Daphinicus's Blog Posts
Seven Years in the Waiting
I have found my own, personal heaven, and it is called Fallen Empire: Legions.
But let's back up a bit. I'm a Tribes nut. In case any of you aren't aware of what Tribes is, it's a multiplayer, team-based shooter with jetpacks and massive maps. It has a lot of other stuff too, but what it really became known for back in 1998 was hyper-paced fights that crisscrossed a wide-open sky.
A tenacious piracy problem ate Tribes alive, but it still sold well enough to warrant a sequel: Tribes 2, my hands-down favorite game of all time. The sequel smoothed out a lot of the original's kinks and incorporated the first in-game clan management system (which players could use to create 'tribes' of their own) in gaming. The result was an incredibly tight-knit community who turned the gameplay into an art form.
The problem, of course, was that this was a multiplayer game with a fairly steep learning curve, and that community tended to shun new arrivals, which kept the player base small. When a long line of patches steadily transformed the game's feel, all but the most hardcore dropped out, myself included. It had turned into something most of us didn't want to play.
And so we waited. Tribes: Vengeance came along, but it couldn't capture the grace and majesty of the originals. Fans desperate to regain that lost experience starting making mods and independent recreations -- one team even made a near-copy called Legends. But none evoked the feel of Tribes.
And then.
The guys at Garage Games, the developers behind the original Tribes and Tribes 2, put together a prototype browser-based gaming platform they called Instant Action, and they needed a blockbuster to sell it. It would seem, from what they came up with, that they missed Tribes as much as I did.
If you haven't sped across a map at over 100 miles per hour with the flag in one hand and a rocket launcher spewing destruction in the other, now's the time to start.
They called their game Fallen Empire: Legions, seemingly in tribute to the fallen multiplayer giant and the legions of fans waiting for its return. They must have done something right, because Legions feels perfect.
Let's not kid ourselves, here. Legions isn't really a full game. Two maps, four weapons, and a single gametype does not a triple-A title make. But it's free, a bona-fide proof of concept that has already begun to blow longtime Tribes fans away by bringing back its core feel, and then ramping that up by a factor of 10. By adding an air cushion beneath you that complements your jetpack, Legions has made running a fad of the past. If you haven't sped across a map at over 100 miles per hour with the flag in one hand and a rocket launcher spewing destruction in the other, now's the time to start.
It's free, it's easy, and it's fast in every way that counts, so create an account at Instant Action. If you find you like the experience, then look me up. I go by Daphinicus in-game, and normally host my own server, so keep scrolling until you find me. Oh, and if you used to play Tribes, then ViperEye of the Phoenix Honor Guard is waiting in anticipation for your return to our shared -- and long-overdue -- pleasure.
See you in-game!
- Dan "Daphinicus" Tennant
P.S. Sorry about not posting in a good year, folks; school was murder! But I'm back for the foreseeable future, and I'm even writing articles again. Bear with me!
comments [ 4 ] - post your comment
teh2Dgamer
Posted at: 2008-06-27 13:17:55.0
The only Tribes Game I've played is the PS2 version. That one has a hardcore following as well, and a small dedicated group who still play it online. These guys in particular are big fans. The downside is that the game niether supports a keyboard, or headset in game.I'll look into Instant Action though.
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Posted at: 2008-06-26 05:50:22.0
I'll see about setting up an account ASAP. I'll be Jonafat as always. Welcome back to the fold.