Tribes: Ascend

 PC
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 596 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 421 out of 596
  2. Mixed: 100 out of 596
  3. Negative: 75 out of 596

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  1. Cookies5000
    Jul 4, 2012
    9
    Decent game and it's worth supporting the company with a few dollars if you enjoy the game itself. If you like the original tribes or any decent shooter game this game is for you(it's free to play so its stupid not to try out). Quite polished and well made maps. About ~100 hours so far spent playing since the beta days and will play some more for sure.
  2. Qkumba
    Apr 17, 2012
    9
    Aside from several overlookable latency issues that have hit-scan weapons and spinfusors dealing zero damage on direct hit, you gotta go fasterr as this is Sanic Hegehog world of shazbots.
  3. Reod
    Apr 17, 2012
    9
    This game reminded me my childhood with quake 2 CTF , really refreshing in age of cod/bf3.Try it since its free , its big chance that it will suck you in.I would give it 10/10 if weapons mods wasnt so expensive (xp).
  4. kranky
    May 24, 2012
    9
    Very good multiplayer shooter. Imo it has not enough maps right now and matchmaking is not very smart, but anyway it is #2 in list of my favourite deathmatch games, right after Dystopia and before Warsow.
  5. Vagrant
    Apr 18, 2012
    9
    Brutal old school Deathmatches and CTF's with a sprinkle of new school graphics and "Modern Warfare". Free skis and jetpacks makes it all more fun. There's quality entertainment for everyone here, as it is Free 2 Play.
  6. keefbaker
    May 7, 2012
    9
    This is online FPS like it used to be, tactical, fast, fun, pure unadulterated enjoyment. Sure, you can complain that you don't have the best weapons, or instead you can just have a shedload of fun and cope with the fact you're probably not going to be number 1 on the leaderboard. SPINFUSER GO!
  7. MelonPan
    Jun 6, 2012
    9
    If you enjoyed older styles of FPS games like unreal tournament or quake arena, you'll probably like this game a lot. With a very fast pace (literal and figurative) and a very high skill cap, you might find yourself on the receiving end of a lot of punishment early on in your game, but stick with it. Sure you might find it unreasonable to ask that you hit a target half a mile away movingIf you enjoyed older styles of FPS games like unreal tournament or quake arena, you'll probably like this game a lot. With a very fast pace (literal and figurative) and a very high skill cap, you might find yourself on the receiving end of a lot of punishment early on in your game, but stick with it. Sure you might find it unreasonable to ask that you hit a target half a mile away moving at 30 miles an hour with a jetpack, but that just makes it all the sweeter when you do pull it off. The game operates on an unlock system, you accumulate points for playing the game and winning matches, and you use these points to unlock classes, weapons, and gear for your characters. You can choose to speed the process up by spending real money on this unlocking process, but you won't be denied any part of the game for not doing so. Overall, it's not the most friendly to players who are new to hardcore FPS games, but it is incredibly rewarding for those who stick with it and learn the ropes… Expand
  8. Ordish
    Nov 7, 2012
    9
    As an old fan of the original Tribes and all of the sequels, I was anticipating good things from this game. I am not disappointed. They captured the feel of the original game play and the mechanics and controls are extremely responsive. Could they improve the game? Sure, but I have no idea how. Sometimes a classic is good enough. Anyone for a blue plate special?
  9. Suits
    Apr 21, 2012
    9
    Fast paced and with a high skill ceiling. So refreshing being able to move around with speeds of 300 sanics flying through the skies. In fact, whenever i play another game, the walking feels like crawling. Combat is fun and trades the point-and-click hitscan of your usual generic FPS in for projectile based weapons, which in combination with high speeds, need a certain level of skill toFast paced and with a high skill ceiling. So refreshing being able to move around with speeds of 300 sanics flying through the skies. In fact, whenever i play another game, the walking feels like crawling. Combat is fun and trades the point-and-click hitscan of your usual generic FPS in for projectile based weapons, which in combination with high speeds, need a certain level of skill to effectively use. Team based play is fun all around, when using the VGS system, tactics are easily coordinated without the use of VoIP. A number of modes and custom servers keep it diverse and every class plays entirely different and load-out allow for even more costumization. Gotta go fast.… Expand
  10. DOSfan
    May 2, 2012
    9
    been playing since alpha and really enjoy the game. improvements seem to come at a steady and often pace. my only real complaint is that the alternate costumes cost too much.
  11. Toboo123
    Jul 10, 2012
    9
    Whats not to love fast paced skillful gameplay with a great visual style and customization, I have to say its one of the best FPS games to come out recently and it free to play, it really is a breath of fresh air from all the copy pasted modern shooters of today, although I do have to complain about balance a bit, it seems that you can buy things that give you a clear advantage over otherWhats not to love fast paced skillful gameplay with a great visual style and customization, I have to say its one of the best FPS games to come out recently and it free to play, it really is a breath of fresh air from all the copy pasted modern shooters of today, although I do have to complain about balance a bit, it seems that you can buy things that give you a clear advantage over other players some weapons are blatant direct upgrades being simply a re texture of a weapon with boosted damage, but since most modern fps games have less balance than an elephant with one leg i can forgive it.… Expand
  12. EddyHan
    May 9, 2012
    9
    This game is one of the best F2P FPS I've played since TF2! The graphics are crisp, the gameplay is awesome, and the sound effects and music adds to the pace of the game...Which is really damn fast!! This game maybe fantastic, but there are somethings that tarnish it's glory. In Tribes: Ascend you will be playing for a long time to unlock one single gun with XP, but Hi-Rez studios givesThis game is one of the best F2P FPS I've played since TF2! The graphics are crisp, the gameplay is awesome, and the sound effects and music adds to the pace of the game...Which is really damn fast!! This game maybe fantastic, but there are somethings that tarnish it's glory. In Tribes: Ascend you will be playing for a long time to unlock one single gun with XP, but Hi-Rez studios gives the option to buy gold which can be used to unlock weapons and equipment. This means that there will be rich kids playing with their fancy guns, but the weapons that all classes start with are decent enough to confront anyone in combat. In terms of balance, each class seems to have their advantages and disadvantage with one exception...The sentinel class which is very weak and doesn't even scratch other classes with it's sniper rifle! Tribes: Ascend does get regular updates which includes new weapons, equipment, skins and maps. Tribes: Ascend is great fun, fast paced and free to play!… Expand
  13. Thespis
    Apr 12, 2012
    9
    I am new to the Tribes franchise and enjoyed the challenge of skiing and trying to aim. I really enjoyed the beta and I'm excited that it's finally out!
  14. nja
    Apr 13, 2012
    9
    Is the Free 2 Play (F2P) model friend or foe? In my opinion, it is friendly. Compared to another F2P shooter I loved, Crimecraft, you are not â
  15. Zucheto
    Oct 29, 2012
    9
    I just started playing this a couple days ago, and it has been the most fun I've had gaming in a long time. So much different than every other shooter. Extremely fast paced and just downright fun. It is also free to play which is amazing for a game of this caliber. People whining that this game is pay to win are stupid. Yes, you can pay to buy upgrades that help you out but you can alsoI just started playing this a couple days ago, and it has been the most fun I've had gaming in a long time. So much different than every other shooter. Extremely fast paced and just downright fun. It is also free to play which is amazing for a game of this caliber. People whining that this game is pay to win are stupid. Yes, you can pay to buy upgrades that help you out but you can also get them by just playing the game.. Yes, it takes a long time to get them without playing, but its FREE. This game could easily retail for $60. Besides, for $20-$30 you can pretty much unlock everything that would be relevant to your play style. For being a free game, this is definitely a must to check out and will be the most refreshing shooter you've played.… Expand
  16. BikeKayakSki
    Apr 16, 2012
    9
    I never thought I'd say it, but I'm really enjoying playing a free to play game. There's a reason for this though, Tribes: Ascend is not your normal free to play experience. Its not a "pay to win" style of game like a lot of F2P mmorpgs, you actually don't even need to pay a dime to get the full experience out of the game. What you get, for absolutely no money, is one of the fastest andI never thought I'd say it, but I'm really enjoying playing a free to play game. There's a reason for this though, Tribes: Ascend is not your normal free to play experience. Its not a "pay to win" style of game like a lot of F2P mmorpgs, you actually don't even need to pay a dime to get the full experience out of the game. What you get, for absolutely no money, is one of the fastest and most entertaining shooters to have ever come out. The combat is mind bogglingly fast, but at the same time you can play it however you want. Lets say your playing a CTF map, which seems to be one of the strongest game modes in the game. Like face contorting speed? Pick a light armored class and try to capture the flag, finding the fastest route between your base and the enemy base without getting picked off by other players, vehicles, or the surprisingly strong and accurate base turrets. Looking for a more traditional shooter experience? Pick a heavy class and lay down the law with superior defense and high damage, defending your base generator from attack to keep your depoyables and base turrets firing strong. More of a middle of the road kind of player? Don't know a map and how you should play it? Want to do a little bit of everything? Play a medium armored class and have free range of what you want to do on the battlefield. Even with all of the different ways you can play this game, and all of the different game modes that come with it (team deathmatch, arena, ctf, and ranked servers coming soon) the game is surprisingly well balanced. There is no one class that is superior to another and anyone can kill anyone else as long as you know your classes capabilities and fighting style. This is awesome considering you CAN pay for an in game currency of gold, which you can purchase new weapons and classes. But all your really buying is a different way to play the game. NOT buying a superweapon. Which is nice. This is a great shooter experience for anyone who likes FPS games. You wont be disappointed.… Expand
  17. Gilgamex
    Apr 19, 2012
    9
    The feeling of tribes is quite a departure for most FPS players. Being a faithful yet highly honed continuation of the series the game radiates a feeling of some serious TLC was put into the feel, graphics and map designs. The mechanics of the game are unique which involves a shooter experience similar to Unreal Tournament yet with much bigger maps, Jetpacks, Precision Distance basedThe feeling of tribes is quite a departure for most FPS players. Being a faithful yet highly honed continuation of the series the game radiates a feeling of some serious TLC was put into the feel, graphics and map designs. The mechanics of the game are unique which involves a shooter experience similar to Unreal Tournament yet with much bigger maps, Jetpacks, Precision Distance based shooting, And a mechanic called Skiing that produces a thrilling burst of speed to traverse these maps. This game isn't for everyone and I'll explain why. While the game is very accessible and the gameplay isn't overly complex, mastery is an investment of time, patience and practice. It is a very satisfying and rewarding game when you nail down the mechanics but be prepared to hit a somewhat steep learning curve to properly time your skiing, routes, projectile anticipation etc...

    The game runs on the Unreal 3 engine and is silky smooth on even modest hardware, as I run a Nvidia 260 GTX currently maxed out with no hiccups whatsoever. This also works in Tandem with great netcode that rarely if ever produces lag that would hinder this precision based game. The Stat tracking is very satisfying in this game and there all sorts of ways to accumulate points in-game . The more points you accumulate the more XP, the XP more bonuses, perks and weapons you can unlock. I have not fiddled with the P2P model that is implemented in this game, but at this very moment the game is Free with many worthwhile P2P options available. It is pretty amazing that they can sell this triple-A title for free.

    The only gripes I have with this game is the Audio is very average, it doesn't take away too much from the game but it lacks some OOOmph overall. Also, the speed while still pretty fast may turn off some of the veterans of the series because the speed isn't quite as fast as it used to be, which I was indeed a little dissapointed over. Overall though I give this game an 8.5 Though I gave it a 9 because the option doesn't allow decimal ratings.    … Expand
  18. Jackthehedgy
    Apr 23, 2012
    9
    Really fun, easy to get into. However I think its fair to say if you are not use to these types of games its going to be extremely difficult at first. A few minor problems not even worth mentioning about the game.
  19. LilD
    May 7, 2012
    9
    Can't really complain about a free game can you? The game seems pretty straightforward as all FPS games are. The game modes are pretty traditional like CTF and Team Deathmatch. The addictive part is the leveling system. Like the online of CoD, the more you play, the more you are rewarded for XP. You can use these XP to upgrade your character. While this is so much fun, the differenceCan't really complain about a free game can you? The game seems pretty straightforward as all FPS games are. The game modes are pretty traditional like CTF and Team Deathmatch. The addictive part is the leveling system. Like the online of CoD, the more you play, the more you are rewarded for XP. You can use these XP to upgrade your character. While this is so much fun, the difference between the starter character and the fully upgraded character is feast or famine making a pretty unbalanced game. There are at least a dozen different classes to choose from, so "completing" the game would take a really long time. The graphics are stunning especially the weapons and the gameplay is really entertaining. Skiing down the mountains and jetpacking in the air is really fun and also creates a huge challenge that makes taking down enemy players extremely satisfying. Overall, this game is definitely worth the download.… Expand
  20. Elsako
    Sep 14, 2012
    9
    This game is to the closest to the original I've played. It really is a polished game. It's was polished when I started playing in Beta. If you like FPS and flying this game is awesome. It's certainly on a level with TF2.
  21. elhive
    Jul 9, 2012
    9
    This is how FPS's should be like. Tribes is pure run and gun, even more exciting then Unreal Tournament. You don't get cover, you don't get realism, but you get fun. Tons of it.
  22. Rangerage
    May 15, 2012
    9
    The most fun I have had with a shooter since UT2004.
    It harkens back to the old days of shooters, when twitch reflexes and brain power mattered.
    The high speed of the game promotes a unique gameplay amongst recent FPS games and the CTF centric gameplay is a great change of pace from releases in the last decade. Definitely a game worth playing once if you're a fan of shooters but can't    The most fun I have had with a shooter since UT2004.
    It harkens back to the old days of shooters, when twitch reflexes and brain power mattered.
    The high speed of the game promotes a unique gameplay amongst recent FPS games and the CTF centric gameplay is a great change of pace from releases in the last decade.
    Definitely a game worth playing once if you're a fan of shooters but can't stand modern military shooters.    … Expand
  23. ScreamingWargod
    Sep 18, 2012
    9
    Hi-Rez has succeeded with an amazing game that is faithful to the original tribes franchise. Graphically, things are average. Gameplay, and overall user emjoyment is where the game thrives. Hitscan was phased out during the later beta period, and now this is one of the few shooter games that has no hacks available. Pure skill game with E-sports affiliation.
  24. hwarming
    Aug 29, 2012
    9
    A very fun and addicting multiplayer FPS, with very fast paced combat, different classes, and it's free! The reward system is similar to League of Legends, after every match you play you get EXP, which you can use to buy new weapons, you get more EXP for winning a match, and doing well. Or you could buy Gold with real money and use that to unlock things. As you use weapons they level up,A very fun and addicting multiplayer FPS, with very fast paced combat, different classes, and it's free! The reward system is similar to League of Legends, after every match you play you get EXP, which you can use to buy new weapons, you get more EXP for winning a match, and doing well. Or you could buy Gold with real money and use that to unlock things. As you use weapons they level up, providing new bonuses, like more damage, better fire rate, accuracy, ect. It's very similar to Quake. This is a game worth playing if you're sick of FPS games like "Battlefield: Generic Modern Warfare 6"… Expand
  25. eriCPA
    Jul 31, 2012
    9
    This is a great game that anyone who likes FPS should give a try. Yes it is a free to play but if you like it I recommend spending $20 and unlock a few classes all the way. While I do not think this a pay to win it is nice to have all the guns of your favorite classes. They do a good job updating and balancing the guns, nothing seems like the must have or only use gun which is great.
  26. Scarrnix
    May 22, 2012
    9
    There is not a lot of variation in regards to guns, but the gameplay is so fun I hardly even care. Its one of the fastest paced FPSs out today and hardly anyone even dies because you are going so fast (which is not a bad thing). I love the skiing because it is a very nice break from standard FPS. High speed chases and exploding projectiles make this game extremely fun to play.
  27. sotlordrahl
    Jul 4, 2012
    9
    I'm a long time FPS fan. I played Tribes 1 a long time ago. Finally a game that feels as exciting as the it used to be. I don't mind the expansion system because its F2P and you don't HAVE to buy upgrades, you can earn them as well. Loving it!!
  28. Aukerai
    Nov 6, 2012
    9
    After 510 hours of gameplay, I believe that it's time for me to review this game in it's entirety. For a quick review: Great Graphics, fresh, original gameplay, free, but the freemium model, while not P2W, does aggressively encourage you to purchase premium currency.

    So, to those of you who aren't aware of *what* Tribes Ascend is, it's a free to play, multiplayer first person shooter    After 510 hours of gameplay, I believe that it's time for me to review this game in it's entirety. For a quick review: Great Graphics, fresh, original gameplay, free, but the freemium model, while not P2W, does aggressively encourage you to purchase premium currency.

    So, to those of you who aren't aware of *what* Tribes Ascend is, it's a free to play, multiplayer first person shooter with 32 player dedicated servers. Describing Tribes isn't hard, but it sure as hell isn't easy either. Let's focus on the graphical side first, as it's the easiest to explain. Tribes Ascend is an impressive looking game, with models that are painstakingly detailed. However, some of this detail disappears in the terrain textures, as from certain angles it's obvious that the textures tessellates. Animations are smooth, fluid and damn pretty to look at, with your character even angling his body to match rotation of strafing whilst he jets. But this is where we start to run into more serious graphical issues. Tribes is poorly optimised, on account of the Unreal Engine not handling large open environments well without map stitching. As a result, the framerate tanks when observing the vast open maps. Even 2 570s drop to ~45FPS in some areas. Not a problem, but interesting to see.

    Now let's look at gameplay. The core mechanic of Tribes is that of skiing. The ability to remove friction between you and the ground, and use gravity and jetpacks to attain ridiculous speeds is an absolute blast, and while easy to pick up, extremely difficult to master. Tribes:Ascend is a fairly well balanced (Keyword, FAIRLY) game, with each of the game's 9 classes featuring distinct strengths and weaknesses. Take the Soldier for example. He can cap, but not as fast as a Pathfinder. He can defend the stand, but not as well as a Doombringer or Brute. He can duel, but not as well as a Raider. When you first play, be prepared to die. alot. This is because very few weapons are hitscan, meaning the projectile takes a good deal of time to reach your target. While this isn't an issue on say Battlefield, when other players are whipping about at 200 + kph, it becomes a good bit more difficult. In addition, explosive weapons inherit some of your movement speed when you fire them. If your fire a basic spinfusor, for example, it will fire at ~280kph. But if your moving at 200 when you fire, it will inherit 50% of your momentum, and instead travel at ~380kph. This further raises the skill ceiling for the game, which was already quite high.

    Finally, let's look at the business model for this game. Here's where most of the game's problems reside for the average gamer. Weapons and equipment are quite expensive, requiring 4800 (not much) to 88000 (much better than closed beta, but still quite high) xp. You can get all FUNCTIONAL items in the game for free, so this game is far from pay to win, and one of the fairest f2p shooter models to date, but unlocking weapons is a long time consuming process (as should be expected of a f2p). You can purchase gold in order to unlock skins, weapons, classes or even voice packs, and the pricing, while a little expensive, isn't draconian. Overall, the business model could do with a little work, but it's by no means pay to win or insultingly expensive. If you want everything unlocked fairly quickly, drop $50 on the game, buy a year of boosted xp, and relish in the xp.

    As a conclusion, Tribes:Ascend does alot of things right. While it does have several flaws, most of these are minor complaints in comparison. This is by no means a perfect game, but it's the easily the best f2p FPS to date, and easily competes with today's AAA titles for graphic fidelity and gameplay mechanics. Metacritic doesn't allow for x.5 scores, but I'm giving Tribes the benefit of rounding, because of it's original concept, and solid core mechanics.    … Expand
  29. nurman
    Apr 18, 2013
    9
    A unique game that, to me, feels like a mix of a first person shooter, a driving game and a flying simulator, though it is mostly a FPS

    Free to play, with a weapon system that is composed of unlockables and experience points. Though the game has been criticized for having gold and seasonal "more xp" passes, I do not find that so bad considering the game is free to play. A "GOTY"    A unique game that, to me, feels like a mix of a first person shooter, a driving game and a flying simulator, though it is mostly a FPS

    Free to play, with a weapon system that is composed of unlockables and experience points.
    Though the game has been criticized for having gold and seasonal "more xp" passes, I do not find that so bad considering the game is free to play. A "GOTY" version of the game has also been released where you get all the items unlocked from the get-go. The game has also been released on steam, which makes it even easier to play.

    The game is very solid, multiple different roles and an absolutely MAGNIFICENT physics engine.
    A bit hard to learn but when you get to it, it is tons of fun.

    The only reason I did not give it a 10 is because some of the maps flawed, though this will most likely be fixed with time.

    Time to go fast folks!    … Expand
  30. viciousglowworm
    Mar 2, 2013
    9
    I would have given this game a perfect score 6 months ago. Since then, however a couple of things have changed. Many of the new weapon "balances" will take away a key element of the game, such as the decision to nerf the self-knockback on one of the grenades in the game. That being said, it is still a wonderful multiplayer fps experience, and I would recommend buying the newly releasedI would have given this game a perfect score 6 months ago. Since then, however a couple of things have changed. Many of the new weapon "balances" will take away a key element of the game, such as the decision to nerf the self-knockback on one of the grenades in the game. That being said, it is still a wonderful multiplayer fps experience, and I would recommend buying the newly released Game of the Year edition to instantly unlock all weapons and perks. You fly through the air using your jetpack and quickly slide along the ground while skiing. It brings a new light on the fps genre in a Call of Duty dominated world and rewards skill-not purchases. The one thing this game needs is voice communication. I understand that many users have been complaining about the difficulty to capture flags. The point is, if a coordinated team is able to specifically time well-organized flag caps, then it is not that hard. To do this, we need voice communication.… Expand
  31. Plasmaneedle
    Jun 8, 2014
    9
    Tribes Ascend is an excellent FPS. The emphasis on mobility makes it faster paced and makes it stand out among other online FPS games. The maps are well designed for this and the graphics are beautiful. Considering it's free to play you'd be doing yourself a disservice to not at least try Tribes Ascend.
  32. TheMightyClark
    Nov 15, 2013
    9
    Fun fast paced game! Great graphics and addictive gameplay! It's great if you're looking for a free but phenomenal game! Totally recommended. I will definitely be playing this game more!
  33. SanicFire2000
    Apr 7, 2014
    9
    Well... I'm going to say that this game is great... if you have a powerful engine to run it on.
    The game runs on Unreal Engine, so it will be a pain in the ass to handle if your computer is a slow as **** computer, but with the right one, it is going to be a blast.

    I...I...I...I'm going to go play Tribes:Ascend some more. I'll just leave it at here.
  34. Deific
    May 25, 2012
    8
    For the first time in years, I feel like I'm playing an old school multiplayer FPS and it's a fantastic feeling. It's true to Tribes - yes, there's flaws, but it can qualify as a Tribes game. It's fast paced, it's exciting, the addition of classes works well, the variation of weapons is nice and the learning curve as well as the skill requirement that should be in an fps, is there.For the first time in years, I feel like I'm playing an old school multiplayer FPS and it's a fantastic feeling. It's true to Tribes - yes, there's flaws, but it can qualify as a Tribes game. It's fast paced, it's exciting, the addition of classes works well, the variation of weapons is nice and the learning curve as well as the skill requirement that should be in an fps, is there. Thankfully, this is one FPS that consoles haven't had a chance to butcher. However, that's not to say it doesn't feel simplified in some respects. Map design, in comparison with previous Tribes, is poor - both the terrain and base placement feels lackluster and obvious. The addition of SMGs feels as though its attempting to cater to a CoD crowd who would be scared away by the notion of spinfusors as primary weapons and some of the weapons/items just feel like they cheapen the Tribes experience. For example the Sentry class (sniper) for some reason or other, is seen fit to have the best SMG for close combat in the game, whilst anyone who does decide to don an explosive weapon is punished for it when an SMG user can deal the same amount of damage in the same time-frame with greater margin for error. Many weapons are severely imbalanced in similar ways. The maps are also small, meaning a good team/capper can perform several second caps repeatedly. Regenerating health is a bit of a hit and miss mechanic, I'm undecided on it currently. I preferred the old method of deployables which wasn't subject to class and also preferred vehicles from previous games. In T:A you currently have a Grav Bike, a novelty item which is largely useless, a Beowulf Tank, whilst effective is a PITA to manouvere around the field due to physics, and a Shrike, a one man aircraft which is more often than not exploited to run over flag carriers. However, for all the bad, there's a ton of good, and I haven't seen a more tense, competetive and skill-based shooter come out for years. The soundtrack is also fantastic, with scores you could swear were straight from old UT/quake games. I'm impartial to the current payment model, but don't find it too offensive. Whilst payment is a fast track to better weapons, you'll still be outmatched by a better player, and with just a little time invested, you can unlock anything you want reasonably fast anyway. Highly recommended for seasoned tribes players, old school fps lovers, and new players to the genre alike.… Expand
  35. Dethstar
    Apr 12, 2012
    8
    Good fun. Personally I dont expect masses of depth from a game like that and I didnt get it. However, it does have some fun mechanics, it is fun to play and the FTP balancing act seems to work pretty well. A very good game well worth checking out
  36. Allions
    Aug 2, 2012
    8
    Great free to play game. It's NOT too much a "pay to win" game, and that's the main pro i've found. The game is original (different to normal FPS), very funny and skill based: at level 1 i killed many high level guys only with the default weapons. Of course unlocking new stuff is a bit long without paying anything, but it could be done.
  37. moloh
    Apr 29, 2012
    8
    Really fantastic team based FPS, personally have only problems with very long load times (it appears like game is just not responding), but it did not prevent me from enjoying the game. My only problem is the F2P model that developers use, weapons and upgrades are so expensive (either Gold or EXP) that spending 60$ on game will probably give you just about the half of content now. This isReally fantastic team based FPS, personally have only problems with very long load times (it appears like game is just not responding), but it did not prevent me from enjoying the game. My only problem is the F2P model that developers use, weapons and upgrades are so expensive (either Gold or EXP) that spending 60$ on game will probably give you just about the half of content now. This is really disappointing.… Expand
  38. metalmechanic
    Jun 27, 2012
    8
    Great game. Not your typical shooter. Lots of fun and a nice change of pace form all the generic modern shooters on the market. Graphics comparable to a retail product with no cost upfront. All unlocks can be attained through simply playing the game, so you will not be dominated by paid weapons you cannot attain without paying real money.

    Shooting and hit detection seem rock solid. No    Great game. Not your typical shooter. Lots of fun and a nice change of pace form all the generic modern shooters on the market. Graphics comparable to a retail product with no cost upfront. All unlocks can be attained through simply playing the game, so you will not be dominated by paid weapons you cannot attain without paying real money.

    Shooting and hit detection seem rock solid. No glaring glitches that I have seen so far on my system. The developers are constantly tweeking and balancing this game, as well as adding new content. They seem to listen to community feedback pretty well so even when the do mess up and nerf or buff something the community didn't ask for or want. They are pretty good about fixing it or finding a middle ground between their vision and that of the community. Excellent game, well worth a try. The skiing and flying make it very fun but there is a bit of a learning curve. Some of the weapons are extremely hard to master and properly utilize. To me that just adds depth and re-playbility to the game. Always something new to master! Well worth the price of... 0 Dollars!    … Expand
  39. Scuba
    May 31, 2012
    8
    the game is really the best starting around end game. You can really tell the developers paid ATTENTION to the old community of tribes players from 1 + 2.

    The grind is kind of annoying at first, but once you start playing TDM and getting decent scores, you end up with so much exp it's not funny
  40. RetRap
    May 20, 2012
    8
    Tribes: Ascend is like a breath of fresh jet vent in an otherwise stale FPS genre. As this is a F2P game there really isn't an excuse not to try it out. The combat is fast paced and exciting. The initial classes on offer really give you a good feeling for how you want to play. The three class stereotypes of light, mid & heavy really give the game three dimensions and rather more literallyTribes: Ascend is like a breath of fresh jet vent in an otherwise stale FPS genre. As this is a F2P game there really isn't an excuse not to try it out. The combat is fast paced and exciting. The initial classes on offer really give you a good feeling for how you want to play. The three class stereotypes of light, mid & heavy really give the game three dimensions and rather more literally the fact everyone has a jet-pack and the ability to 'Ski' [essentially slide really fast using inertia] makes every fire fight a pleasure.

    That being said, as this is a F2P model it seems that there is a risk of the premium equipment being rather over powered. Of course this can be patched but we've already seen a few instances of new equipment giving unfair advantages. However, on the whole the actual pricing of the various equipment is fair and if you only spend money to unlock the classes you won't feel cheated in the long run.

    Another plus is that the community behind this game is so far fantastic. As such there is plenty of free information available and hundreds of videos with the express mission of making your time with Tribes more enjoyable. Do yourself a favour and download it today, after all it costs you nothing. If you tire of FPS' this won't likely hold your attention for that much longer but at least it isn't yet another £40 brown marine simulator.    … Expand
  41. freesta
    May 22, 2012
    8
    I've played tribes: ascend for a few weeks now and it's simply fun to play from the very first second you are in a match. It's very easy to start a game: Just select the mode you want to play and your desired class and start playing. The servers (as far as I can tell, me being a player from Germany) are very good as I have never experienced any lag issues. I don't like how paying "free toI've played tribes: ascend for a few weeks now and it's simply fun to play from the very first second you are in a match. It's very easy to start a game: Just select the mode you want to play and your desired class and start playing. The servers (as far as I can tell, me being a player from Germany) are very good as I have never experienced any lag issues. I don't like how paying "free to play" games works nowadays and if you do not pay, you are definitely playing with a handicap! But it doesn't matter too much, because this game is fun anyway. So if you like shooters like quake live and open, easy maps which don't require hours of memorizing every corner before you can enjoy the game, you should definitely try tribes: ascend.… Expand
  42. Militaizi
    Jun 9, 2012
    8
    Brilliant game, much more than anyone could ever imagine from a free game. I will not list the good parts, as all have been said in the couple previous reviews.

    But the biggest cons of the game is totally that there are a little overpowered classes (Not weapons), but the difference is so small, that you can actually play with any class against any class, expect Pathfinder of course,    Brilliant game, much more than anyone could ever imagine from a free game. I will not list the good parts, as all have been said in the couple previous reviews.

    But the biggest cons of the game is totally that there are a little overpowered classes (Not weapons), but the difference is so small, that you can actually play with any class against any class, expect Pathfinder of course, because he's used almost only for flag capping. Plus the game is only meant to capture the flag, I can't find any fun of Deathmatch or Arena, i'm not saying that they are not bad, but they are not for me.    … Expand
  43. J--J
    Jul 7, 2012
    8
    Tribes ascend is a great way to kill time in short or long bursts. It's just plain fun. The skiing mechanic works well particularly with this fast-paced shooter setting. Graphics are fine, the shop doesn't seem to get in the way of gameplay, and it's free. Give it a try!
  44. notyourbuddy
    Dec 23, 2013
    8
    Fast paced shooter with a unique airborne combat/movement ski system. If you like going fast and flying high Tribes is the place to be.

    Has some of the most satisfying skill-shots you'll experience in a first person shooter. Comes with a great Capture the Flag game mode (highly recommend) and a wide range of classes to play/weapons to unlock. Plus its Free-To-Play. Some Minor Issues:    Fast paced shooter with a unique airborne combat/movement ski system. If you like going fast and flying high Tribes is the place to be.

    Has some of the most satisfying skill-shots you'll experience in a first person shooter. Comes with a great Capture the Flag game mode (highly recommend) and a wide range of classes to play/weapons to unlock. Plus its Free-To-Play.

    Some Minor Issues:
    - Pro Snipers can really bog down CTF matches.
    - Late game can see quite a bit of skilless Orbital Strike spam.
    - There are some weapon/loadout balance issues here and there.
    - Minor pay-to-win elements regarding the Engineer and Spy class (must unlock explosive weapons to be effective indoors.)
    - Some classes are not as well defined as they probably should be. Example, Juggernauts are a long-range bombardment specialists yet these very same weapon loadouts can be godly indoors.
    - Vehicles, while fun, have very limited effective use due to the airborne nature of combat (vehicle effectiveness is often restricted to a few maps in a few select areas).
    - Base defenses are pretty easily dealt with which might bother some dedicated Engineer players.
    - Unlocking weapons/gear without paying cash is a long long long grind (F2P so not all that unexpected).

    These issues don't stop the game from being fun/addicting, but I they are worth noting.    … Expand
  45. Heresy25
    Aug 12, 2012
    8
    Pure multiplayer goodness. Fast gameplay, beautiful graphics, great controls. Only problem I got was taht some stuff are expensive as hell but you don't really need them, it's all about the skill.
  46. Captain_Chaos
    Jun 22, 2016
    8
    In 2011 I stood in line for PAX East and saw a trailer for a game I never thought I'd see. The original Starsiege: Tribes was the first game I ever played online, and I was enthralled by it from my first flag grab. Ascend is very much the inheritor of this classic series' legacy, and though it has modern trappings like regen health and an experience system, these do not greatly detractIn 2011 I stood in line for PAX East and saw a trailer for a game I never thought I'd see. The original Starsiege: Tribes was the first game I ever played online, and I was enthralled by it from my first flag grab. Ascend is very much the inheritor of this classic series' legacy, and though it has modern trappings like regen health and an experience system, these do not greatly detract from the core gameplay. Ascend is easy to start playing, but is just as skill-intensive as it' forebears. You can't just "press button, win game." You have to play hard or go home. Ascend's sprawling levels, varied weapons, blinding speeds, and high-flying acrobatics set it in a class above other shooters, and has a variety of PC-friendly features such as support for custom servers.

    However, the game was seemingly abandoned by Hi-Rez studios in the face of their beloved e-sports baby, Smite. Then, from the blue, came a massive quality of life update that retooled Ascend to be more like its predecessors, removing classes in favor of a simpler armor-based loadout system. These changes were all that old-school Tribes players ever wanted, and that's exactly what we got. The game might not have much of a future from here... but what we have is good.    … Expand
  47. Pardoow
    Sep 8, 2019
    8
    Fun and free, what else do you want? For what it is, a halo-ish futuristic shooter, it delivers enough fun to keep you entertained
  48. FatalExcursion
    Apr 24, 2012
    7
    It's free to play, so I can't complain much, but this is simply a F2P model that does not work, and with Sony publishing Tribes Ascend it's no surprise. It plays out as what you'd expect, you can level up normally (and rather slowly), or go the Pay to Pave option and obtain gold to buy market items, perks and skins. It's not with this that the game becomes broken, though many weaponsIt's free to play, so I can't complain much, but this is simply a F2P model that does not work, and with Sony publishing Tribes Ascend it's no surprise. It plays out as what you'd expect, you can level up normally (and rather slowly), or go the Pay to Pave option and obtain gold to buy market items, perks and skins. It's not with this that the game becomes broken, though many weapons become more and more overpowered with each consequential update that supposedly fixes these problems. It's the fact the disbalancement of F2P v P2P players becomes overwhelmingly clear through the horrible in-game matchmaking, which ends up pitting players with low points against MVPlayers most of the time. That being said, the pros of Tribes come from it's insanely fast-paced gameplay, intense objective-based modes, and unique graphically-stirring maps and designs. Cons quickly appear in minor, but overwhelmingly apparent doses still. The interface is clunky, OP weapons have not been fixed or have been made worse, and with many other problems surrounding matchmaking and gameplay, Tribes: Ascend loses its grand appeal in the first few hours, but still delivers to Tribes fans and those looking for a new skill-based shooter not unlike Quake. Given time, I'm sure that these problems will be ironed up, but the problem still lies in why they released the game when the beta clearly needed attention to fixes as well.… Expand
  49. Obi
    Apr 21, 2012
    7
    The game is good, something different from the usual MP FPS games. However there are issues: low experience income, skill doesn't matter since u can buy better weapons with real money, poor badge rewards for certain classes (for e.g. it seems that lately there are ''disco parties'' in generator room since it gives the most credit)
    As for classes they are pretty good, sake from sentinel.    The game is good, something different from the usual MP FPS games. However there are issues: low experience income, skill doesn't matter since u can buy better weapons with real money, poor badge rewards for certain classes (for e.g. it seems that lately there are ''disco parties'' in generator room since it gives the most credit)
    As for classes they are pretty good, sake from sentinel. Sentinel is pretty much failed class, since you can't hit anything unless its a lucky shot, you have to be constantly in aim mode to achieve maximum damage, which leaves little chance or nothing to see whats going around u and the jammer, which should act as a cloaking device is one big target painted on your back.
    However, the game is free and if u can ignore certain fails you should have a good time playing it.    … Expand
  50. Brosman
    Aug 8, 2013
    7
    This game is incredibly fun when i play it with my friends. But whenever i join a lobby with randoms i cant enjoy myself. The pathfinder class ruins ever game mode in this game. I understand he is supposed to be fast, but the fact that in CTF he can literally run laps around the map and cap the flag six time uncontested and run through you 20 turrets without taking a single shot is insane.This game is incredibly fun when i play it with my friends. But whenever i join a lobby with randoms i cant enjoy myself. The pathfinder class ruins ever game mode in this game. I understand he is supposed to be fast, but the fact that in CTF he can literally run laps around the map and cap the flag six time uncontested and run through you 20 turrets without taking a single shot is insane. In TDM he takes the flag and runs laps around the outside of the map and hes so fast the even an entire team of pathfinders cant kill him. Its a fun free game but the fact that this can happen in every game ruins the fun factor and takes out some of the strategy. I enjoy it i really do and i recommend it. Just this one flaw sucks the fun out if it sometimes.… Expand
  51. paws
    May 1, 2012
    6
    Tribes:Ascend looked great in the beginning, but the more I played it, the more serious flaws became obvious to me.

    The weapon balance is pretty bad and often makes little sense, for example a silenced pistol has a higher damage output than an assault rifle. You have to unlock a lot of weapons that are better than the default gear, and the price both in experience points and gold/cash is    Tribes:Ascend looked great in the beginning, but the more I played it, the more serious flaws became obvious to me.

    The weapon balance is pretty bad and often makes little sense, for example a silenced pistol has a higher damage output than an assault rifle.

    You have to unlock a lot of weapons that are better than the default gear, and the price both in experience points and gold/cash is steep. If you spend only $60 on T:A, you still need hundreds of hours to unlock and upgrade the good stuff. If you don't spend any money and stay f2p, you need about 40 hours to unlock each of the more expensive weapons, 30 hours for the middle priced ones and 17 hours for the cheap ones. So unless you spend most of your waking life playing this game, you won't get far without gold. You get 50% once you spend any money, but then you still need a lot of time for unlocks. You can buy xp boosters for gold that doubles the xp rate for a period, but they're usually marginally cost efficient for casual players.

    HiRez has released obviously overpowered weapons in both of it's new weapon packs, and they were the most expensive ones. This shows that pay to win is how they plan to keep maximizing their revenue.

    Being a team based game, team play is a very important factor. Unfortunately, in most games the teams are stacked so that one team steamrolls the other, which is neither exciting or fun. Also, overall team play is usually terrible, especially in CTF games where people often refuse to defend the flag. But if you happen end up in a game were the teams are balanced and people work together, it's a fun game.

    In the Capture and Hold mode, there's less requirement for cooperation than in CTF, so the games are less chaotic, but here the classes don't work as well together as in CTF, and some of the maps used for CaH are just not well suited for it because they have rooms were people tend to crowd up and spam grenades.    … Expand
  52. LarryCA
    Apr 14, 2012
    6
    A fantastic game ruined by terrible netcode. There is no lag compensation for projectiles and very poor interpolation of player movement, making it a frustrating mess to play with or against anyone above LAN level latency. Issues like these should never have made it out of beta.
  53. Zimzams
    Jun 22, 2012
    6
    The game is fun, there is no doubt about it. if you are looking for the remedy to the generic slow, cover-based fps that have been trending lately then this is a decent game for that. HOWEVER, there are serious balance issues, Hi-Rez have their "fremium" model all wrong, it is far too easy to buy power in this game, and unlocking stuff without paying takes far too long. not to mention theThe game is fun, there is no doubt about it. if you are looking for the remedy to the generic slow, cover-based fps that have been trending lately then this is a decent game for that. HOWEVER, there are serious balance issues, Hi-Rez have their "fremium" model all wrong, it is far too easy to buy power in this game, and unlocking stuff without paying takes far too long. not to mention the fact the weapons are not side-grades all the time, but can be straight up-grades
    all in all its a fun idea poorly executed, but there is still hope for it to be fixed in a future patch.    … Expand
  54. Zerasad
    Jul 7, 2012
    6
    The game looks and sounds really good. Now this game is not the easiest to play or understand, at it definetly requires a lot of practice to be really good at it. You can get the hang of the skiing mechanic relatively fast, but you need to play for a long time to master it. Overal the gameplay would get around 8.5 out of 10. BUT what really kills the game for me is the free to play model.The game looks and sounds really good. Now this game is not the easiest to play or understand, at it definetly requires a lot of practice to be really good at it. You can get the hang of the skiing mechanic relatively fast, but you need to play for a long time to master it. Overal the gameplay would get around 8.5 out of 10. BUT what really kills the game for me is the free to play model. You can unlock classes relatively easily, but certain weapons require crazy amounts of in-game currency. For instance if u play let's say 3 matches everyday in a row and u do exceptionally well in every single one, win all 3 and get the first win of the day bonus every single day, it would still take you around 30-40 days to unlock 1 weapon for a 1 class. And that's just 1 weapon. And these weapons are not even that special. They are just ordinary weapons that other classes can have, a Spinfusor for instance (works like a rocket launcher). And since in my experience explosive weapons are far easier to use and unless you are really skilled with non-explosive a lot more effective, it really sets back some classes. So if you want to play with another clas you'll have to grind day and night to get to the level of the others.… Expand
  55. Bean-Bandit
    Jul 15, 2012
    6
    Honestly this game is more of a let down compared to Tribes 2 and part of that deals with the fact that it's Free 2 Play. There's no dedicated servers with custom maps which is always a great thing. The graphics are somewhat boring and not really up to par with current games. You either have to buy a Starter Pack or play non stop to get enough xp to unlock items or classes. If I'm gonna beHonestly this game is more of a let down compared to Tribes 2 and part of that deals with the fact that it's Free 2 Play. There's no dedicated servers with custom maps which is always a great thing. The graphics are somewhat boring and not really up to par with current games. You either have to buy a Starter Pack or play non stop to get enough xp to unlock items or classes. If I'm gonna be doing that I would rather do this on a MMO then a fps. I would have rather this be a full price game with the wish that the overall feel and play of the game would be alot better then what it is.

    Playing this game makes me miss Tribes 2 and want to play that more then this tribes. Even though Tribes 3 was short lived I would even would rather play that then this game. Heck even the music in Tribes 2 really got you into the feel of the game.    … Expand
  56. loungegecko
    Apr 30, 2012
    5
    Alright, Tribes is NOTHING special. It's a generic online shooter. Sure, you go fast, yeah, but honestly? It doesn't even give the feeling of fast that you would get from a lot of other games. Also the balance is poor. It's a given that in any online game the edge goes to more experienced players, but the experience and unlock system makes this game terribly unbalanced. Also, the crash andAlright, Tribes is NOTHING special. It's a generic online shooter. Sure, you go fast, yeah, but honestly? It doesn't even give the feeling of fast that you would get from a lot of other games. Also the balance is poor. It's a given that in any online game the edge goes to more experienced players, but the experience and unlock system makes this game terribly unbalanced. Also, the crash and bullet physics are absolutely dreadful. It's redeemed by the fact that it looks pretty and it's fun to play ONLY IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS PLAYING. It's free, so it's worth a download I suppose.… Expand
  57. Mitthrawnuruodo
    Jun 28, 2012
    5
    A solid first person shooter that is unfortunately built on a pay-to-win free play model. The person who spent the most money on better armor, better guns and better perks that are constantly released will win.
  58. Salient0ne
    May 24, 2012
    5
    I played a lot of tribes2 and was very good at it. I started playing this, and just got owned. Why? This is very much play to win and the grind to get the weapons/items/perks is miserable. Like 50 wins needed per 1 item. You'll never see scrubs at the top of the leader boards, and you'll get tired quick of using inferior weapons and having no energy to keep up with the enemy. Its quite sadI played a lot of tribes2 and was very good at it. I started playing this, and just got owned. Why? This is very much play to win and the grind to get the weapons/items/perks is miserable. Like 50 wins needed per 1 item. You'll never see scrubs at the top of the leader boards, and you'll get tired quick of using inferior weapons and having no energy to keep up with the enemy. Its quite sad too, the simple solution is to fix the match making, i dont understand why scrubs get stuck in games full of pay2win players.… Expand
  59. Darkmark
    Jun 17, 2012
    5
    It the start it was fun because of the jetpacks and skiing which really added some dynamic movement to the game that you rarely see in other shooters. It was fun just skiing around trying to go as fast as possible or to fly around with your jetpack in the middle of combat. But after some time the game got boring and you began to notice all the flaws and the poor balance. Now i haven'tIt the start it was fun because of the jetpacks and skiing which really added some dynamic movement to the game that you rarely see in other shooters. It was fun just skiing around trying to go as fast as possible or to fly around with your jetpack in the middle of combat. But after some time the game got boring and you began to notice all the flaws and the poor balance. Now i haven't played the game in a while and though it can be fun at times if you play it with your friends there are much better games out there.… Expand
  60. dennycrane
    Jun 3, 2012
    5
    The best part about Tribes Ascend are the improved graphics. Beyond that, the game pales in comparison to the skill ceiling and physics of the first two. Long time players of Tribes 1 and Tribes 2 will understand what I mean. There have been some quirky changes to make the game easier for casual players. That's understandable, but in that attempt its just not as enjoyable. Too much CODThe best part about Tribes Ascend are the improved graphics. Beyond that, the game pales in comparison to the skill ceiling and physics of the first two. Long time players of Tribes 1 and Tribes 2 will understand what I mean. There have been some quirky changes to make the game easier for casual players. That's understandable, but in that attempt its just not as enjoyable. Too much COD style ground hugging combat, very little LD or great chasing skirmishes. Ridiculous massive hit boxes. No team damage and auto regen make this tribes on training wheels. I'm sure the casual guy will enjoy it, but it's not the type of tribes game that make me, or other long time fans want to stick around.… Expand
  61. Steve101
    Jul 4, 2012
    5
    I really don't understand what people see in this game. I personally find Tribes an unsatisfactory chaotic mess. Some elements, such as skiing and the counterstrike-like weapon system, I enjoy. However, the core gameplay, of a first person shooter, I find impossible. You end up spending most of your time shooting at the group where a person was 10 seconds ago. Everyone is moving too fast,I really don't understand what people see in this game. I personally find Tribes an unsatisfactory chaotic mess. Some elements, such as skiing and the counterstrike-like weapon system, I enjoy. However, the core gameplay, of a first person shooter, I find impossible. You end up spending most of your time shooting at the group where a person was 10 seconds ago. Everyone is moving too fast, and they all seem to be WAAY better at the game then you. The graphics are absolutely fantastic...if you could take the time to appreciate them. But most of the players end up being a blur, and the maps contain mostly repetitive terrain with no real variation.
    The worst element of the game however, is playing with a team. The maps are too large to effectively co-ordinate with team members for attacks, defences, or what have you.Plus, no matter what you do, you never feel like you are contributing to the team effort, unless your the person at the front lines, capturing the flags and whatnot. And because the maps are too vast, the player are too widely spaced, Heck, even finding people to shoot is hard.
    Mind you, there are some good elements about the game. The class variation is decent enough, and it is somewhat exhilarating to fly around at ridiculously fast speeds, and, as said earlier, the graphics are quite nice.
    However, the core gameplay isn't something I enjoy. For shooters, unless you are a fan of the series, or have a fair about of skill with timing and speed, I recommend taking a pass on this one.    … Expand
  62. Mogul
    May 6, 2012
    4
    This game looks pretty, and is easy to jump in and play. For me, though, I found the physics and controls to be very wonky and unintuitive. The skiing + jet pack stuff just doesn't feel smooth to me, and I never really felt like I was going that fast either (even at speeds where I would never get shot or hit things that I was shooting at). There also seem to be class / weapon balanceThis game looks pretty, and is easy to jump in and play. For me, though, I found the physics and controls to be very wonky and unintuitive. The skiing + jet pack stuff just doesn't feel smooth to me, and I never really felt like I was going that fast either (even at speeds where I would never get shot or hit things that I was shooting at). There also seem to be class / weapon balance issues, but that's not unusual for a game like this. I can see why people would enjoy playing this, but it's just not my style I guess.… Expand
  63. rocko1900
    Apr 16, 2012
    4
    Decent game at first, but once you gain experience you really start to see a lot of glaring issues.

    For starters, the menu structure is horrible and feels like something designed for consoles. Attempting to change a weapon or perk in the middle of a game is frustrating and time consuming. It takes a bunch of mouse clicks and key presses just to change 1 item. Weapons lack balance! The    Decent game at first, but once you gain experience you really start to see a lot of glaring issues.

    For starters, the menu structure is horrible and feels like something designed for consoles. Attempting to change a weapon or perk in the middle of a game is frustrating and time consuming. It takes a bunch of mouse clicks and key presses just to change 1 item.

    Weapons lack balance! The most superior weapons in the game are machine guns and sniper rifles, while the iconic weapons like the spinfusor fail to keep pace in outdoor fights. If you come across a midfield battle against a machine gun and don't have one equipped yourself, chances are you're going to die in that fight 95% of the time. Especially with the terrible design decision to make your screen compulsively shake every time a bullet hits you. Then you have the snipers that can cover an entire map single handely. It's pathetic when one sniper can shut down a whole team of cappers.

    Shrike lacks balance! Again, another weapon in the game that can single handely dictate the pace of almost any game. A decent shrike pilot can run over countless cappers with absolutely no drawbacks. The shrike is also literally impossible to hit with any weapon weapon unless it's near the ground. The only real threat to a shrike pilot is the saberlauncher and everyone knows what a joke that weapon is. It's more of an annoyance to a pilot than a threat. Then you have people who will just buy a shrike and go technician and use cheap glitches like mid-air repairing, where the person hops out of his airplane mid-air, lands on the shrike and fixes it while it floats in the air. It esentially makes the shrike invicible and impossible to kill and nullifying any damage you do to it.

    Netcode is awful. If anything is above 80ms ping, the gameplay is pretty bad. Everything becomes extremely jumpy and hard to hit. Have fun trying to catch some guy that takes the flag and is lagging. He will be telporting and jumping all over the place making it impossible to land a hit. Then there is also the horrible hit detection, even with normal pings. When you're involved in a chase after someone at a fast speed and shooting at them, you will at times see an explosion land directly on your opponent or very close to his character model, but it won't deal any damage.

    Chasing a flag carrier is impossible at high speeds. Trying to catch up to someone who just took your flag at 250+ speed from a standstil flat land is extremely hard. Especially with the vast majority of back to front routes that let you cap the flag in a few seconds flat, or someone that is on a. Extremely frustrating game mechanic in CTF and probably why barely anyone ever chases in pub games. The only time you will see anyone go chasing the flag is when it's a very slow guy taking it and walking off with it.

    No proper team balance. Countless pub games are team stacked and end in 5-0 scores very frequently.

    A good majrority of people agree that most of the maps are awful, and the only good ones are the ones that are ported from earlier tribes games.

    Wonky physics that makes you feel like you're floating instead of actually flying. Feels like a hover pack instead of a jetpack.    … Expand
  64. Midnightmare
    Apr 18, 2012
    4
    Not that this is a bad game, it's free after all but its only a 5 to me.

    Since its only half as good as tribes 1 and 2. Way to much content have been stripped from the game and it just feels empty compared to the old ones! And it really really feels like a console game :( Would be okey if i was on a console i guess, but every console got the first 200 sci-fi shooters already. And this    Not that this is a bad game, it's free after all but its only a 5 to me.

    Since its only half as good as tribes 1 and 2.

    Way to much content have been stripped from the game and it just feels empty compared to the old ones!
    And it really really feels like a console game :( Would be okey if i was on a console i guess, but every console got the first 200 sci-fi shooters already.
    And this just feels like another unreal engine console port.
    If you did play the old tribes you will know that tribes deserves a dedicated engine to handle the task.    … Expand
  65. Nevermind
    Apr 28, 2012
    4
    Tribes:Ascend seems like a good game, and is mostly. However, this is the kind of game where the little things are eventually going to become annoying. I mean mostly weapons with area of effect only, deathmatch where kills do not matter (but holding the flag does) , capture the flag maps that seem to be impossible to defend, a generator that doesn't do much on the best days, and loses theTribes:Ascend seems like a good game, and is mostly. However, this is the kind of game where the little things are eventually going to become annoying. I mean mostly weapons with area of effect only, deathmatch where kills do not matter (but holding the flag does) , capture the flag maps that seem to be impossible to defend, a generator that doesn't do much on the best days, and loses the game on the others. Even the unlock system is pretty obnoxious, you get to unlock a weapon or a class that might be virtually useless, without any information whatsoever, and they do cost a bit. The practice/training session could let you try all classes, but no. That would be too easy, I guess. The innovative skiing system is nice, but tbh I wasn't really so good at it. I can ski, but I can't really sky and shoot so much. I guess I should mention, most of the weapons fire plasma projectiles with weight, so you have to lead your aim. What's worse, they inherit your speed and momentum, so if you jump, for example, the plasma "blob" will inherit the jump momentum, and go slightly upwards. This is actually a pretty neat change from the usual point and click. Oh, yeah,and I forgot to mention the voice chat spam. "Shazbot" will become a part of the english vocabulary soon enough, and part of your nightmares way before that. I did have fun killing some guy or the other, so the game has it's moments, but for me, games are about winning. I couldn't figure a way to win in this game. Maybe you can.… Expand
  66. Qlmmb2086
    May 22, 2012
    4
    After about a month of this game, I think I have played enough to form a proper opinion.

    Tribes: Ascend has two severely conflicting features. It has the Tribes game mechanic, which are incredible, and it has the Free to Pay scheme, which is terrible. If everyone was equal, this would be a truly amazing game. Combat is fast-paced, based entirely around accuracy and split-second timing,    After about a month of this game, I think I have played enough to form a proper opinion.

    Tribes: Ascend has two severely conflicting features. It has the Tribes game mechanic, which are incredible, and it has the Free to Pay scheme, which is terrible.

    If everyone was equal, this would be a truly amazing game. Combat is fast-paced, based entirely around accuracy and split-second timing, and has rich tactics. The classes all play differently in a good way, and excel in different situations, and different weapons can be used differently depending on your environment and range to target.

    Unfortunately, you don't get to any of that unless you spend money on the game. You start with three classes, and those classes in turn start with less health, less energy regeneration, less ammo, less weapons, and less perks than anyone who has paid into the game, even if they're using the same class that you are. For being "not pay to win," this is surprisingly noticeable in the game. In theory, everyone would be able to unlock weapons through "experience points" at a reasonable rate, but unfortunately the way Hi-Rez has weighted the costs of the items, it takes (litterally) about 300 matches at 20 to 30 minutes each to unlock ONE new weapon, never mind classes, perks, armor upgrades, and upgrades the weapons you've unlocked.

    That's right; it takes well over one HUNDRED hours of play time to get a single weapon. Grand total cost to unlock everything (currently) in the game directly? About $150. And that's only currently existing items; expect more to be added faster than you can unlock them at your pitiful one-weapon-per-month rate with free points alone.
    Because different weapons are better in different situations, "all weapons are good in some way." Unfortunately, all weapons are also BAD in some way... usually some way that is extremely easily exploitable by someone using... you guessed it: a weapon they paid money to unlock. The real issue isn't the different weapon matchups; the issue is that the combat in the game is 90% about switching weapons, classes, and loadouts to exploit your opponent's weakness, which is literally impossible to do without paying money into the game. As a result, spending money on the game gives you a clear advantage, which is the one thing Free to Pay schemes should never do, from a gameplay standpoint.

    To be fair, this wouldn't be a problem if it was consistent. The problem lies in the fact that some people are earning their way up the ladder, while other people bought the weapons and classes directly, and then simply spend all their XP on upgrades so that even if you DO get the same class and weapon, their version of the class is STILL more powerful than yours.

    Technically, you can unlock everything in the game with XP. But you won't. You won't even come close. The most generous estimate my calculator gives me is that it takes about 1250 hours of matchmaking to unlock everything in Tribes: Ascend without any payments. That's six months solid if you treat the game like a full-time job. And by then, you'd have to start over on everything that had been added to the game since.

    TL;DR: Great game mechanics, but expect 9 out of 10 of your deaths to be from someone using a weapon you haven't unlocked yet and probably never will.    … Expand
  67. ZZZGheronZZZ
    Jun 1, 2014
    4
    Great initial game play. Provides lost of incentive to play again. VERY crappy lvl system that favors player who have been playing longer not skill... crap gaming style.

    Hi-Rez has the same problem with Smite and tried to fix it by starting all players at lvl 0 but still favors players who have been playing longer. Want more money? Make the game fun for everyone to play.
  68. Coeco
    Jul 22, 2012
    3
    Had loads of fun with this game at beta. Then it just got worse. And worse. And worse. And worse with every single update they released which is odd considering Hi-Rez studios pride themselves on listening on the community which has clearly not been the case for this game. Originally, they threw a few mixed updates both with good and bad, nerfing some of the obnoxious explosive weapons butHad loads of fun with this game at beta. Then it just got worse. And worse. And worse. And worse with every single update they released which is odd considering Hi-Rez studios pride themselves on listening on the community which has clearly not been the case for this game. Originally, they threw a few mixed updates both with good and bad, nerfing some of the obnoxious explosive weapons but then they tugged down the weapons that requires actual aiming and started adding more explosives instead with not the slightest hint of concern for balancement in regards to rewarding players for aim or tactics. I thought that all the good stuff had to be in the paying section so I threw them a couple of bucks to try more content just to be met with even worse weapons, including a set of daggers that you could throw for around 200-300 damage each depending on enemy armor quite slowly with extremely precise aiming and timing required or pick up the standard silenced SMG that spews out hundreds of rounds per minute for 50 damage each. I asked for a refund not too long afterwards, explaining my disappointment and they insisted on having my account closed due to their inability to retract purchases manually which is a shame because now I've lost all hope of returning to the game once things have been polished but hey, at least they honored people refunds which is more than I can say for most US companies right now.… Expand
  69. letsgoiowa
    Apr 14, 2012
    3
    Where can I start with this game? Rough edges on the graphics, boring sound effects, running around the map waiting to find SOMEONE, ANYONE to kill, and then suffer due to the atrocious controls, which are by far the worst of any game I have ever played. Not only is the game simply boring, but games often end as completely one-sided as I've seen across any game I've ever played. I realizeWhere can I start with this game? Rough edges on the graphics, boring sound effects, running around the map waiting to find SOMEONE, ANYONE to kill, and then suffer due to the atrocious controls, which are by far the worst of any game I have ever played. Not only is the game simply boring, but games often end as completely one-sided as I've seen across any game I've ever played. I realize this is a beta, but the base gameplay of this leaves me with a rotten taste in my mouth. The maps are also far to big, as I spent a good 90% of my time trying to get back to my team. All that is really left to say is: Thank God it was free.… Expand
  70. True-Saber
    May 20, 2012
    3
    A good break from the every other slow fps these days. Sadly the developers did not understand the importance of only the Heavy classes (other than sniper/sentinal) having high velocity projectile weapons, which prevented the unbelievable amount of spray-and-pray-spamming that takes place in this game. They also completely ruined the amazing customization of player characters. No longerA good break from the every other slow fps these days. Sadly the developers did not understand the importance of only the Heavy classes (other than sniper/sentinal) having high velocity projectile weapons, which prevented the unbelievable amount of spray-and-pray-spamming that takes place in this game. They also completely ruined the amazing customization of player characters. No longer can you choose Heavy, Medium, Light, instead they are uselessly split up into 9 "different" classes. Most of which have only 1 or 2 packs to choose from and as few weapons. In comparative terms its like going to checkers after playing chess your whole life.… Expand
  71. AprilReyes
    Oct 11, 2014
    3
    Another game that bought the "Bezt gaem ever" scores for a couple bucks. Sad where the game industry is going nowadays. Yeah, Tribes is certainly something unique, but that doesn't mean its good too.

    What makes this game promising is the "fast-paced" action that is in reality almost uncontrollably hovering (or as they call it "skiing") forwards while shooting stuff at people who do that    Another game that bought the "Bezt gaem ever" scores for a couple bucks. Sad where the game industry is going nowadays. Yeah, Tribes is certainly something unique, but that doesn't mean its good too.

    What makes this game promising is the "fast-paced" action that is in reality almost uncontrollably hovering (or as they call it "skiing") forwards while shooting stuff at people who do that same. Sadly, however, there is no sense of speed whatsoever, and you don't get chills because you're going so fast, mostly because the maps seem like someone accidentally scaling them ten times higher than they should be.

    The so called "competitive gameplay" falls flat by the simple fact that explosives deal an absurdly high damage plus have a huge blast radius which means that when "skiing", you hardly ever need to aim, and while indoors, you don't even need to because you'll blow everything in your way to pieces.

    The CTF is quite interesting, because the flags are, for some reason, keep left out in the open which means a luckier enemy who got quite the speed can dash by and pick it up, while the defenders simply can't go after him because there is no slope they can use to gain speed.

    And then there are the "pay to win" issues. No, don't come with that "you can unlock anything" thing, I'd like to unlock new weapons faster than classes, but after some calculations I figured it'd take hundreds of matches to switch my pea shooter that deals no damage to something that can actually do something, while who bought the Game of The Year (brb vomiting) package can get everything on spot, ready to go. Disgusting.

    I've played about one hour of this but I've already uninstalled it, utterly disappointing. I'll be honest, the only thing I liked about this game is the weapon designs, but those I LOVED.    … Expand
  72. Dangles
    Aug 28, 2012
    2
    I hate to review games based on their business models, but Tribes: Ascend is just another low quality production with extremely generic maps (no interacts with environment available), mediocre technical work and low production value on top of being a traditional F2P.

    While the main complaint about F2P is the P2W (pay-to-win) argument, it isn't reason it's bad. F2P models generally feel    I hate to review games based on their business models, but Tribes: Ascend is just another low quality production with extremely generic maps (no interacts with environment available), mediocre technical work and low production value on top of being a traditional F2P.

    While the main complaint about F2P is the P2W (pay-to-win) argument, it isn't reason it's bad. F2P models generally feel cheap because in most cases it is. Low production value has always been a hallmark of F2P games with the exception of those made by Valve (TF2 and DOTA2).    … Expand
  73. Lionhearted
    May 12, 2012
    2
    Thus far I've played about 3 hours. It has some interesting movement dynamics. The game is entirely team based however, I don't think there is a community intercom to coordinate. The game also makes the same shotguns for nubs/mgs for pros error, without a stair step for difficulty. It's a decent timewaster, its enjoyable, but it oesn't draw me in with invention or divergent playstyles. ItsThus far I've played about 3 hours. It has some interesting movement dynamics. The game is entirely team based however, I don't think there is a community intercom to coordinate. The game also makes the same shotguns for nubs/mgs for pros error, without a stair step for difficulty. It's a decent timewaster, its enjoyable, but it oesn't draw me in with invention or divergent playstyles. Its a fairly 1 track minded shooter without a lot of the options. the pay to compete thing here isn't as bad as say World of Tanks, but it's present nonetheless. I think a 6 is suitable.… Expand
  74. Piata
    Apr 17, 2012
    2
    There is so much potential with this game, but sadly it falls short by straying too far from all the things that made Tribes great and adopts too much from Call of Duty. I played Beta since September so I am speaking with months of gameplay experience when I say what a huge let down this game is. 1. Physics aren't quite right. Skiing is more like skidding on ice and jetpacks don't regenThere is so much potential with this game, but sadly it falls short by straying too far from all the things that made Tribes great and adopts too much from Call of Duty. I played Beta since September so I am speaking with months of gameplay experience when I say what a huge let down this game is. 1. Physics aren't quite right. Skiing is more like skidding on ice and jetpacks don't regen fast enough. 2. Too many machine guns. All previous Tribes had one machine gun style weapon for a reason: it's by far the least interesting, unskilled and abused weapon in the game. 3. The preset load outs and 2 weapon limit greatly reduce the customization and gameplay options when compared to previous Tribes games. 4. Mortar is broken. Arc is wrong, distance is pathetic and the arming time is too long. 5. Disc jumping is terrible. Regenerating health is terrible. Spawning in your loadout is terrible. Orbital bombardments are terrible. All these things serve to unbalance the game.… Expand
  75. Molvanian
    Apr 30, 2012
    2
    Tribes is, unfortunately, a victim of the phrase "different, not better." Skiing is strange, but interesting, the wide open maps are refreshing...

    The weapon balance poor, team interaction non-existent and the whole thing a chaotic mess. Spam explosives at flag and really, use only explosives in doors. It's not tense, simply manic, and in a bad way.
  76. loin
    Oct 13, 2012
    2
    You would do well to just avoid this. As for the critics I doubt they plug this because its good.
    They say its good so the public buys. Best to talk to real gamers with years of exp in games
    So glad I did not try the other tribes, no surprises if this dies of within a few years tbh.
  77. PlusEighteen
    May 23, 2012
    1
    Tribes: Ascend is a solid game buried by poor balance and developer greed. At first it seems fair, everyone has the same choices in gear so it's mostly skill based unless someone buys unlockable weapons via the cash shop, but in the beginner queue these crutches don't give much of an advantage over a more skilled player. After ranking up past 6 though, the entire game goes to **** MatchesTribes: Ascend is a solid game buried by poor balance and developer greed. At first it seems fair, everyone has the same choices in gear so it's mostly skill based unless someone buys unlockable weapons via the cash shop, but in the beginner queue these crutches don't give much of an advantage over a more skilled player. After ranking up past 6 though, the entire game goes to **** Matches are stacked regularly, all the high ranked players flock to one team and curbstomp the other, unlockable gear is extremely unbalanced/overpowered and goes weeks with no fix, certain classes are just better versions of others, and the biggest point is automatic weapons completely defeat projectiles which is the main drawing point of tribes in the first place. Weapons take over 20 hours of gametime to unlock, and many of them are straight upgrades over vanilla gear, so a person with vanilla will always lose to a person with unlocks, and this is how they make their money as you can buy unlockable weapons with real cash, 10USD for a single weapon when each class has 3+ weapons to unlock. It's a damn shame because the actual gameplay is a lot of fun, but when you lose to someone with unlocked gear every single time, not because they're better than you, but because they bought an advantage, what's the point of even playing the game? At this point the game can't be fixed barring a complete rebalancing of almost all the weapons and classes in the game, and they can't do that when people have already paid real cash for their easy mode gear.… Expand
  78. santosx
    May 26, 2012
    0
    Mediochre game. Unlike basicaly all modern shooters, Tribes does not use unlagged code, which means that latency (ping) is not compensated. This does for a "back to the 90s" feeling, where low pingers always had a massive advantage. Plus its not realy "free to play", its more "pay to win" unless you will spend hundreds of hours to even get the basics for free.

    If you got a very low    Mediochre game. Unlike basicaly all modern shooters, Tribes does not use unlagged code, which means that latency (ping) is not compensated. This does for a "back to the 90s" feeling, where low pingers always had a massive advantage. Plus its not realy "free to play", its more "pay to win" unless you will spend hundreds of hours to even get the basics for free.

    If you got a very low ping, fail to excel in modern shooters and desperately need another fps, Tribes might just be the niche game you are looking for. Otherwise, move on, waste of time. Oh, and note how most positive user reviews here have been written on certain days, like april 12th ... small and dedicated community ;) So most likely the user score for this game is fake.    … Expand
  79. kotay
    May 22, 2012
    0
    A great fun game, but you will soon realise that overpowered weapons are released every month, meaning that if you do not get them straight away you will be at a severe disadvantage. Then one month later, a nerf to the old and overpower the new. Really is a shame as they had a great product at the start. So a month has passed since I wrote the paragraph above, guess what, nerfed the old OPA great fun game, but you will soon realise that overpowered weapons are released every month, meaning that if you do not get them straight away you will be at a severe disadvantage. Then one month later, a nerf to the old and overpower the new. Really is a shame as they had a great product at the start. So a month has passed since I wrote the paragraph above, guess what, nerfed the old OP weapons, released an attempt at a balanced OP weapon. Automatics dominate the game to the point that it is just another shooter, no point in going fast because you will be gunned down, no point in using any other weapon other than the smgs because if you are not using them, you will constantly die to them, this really drags the gameplay down, from a fast paced shooter to another spray and pray title.

    Loads of issues with the mechanics, badly optimised, every patch lowers framerates and they do not fix any problems instead they focus on releasing more content to get a quick dollar. I very much doubt this game will last longer than another couple of months unless drastic changes take place, even then it will probably be too late as the playerbase is already dropping fast. It is getting harder and harder to get a full game.

    They really have shot themselves in the foot by focussing on money grabs instead of proper balance and fixing core issues.

    Don't let me put you off, try the game out for yourself, it is free after all. Just do not rush into buying gold, you will probably not spend it. Adios Tribes Ascend, you could've/should've been so great.    … Expand
  80. krkbomb
    Jul 14, 2012
    0
    Pay to win game. Pay to win game. Pay to win game. Pay to win game. Pay to win game. Pay to win game. Pay to win game. Pay to win game. Pay to win game. Pay to win game.
  81. diablo3helpme
    May 29, 2012
    0
    My god this game is bad.. How can people rate this so high?

    How can people play this pay to win game?

    They really have shot themselves in the foot by focussing on money grabs instead of proper balance and fixing core issues.
  82. ObeyingSlave
    Jul 6, 2012
    0
    Tribes is an okay game. It doesn't really yield anything special. It's really just another way to get your money. The game play is pretty good. I like the idea of surfing around. Because everyone is constantly moving, it's very hard to camp. If you stand still for more than 10 seconds, you are sure to be dead. Most of the weapons are total crap. The default classes are very good. TheyTribes is an okay game. It doesn't really yield anything special. It's really just another way to get your money. The game play is pretty good. I like the idea of surfing around. Because everyone is constantly moving, it's very hard to camp. If you stand still for more than 10 seconds, you are sure to be dead. Most of the weapons are total crap. The default classes are very good. They just want to you to pay money to unlock the other crappy classes. The stealth class is just absolute trash. You have to shoot at enemies and the bullets travel so incredibly slow. You can't just aim and shoot. You have to predict and hope you hit them. The bullets do almost no damage. The classes just aren't balanced at all. The only reason I give it a 6 is because it's not that bad of a game. It's just not very fun and enjoyable. Could be a whole lot better though.… Expand
  83. zahpp
    Jul 8, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. i got a feeling i have played games like this before, it is like...yes every other shooter game ,did not amuse me ,have nothing bad to say really but ,i would not play further… Expand
  84. NFFNSNC
    Aug 12, 2014
    0
    The worst Tribes game, and ultimately the death of the Tribes series. Ruined by free to play and other nonsense. Class unlocks?! Rifles/smgs/pistols?! They have no place in a Tribes game.

    R.I.P. Tribes, you'll be missed!
  85. aKtivE
    Aug 24, 2013
    0
    another bad game from hirez, seems more a pay2win than a f2p i bought it for 25 euro before they understood it was a and changing it in f2p....
    Worst sh never see.
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Awards & Rankings

18
#18 Best PC Game of 2012
35
#35 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Aug 31, 2012
    89
    Contrary to the classic gameplay of an FPS that requires constant cover, slow advances, crouching and prone positioning, the battles of Ascend happen on the ground, as well as in the air and in tremendous speeds- thus changing drastically the classic tactical approaches of the genre. It's a breath of fresh air in the online FPS world. [September 2012]
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Aug 10, 2012
    70
    Arcade online shooter surprises with fresh and fast paced playability and is a very good alternative to paid services with its free-to-play model. [Issue#220]
  3. Telegraph
    Jun 12, 2012
    80
    Tribes: Ascend is a worthy successor to its forebears, bringing the same inimitable, hectic play style married to graphics that will stretch even the most capable machine.
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