Tribes Vengeance... mixed blessings

[RyoxSinfar]

There is a multiplayer demo out for this game. I am enjoying it, sort of. The game is different then the others, yuo have to wait for vehicles to spawn, and deployables are limited. When one is available a module will spawn one. You must be the first to get it. Vehicles have pads. The plasma gun as we know it has turned into an infinite ammo weapon that is VERY deadly considering the massive FF. It leaves a small pocket of firey death for like 2-3 seconds. A pretty big one to. Good against vehicles thou, I use it with sniper rifle. Grapling hook also gives lots of possibilities, especially since you can use it, then choose a different weapon and still have the rope connected.

But I know what you guys want to hear, the sniper rifles eh? Well, as of now there is a glitch which makes it so that maybe 20-40% of the time (nice exact number there) any gun might not shoot. Imagine having a lined up shot on a flag carrier and it not firing. Or counter sniping someone that "thinks" they are safe. Also the sniper rifle has limited ammo, 10 shots max... yes 10. If it wasn't for the fact that I can't crouch/prone to hide (cover is hard to find, blending in is almost laughable in most places, unless you are good... *cough cough*) I might run outa ammo more, but I generally run into a tank or other player (the maps are now limited, you may not leave the designated area, for those of you unfamiliar with the others you used to be able to run indefinatly in any direction. Snipers dream for being able to sneak in). Also head shots are worth didly squat, you get style points, personaly I would like my damn kill. Hey buddy, you have a bullet pushed by a laser in yuor skull, mind just dieing? You can only kill light armor in one it, for medium you don't need to let the gun charge all the way for a finishing shot, but the needed wait lets them slip away usually. People can move FAST even heavy armors.

They have limited it to 4 different packs, energy, shield, repair, and speed. energy- same as always. shield- reduced damage, turn it on for temp better effect. repair-slow self repair, turn it on to repair everything around you at same time. speed-you move faster, turn it on and you can shoot faster too.

well thats my opinion, its still fun. The chaingun is not very accurate but it starts out much more accurate then before, heats up and becomes inaccurate. They might change the game still, and the ragdoll is really fun sometimes (like when they blow up and the physics they put in causes them to spin super fast.).

[RyoxSinfar]

One more thing, if you play, be prepared to fight many a one sided battle. Unless someone is actively keeping at defense (more like 2 people though) making sure things are repaired and turrets are in the best place, heavies walk through to the cente rof the base in half a second. God help you if they have a spawn station near, and even without one a steady stream can easily rip your base apart. The real turrets don't fight for themselves, they need to be manned and then you are subject to damage to YOUR person, which means you will go down even if the turret doesn't take any damage. Your base is sometimes even open to attack from a distance. Like in one level a heavy armor can drop in the dead center of his base, and he is at that instant IN the center of your base, no doors, not tunnels. Heck he can fire mortars from the sky and hit your inventory stations and spawn areas. Those that have real bases arn't much and the architects who designed them for defense should be shot. The generator is often very hard to defend, and open to more mortar rounds from outside, by other just firing into an open door or firing into a door and letting it drop down. Yeah there goes your delpoyed mines and turrets to defend too. This limited deployables makes it VERY hard to defend, cause even if your turret blows up you have to wait for the darn thing to get made in the station again. And people move so fast that unless the turret has a large field of vision (aka vulnerable to long range explosives) a semi skilled player that just knows how to keep moving he might not get touched. THe limited amount available for deployables is often 3, which means you better make em count. And if you do, it will last for maybe 1-2 guys and then it will get destroyed from a distance.

But the game has alot of untapped potential, they really need to lose some of the new adjustments though. I mean, how can you organize a strike when you don't know when a darn vehicle will even spawn? How can you make a good defense without deploying sensors in open spots near your base, or having strong AI controlled permenant turrets that you have to PLAN to systematicly destroy. I remember playing the first game in LAN and yelling at my friends, I almost got the generator down start going for the rocket turret! Or I will try and grab thier attention, come in from the other side and try and make it inside. inside where you drop down and you don't know whats ready and can't attack whats there without showing yourself. Where nothing IMPORTANT was immediatly visible and vulnerable. You don't have a door leading to your inventory, then ANOTHER one that goes right to the generator. Your base should be YOURS a gauntlet for the enemy to cross through. Where you have to be playing smart and with others, or able to throw yourself at the enemy so many times that you might brake through.

in the new game the attackers always have an advantage, its a 2-3 man job to take down 1 incoming heavy armor since they are so mobile. And 1 well placed mortar of thiers can turn that 2-3 into 1 and a half man left with no defenses.

Seriously though it has so much potential! People now actually use the chaingun, I wouldn't mind the sniper rifle if it had maybe 15-20 shots, and you could crouch. And maybe a larger hit area with the sniper rifle, right now its pinpoint. Of course I wouldn't mind, but when a guy is diving back and forth like he is a crack head who thinks he is covered in spiders, it makes it more difficult. You can only snipe those who go in straight lines, are on defense, or are also sniping. otherwise good luck and you won't have your full energy for max damage.

Still, dear lord I can see this game as something 100x more magnificent as it is now.