Tribes: Vengeance

The third game in the Tribes franchise.

Overview

Tribes: Vengeance is the third PC game in the Tribes franchise. It’s a sci-fi first person shooter developed by Irrational Games and published by Sierra Entertainment. Like the other Tribes games, the multiplayer aspect of the game is the focal point, but Vengeance does feature a single player campaign mode. The game was built on a modified Unreal 2 Engine that Irrational calls the Vengeance Engine. The game featured mechanized suits which were worn at all times, and provided players and enemies with the ability to 'ski' (remove all friction with the ground) and jet pack into the air. Combining the two allowed players to traverse the map at incredible speeds, building up momentum with the jetpack, and then riding it out by skiing down a slope whilst the pack recharged. There are 3 main suits to choose from:

Heavy

The Heavy suit gave players a boost of and defense, as well as extra energy used by the jet pack and specific weapons. The trade-off is that the heavy is, not surprisingly, the heaviest suit, and therefore cannot reach such heights with the jet pack as the other suits could. It also suffers from a decreased movement speed. The special weapon for the heavy is the mortar, a powerful launcher that fires exploding green shells which can tear apart bases in seconds. Heavies cannot use all vehicles.

Medium

The Medium suit does not get as much defense as the heavy, nor the speed if the light. Instead, it goes for a balance in between the two, offering middling abilities in all areas. The Medium's one area of excellence is the fact it could equip a shield, which protect it from some frontal attacks, and can also be fired out like a disc.

Light

The Light may have the smallest amount and defense, but it is by far the most maneuverable of the 3 suits. Despite having the smallest reserves of energy, just a small amount of fuel can take this lightweight suit high into the air, allowing it to build up incredible speeds to reach the objective faster then anyone else. It's speed must be used to make up for its lack of defense by dodging enemy attacks, and swiftly escaping danger. The special weapon available to it is the sniper rifle, though given the high speed nature of the game, it is extremely hard to use, and not especially effective. Though intended for capturing objectives, skilled players could easily demolish any other suit by taking advantage of it's extreme speed to hover circles around enemies.

Factions

Since Vengeance is set hundreds of years before the original Starsiege: Tribes, major tribes from both Starsiege: Tribes and Tribes 2 (e.g., Diamond Sword, Star Wolf, and the BioDerm Hordes) are not present.

The Alaxians – A people shrouded in mystery, the Alaxians are only mentioned in reference to an unknown assassin in the campaign. The Alaxians are not nearly as prejudiced against as those in tribes (called "Tribals,") and the Cybrids.
The Blood Eagles – The Blood Eagle tribe gets preferential treatment from the Great Human Empire, and is shown as the antagonist group. This tribe inhabits the same area in the universe as the Children of the Phoenix, as they were originally sent by The Empire to pacify the quickly growing tribe.
The Children of the Phoenix – The Children of the Phoenix are forced to live in the most desolate areas of the universe by the Great Human Empire. They named themselves for Harabec “Phoenix” Weathers, a hero in the Cybrid wars.
The Cybrids – Cybrids have been on both the offensive and, more recently, the defensive sides of genocide with the human race in the past. Now the Cybrids have chosen to live beside the humans, though they are the victims of constant suspicio. However, this does not appear to bother the Cybrids as they can apparently feel nothing: no pain, no sadness, and no fear of death.
The Imperials – A limb of the prospering Great Human Empire. The Empire is now in a state of peace on its ground, but disapproves of the existence of tribes. Besides those in the Blood Eagle tribe, The Imperials see Tribals as barbaric beings that have no respect for their humanity. Blood Eagles are not looked down on as they were at one time in the same shoes as the Imperials: the military force of the Great Human Empire.

Story

Campaign Overview

The campaign has 18 missions where one can play as Victoria, Daniel, Julia, Mercury, or Jericho. The missions are split into the past, present, and future. The mission order is not chronological, and the place in time for a mission determines which characters the player can be.

Characters

Daniel – Leader of a sub tribe within the Children of the Phoenix and father of the character Julia.
Albrecht - An Imperial general, and the only Alaxian shown in the game.
Jericho – Brother of Daniel, he is a General of the children of the Phoenix. Jericho hates the Imperials with a fiery passion.
Julia – The illegitimate child of Daniel and the leader of the Imperials, Victoria. Raised in the Great Human Empire, Julia’s family ties to the Tribals does not stop her from wanting them to be exterminated. Julia has unique armor that is lighter than anyone else’s, and her jets on strapped to her calves as opposed to her back.
Victoria – An Imperial Princess that was captured by Daniel of the Phoenix tribe. Ironically, the two fall in love and become the parents of Julia. Victoria eventually becomes Queen and kills Daniel to avenge her father.
Olivia – The older sister of Victoria, Olivia is an extremist that wishes for all tribes, besides the Blood Eagles (for their ties to the Empire,) to be flattened.
Seti – Leader of the Blood Eagle tribe, Seti is the primary antagonist in Tibes: Vengeance.
Tiberius – Ruler of the Imperials until Daniel unexpectedly kills him in a match planned by Tiberius himself.
Mercury – A legendary Cybrid assassin whose true appearance is unknown.

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:
Minimum, Windows® 98/Me/2000/XP operating system, ATI® Radeon™ or equivalent DirectX® 9.0c-compliant 32 MB 3D video card with hardware T&L and pixel shader support, Microsoft® Windows® 98/Me/2000/XP operating system, 1.0 GHz Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD® Athlon™ processor or equivalent, 256 MB RAM, 915MB of uncompressed hard disk space for game files, DirectX® 9.0c (included), DirectX®-compatible sound card and speakers or headphones, Microsoft® compatible mouse and keyboard.

Recommended:
Windows® XP, ATI® Radeon™ 9600 or equivalent DirectX® 9.0c-compliant 128 MB 3D video card with hardware T&L and pixel shader support, 2.5 GHz Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD® Athlon™ or faster processor, 512 MB RAM or more, 24X or faster CD-ROM drive