First-person shooters have come a long way since the days of the original Castle Wolfenstein, Doom, and other arcade-style games that required you to dash around and blast everything that wasn't you from a first-person perspective. This is due, in no small part, to the Tribes shooter series, which helped emphasize teamwork and drivable vehicles--both of which have become integral to modern-day shooters. The next game in the Tribes series will add both an in-depth single-player campaign and more fast-paced multiplayer action. We've already given you a glimpse of the single-player campaign, but it's probably best that you discover the details of the story, which is being written by the creators of the award-winning role-playing games System Shock 2 and Freedom Force, yourself. We will give you another look at the multiplayer in this report, and VU Games and GameSpot proudly present the premiere of the playable demo for Tribes: Vengeance for you to try on your own.

　　The Tribes series has always been about flying around and blasting the enemy team to bits. Vengeance will definitely stay true to this.

　　Tribes: Vengeance, even in its current late-beta state, looks and plays better than ever and seems to go slightly faster. This is because the physics for the game's "skiing" (an ability that lets you glide over solid ground to gain momentum) are more or less complete. Skiing seems more balanced and will probably be more accessible to beginners, since recent updates have made it easier to ski at lower speeds across bumpy terrain. The game also seems more fast-paced, especially in smaller maps like Emerald-CTF, which has both players' bases located very close to each other across a small flatland between two sets of foothills. This and other small-scale maps prove that Tribes: Vengeance won't just be about jetting around huge, empty expanses--the game will instead be about creating a customized action experience. Larger maps like Winterlake still provide an excellent team game experience thanks to its large, guarded bases (you'll need a good team to conquer them) and its multiperson flying vehicles, whose exceptional firepower and utility seem balanced well against their slower-than-jump-jet speed and large size (which makes them easy targets).

　　At this point, testers seem to be well acquainted with the game and its improved interface, including what appears to be a finalized version of the quick-chat interface that the original Tribes game helped popularize in modern shooters (so yes, every so often, you can expect to hear some incredibly clever and funny player say "Hi!" about 12 times in row). Players also seem to have gotten a handle on the game's three character types: light, heavy, and medium battle armor. When wearing heavy armor (known simply as "heavies"), we and our opponents have made great use of the mortar weapon to bombard hotspots from a distance. Heavies can hold their own in battle, but their slow speed sometimes puts them at a slight disadvantage in one-on-one air battles with lighter armors, as you might expect. In the meantime, well-equipped medium and light armors with speed packs remain excellent shock troopers, especially when carrying the right weapons.

　　The game's weapons have also been tweaked over time--the grappling hook can no longer be used to grab loose flags, for instance, though it remains a handy weapon for veteran players to negotiate extremely hilly terrain. Overall the weapons seem more balanced--we found ourselves often choosing different armor and weapon loadouts on every map and often after every spawn-in. For example, the close-range blaster and burner weapons seem extremely useful in close-quarters engagements, such as when you and your teammates have to guard your base from the inside. Likewise, levels with greatly different vertical heights seem well suited for potshots from above with the grenade launcher (that flings an explosive projectile forward and slightly downward), while the rapid-firing chaingun remains an excellent choice for levels with open areas that let you and your opponents do plenty of high-speed skiing--blanketing an area with repeated fire is a much surer way to hit fast-moving enemies than firing an all-or-nothing shot from the explosive spinfusor.

　　You can still shoot the powerful spinfusor weapon at your feet to make exceptionally high 'rocket jumps.' But be careful.

　　Tribes: Vengeance looks even better than before, thanks to the beta's enhanced graphics options that now support DirectX 9.0-based pixel shader 2.0, along with better lighting and textures. It's hard to believe that the game's basic graphics and engine were originally based on Unreal technology, since Irrational's art team has, from what we can tell, used varying terrain and landscapes, as well as Tribes' unique-looking weapons, to create a look all its own. We've run the beta on both high-end and midrange machines, and it continues to look great and run extremely well. The game's single-player component seems promising enough, but Tribes: Vengeance is also shaping up to be an exciting and distinctive multiplayer shooter. Look for the game later this year.