Tribes 2 to hit the ps2

jaggeh

Tribes 2 will take you to the edge of the galaxy and drop you off for schoolin'. Play nice and look out for Stranger Danger.

With the popularity of Starsiege: Tribes and its sequel among hardcore PC gamers, and the popularity of FPS titles in general, it was surely only a matter of time before the development of a PS2 port. Hot on the heels of the sequel's release on PC, Havas has announced that Tribes 2 will be that crossover.

The Tribes titles immerse the gamer in a futuristic war-torn environment, set on the hostile plains of the galactic frontier. In this time and place the descendants of our present day Earth have divided into the various Tribes of Man, neo-primitive warrior clans with unique ideologies and storied origins. Yet all of these Great Tribes have a common goal at hand... to annihilate their foes and claim ultimate victory in the name of their respective lineage.

You must decide which Tribe your character will belong to. Choose wisely, young one, for your destiny and your immortal soul lie in the balance.

Each of the clans boasts an epic history and a subsequent dogma that serve as the impetus for their strategies and aims. The Blood Eagle are furious butchers that obliterate anything that stands between them and their goals, yet adhere to a strict warrior's code reminiscent of the Samurai's Bushido. They rally around the bodies of fallen victims and never stray from their course.

The Harbingers of Phoenix have in mind the ultimate goal of reunifying the Tribes of Man, yet approach this task through the unbridled use of force and coercion. They are fearless and skilled warriors who understand you must disintegrate a few eggs to oblige the others to surrender and just become the damn omelet already.

The Diamond Sword are the most cunning and cryptic of the Tribes. Subscribing to a skewed version of the ancient Zen Buddhist teachings, they are known to overwhelm their foes with carefully laid plans, and are never to be taken at face value. Ancient Chinese secrets, huh? (Yes, I'm aware that Zen is of Japanese origin, but I just couldn't resist the pun.)

The remaining Starwolf seek vengeance for their previously decimated brethren. Originally a fringe clan made up of stranded and ostracized members of the other Tribes, who formed a wary allegiance and a new theology stressing free will, the Starwolf was nearly victims of absolute genocide.

Creeping back from the outlands, they are once again making their mysterious presence known. Yet the centuries old battles among the Tribes of Man are about to take a back seat to a new and common threat... the emergence of the BioDerm Hordes.

The BioDerm Hordes are bestial creatures, bred and engineered specifically for absolute destruction. They seek the utter conquest of the entire Empire, and are hell-bent on the annihilation of all of the Great Tribes. To put it simply, the BioDerm are some bad ass... (Shut yo mouth), and they have come to bask in the warm glow that only subjugation and mayhem can provide.

The Tribes wage their wars through the prolific use of advanced armors, battle vehicles and, of course, superior weaponry. The clansmen are suited in decorative armor, with distinctive heralds and insignia, equipped with jetpacks that allow a limitless range of mobility and speed. They raid each others camps for resources and technology, and battle for honor and glory with a relentless fervor that makes the Crusades look like a friendly game of tag-football.

The potential arsenal available in Tribes 2 is staggering. There are plans for everything from laser rifles and plasma cannons to chainguns and homing missiles. A cornucopia of strategic explosives, from concussion and blinding flash grenades, to motion activated mines, will also be deployed.

Players traversing the terrain on foot or by jetpack bursts can commandeer a variety of vehicles, some retrofitted with gun turrets and navigational equipment to locate and terminate opposing forces.

The PS2 capabilities will be sufficiently utilized to render the environments and graphics necessary for a game on this scale. The battlefield is slated to be boundless, stretching infinitely in all directions, and there will be no shortage of enemy forces. There will be carnage both indoors and out, and infiltration and subsequent escape from Tribe bases will be an essential skill.

While immersed in the great outdoor landscapes, varying weather patterns and environmental elements will torment players. Rain, snow, fog, lava and quicksand are just a few of the hazards one will have to negotiate. So always watch that next step, 'cause it could be a doozy!

A major factor in the appeal of the PC version of Tribes 2 is the team-based experience provided via the Internet or a LAN. Players could conspire and build communities, concocting elaborate strategies and building immense communities of gamers, fighting alongside as many as 50 human or AI teammates.

On the PS2, there will be a multi-player option, using split screen views to divvy up the battlefield. Yet the true focus will be on the single-player campaign mode, and the use of AI teammates, as either strategically placed ringers or as sacrificial lambs.

Training missions will ease the gamers into the action, because once you're in the thick of things there will be no return. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. And keep moving, or you're sure to get fragged from any number of adversaries just waiting to take you under.

Overall the PS2 port of Tribes 2 is sure to be a hit with any run-and-gun fans looking for amped up arsenals and a pace faster than Indian food through my colon. Trust me, my friend... that is one quick ride!

Fans of the community aspect provided by the PC version may feel a little jaded by the lack of substantial multi-player action. But who can help but salivate, anticipating the graphic renditions of the Tribe members and foes that only the PS2 can (and damn well better) deliver.

by Travis Lange of sonyweb.com

tHE vAGGABOND

this game sounds awful - a disaster waiting to happen!!

(BTW m8, you could just post a URL )

Shinji

Flog that dead horse! Go on, flog it! Maybe some dumb PS2 owners will pay for it, because the PC owners sure as hell didn't....

kayos

Originally posted by Shinji
Flog that dead horse! Go on, flog it! Maybe some dumb PS2 owners will pay for it, because the PC owners sure as hell didn't....

Well they did but after one week of downloading patchs every day and having to patch the patching thingy and rolling back patchs and the total muppetry on most of the servers they stopped playing it. It still pains me to look at the cd. Hell bring out tribes 1 on the ps2 that would have a better shot..

kayos

tHE vAGGABOND

After speaking to some Tribes weenies they are saying its a totally new game, and it will be great - so there. They also think Tribes 2 made *lots* of money. Thats why Sierra closed (the broke) Dynamix! Sales were as crap as the game :cool:

*snigger*

Lets hope they actually test the 13 whole missions in this one, instead of paying a fortune for a massive testing programme that does feck all

Kairo

Oh Dear...

Shinji

Well they did but after one week of downloading patchs every day and having to patch the patching thingy and rolling back patchs and the total muppetry on most of the servers they stopped playing it.

Er, to be fair, it sold sod all - certainly not enough to cover the costs of development. Never mind that folk stopped playing after, most people didn't start playing in the first place!

Son of Blam

Any online game that requires you to manually download a patch to get the "automatically patch downloader" working is worthy of very bad sales and lots of abuse.

That said, while it was working (on my old PC that was every second day or so) is was a bit of fun. Only a bit though.

-Son of Blam

Stephen

"Tribes 2 to hit the ps2"

lol

I can't believe they're going to piss more money away on it.