured by the music.