At some points in your life, you will discover games that are a joy to behold. Indeed, these games that are a joy to behold are indeed a joy to behold as games. The only problem is getting other people to behold these games as joys. One of these games that are a joy to behold is Tribes 2.

Straight from the beginning of the game, you have a basic idea of what’s going on. You (Soldier type person) must work either on your own or with others, to complete some objectives. Doesn’t sound much, but it is. It is a big expansion of all the team games that you have in the world, like Capture The Flag or Counterstrike, with some extra features.

People argue over the fact that most games now are "Multiplayer Driven", like Quake 3 Arena or Unreal Tournament, and that the bots in them are pathetic. Yes, of course, but these seem to be more realistic… I don’t know why, but they don’t seem to cheat as much as the id ones. These are more "Teamplay centred" than the others too, which is handy for a teamplay based game. But no matter whether you play online, on a Lan, or with the bots, the game is exactly the same: Run around, do stuff, don’t die.

One extremely major bit of Tribes 2 is the addition of a jumppack, which will propel you into the air for a short while. This allows for swift movement from one place to another, and if you are up for it, you could jump up from behind a hill, lay the smack down on some unsuspecting flag carriers, grab the flag, and get home before you could say "Honey, I’m home, where’s the kids?"
Another important part is the kind of armour you choose. Do you go for light armour, with fewer weapons and less chance of survival, yet being nippy, or do you go for the heavy armour, with huge weapons, and great defensive capabilities, but slow as heck? There also happens to be vehicles to play around in (Some of the landscapes are a bit big for someone to walk along, get killed, and then walk again from the start), including transporters and tanks (Yippee!).

Graphically, it is great, although a bit empty. Aside from the hills, valleys and other natural geographicsl features, there are only a few buildings, and weapns. Nothing else.
Audiably, it is great. Thundering along in a tank through big hills listening to great music is a joy to behold.

My only fear with Tribes 2 is that it may be completely eclipsed by Q3A and UT. Someone must play this game, if only for the jetpacks!

Gameplay

Graphics

Sound

Overall