Related Articles

Graphically speaking, T2 is a mixed bag. Players and vehicles are well textured and animated, as are weather effects, fog, explosions, and other special effects. However (perhaps it was the video card) sharp, jagged edges can be seen where water meets with land, and buildings and other structures become transparent when viewed with the zoom mode allowing you to see enemies that would normally be hidden behind walls. Building designs were ok, but the textures for them were bland and boring. The terrain, although definitely varied enough to allow for different strategic possibilities, appears rather sparse and empty. Perhaps it’s the open nature of the terrain, but a friend of mine remarked that the land reminded him of EverQuest. Finally, T2 tended to crash randomly when running at full detail, so I ended up turning down some of the graphics. Still, the main draw of the game is multiplayer team combat so the graphics shouldn’t really detract that much from the overall experience.

Miscellaneous

Dynamix and Sierra should be commended in that they appear to be taking an active interest in supporting T2 and its players. To that end, they have facilitated a handy auto-update feature that lets you automatically download the latest patch available. Numerous patches have been released already so it seems that they are listening to the people playing T2 and implementing fixes as soon as they are available in order to make gameplay as painless as possible. In addition, a mission editor has been provided with the game for those of you who have a creative bent. In order to assure you that I haven’t been bribed or brainwashed by the folks at Sierra I will have to say that one has to remember that in the past, Sierra can be rather spotty when it comes to issuing patches and the like (those of you in the Homeworld community know first-hand what I mean). Hopefully, the behaviour displayed towards T2 will be the beginning of a good trend, and not just because the Tribes franchise is valuable to them.

Other nice features in T2 include an in-game browser that incorporates chat, email, player stats, news, and forum services into one convenient package. Although not all of the services work at the moment, once it does it promises to make it easier for T2 players to interact with each other as a community, which, in this day and age, is essential to the continued success of any game.

Conclusion

To finish, I’d like to say that it’s good to see co-operation being emphasized so much in a game like this. Hotshots and “lone wolves” need not apply for they will almost certainly be killed if the opposing force has good defense. I can’t emphasize enough that success in T2 depends on the co-operation and co-ordination of the whole team. Without a coordinated offense and defense, any team can be quickly overrun. T2 certainly does not play like any other team-based FPS currently on the market. Thus, it does take getting used to, and the learning curve is somewhat steeper than players would expect it to be. The graphics can be slightly glitchy, and the lag can be a surprise to some, but in the end people who like the challenges offered by teamplay and who also stick with the game will be rewarded with an enjoyable, and unique gaming experience.

Overall Score: 84%

Find the Lowest Prices for Tribes 2