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You can also carry a variety of other equipment, such as gun turrets, which are typically set up to automatically defend your base and your flag, and repair kits, which are always helpful for fixing damaged consoles and energy stations. The game lacks any sort of close-combat melee weapon, which was a bit disappointing. This can make the game's long-distance combat rather difficult, as you must aim very carefully and learn to anticipate your target's moves - jumping madly into a free-for-all Quake II-style fray is usually a recipe for disaster in Tribes. The sniper rifle is the only "instant effect" gun in the bunch, as each of the other weapons fires a relatively slow projectile. The weapons in Tribes are decent, with a few energy weapons, a slick gun the fires explosive discs, a short-range Gatling gun, and a trusty grenade launcher. Light-armored players, on the other hand, are the only ones capable of wielding the deadly (and oh so wonderful) sniper rifle in combat. Players in heavy armor, for example, are the only ones who can carry heavy mortars (which are incredibly powerful and good for taking out base defenses from afar). You have the choice of light, medium, or heavy armor, each of which can accommodate a varying set of weapons and equipment. The indoor-outdoor transitions in Tribes are quite seamless, which makes the overall combat experience that much more immersive. Also, the action moves effortlessly into and out of the various base structures scattered on each map.
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As in Delta Force, a great deal of combat takes place at extreme ranges, but thanks to the superb 3D graphics engine, you can more easily make out your targets in Tribes. The game features nearly 40 maps, each of which is a wonderfully rendered landscape with rolling hills and plenty of big, open spaces. Gameplay is very similar to multiplayer mode in NovaLogic's Delta Force but with far better visuals and many more options for customizing your weapons loadout. Of the roughly 200 Tribes servers online at the time of this review, at least 75 percent were running CTF games, with defend and destroy being the second most popular choice. Game variants include the obligatory deathmatch mode, along with capture the flag and a slew of other challenging game types: Defend and destroy requires you to guard your base while taking out your enemy's, capture and hold is like CTF except that you must grab and defend specific spots on the map, and find and retrieve is basically a big scavenger hunt with heavy weapons. Set in the universe formerly known as EarthSiege, Tribes is a first-person, squad-based action game in which you take part in team battles against one or more rival clans. Starsiege: Tribes from Dynamix and Sierra comes awfully close to striking that perfect balance, and, although performance can be a problem, the game manages to provide one of the more memorable and addictive online gaming experiences yet. So in order for a multiplayer-only title to be successful, it must provide that elegant combination of great gameplay, painless online connectivity, and speedy performance to ensure its popularity and success. After all, there are still plenty of gamers who prefer single-player titles. Any time a game is designed strictly for online play, that game's developer is taking a serious risk when bringing the game to market.