Tribes is one of those franchises that has been around forever, yet I’ve never know anything about it. I’ve seen it mentioned in forums and comment threads. Undying love has been pledged to this franchise, but I never knew why. I had always assumed it was simply a Quake or Unreal Tournament clone but with vehicles and jetpacks. I was partially correct. At PAX East 2012, I got to sit down with some friends who were, for lack of a better term, obsessed with Tribes. Tribes Ascend had a large booth with ample computers to play on and a relatively short wait. Right then and there, I was converted. Through sweat, tears, and my fair share of accidental suicides, I was baptized into the Tribes community. In the past month since PAX East 2012, Tribes: Ascend has released, and it’s all I’ve been playing. Let me tell you why.

Tribes Ascend is a lot like most first person shooters you’ve played before. There’s team deathmatch, capture the flag and territory control gametypes. There are specific classes that fill special roles on the field. Soldiers and Juggernauts are well balanced and can be used offensively or defensively. Doombringers and Engineers can set up defensive equipment to protect your flag or generator. Infiltrators can cloak themselves, making them the perfect assault group for taking out a generator. Each role is needed, and fortunately you can see how many teammates are playing which class when you spawn in. If there are several Doombringers in play, then you can safely assume that your defense is strong and you should probably head towards the enemy base to disrupt their defenses or take the flag. People who have played Tribes know I’m leaving several of important things out, trust me I’m getting to that. Right now in fact.

The first line of the last paragraph? That’s mostly a lie. Yes, Tribes: Ascend follows a lot of norms that most shooters have, but overall, Tribes: Ascend is unlike any other shooter you have ever played. The predominant mechanic in Tribes is the combination of skiing and jetpacking. Most maps, whether they are arena or CTF will start you off on top of a hill. By holding down the space-bar, your character will enter a frictionless state known as skiing. There, they will slide down the hill and pick up enormous speed. When you hit the bottom of the hill, you jetpack up the next slope to keep your momentum going. This Tiny Wings like process continues throughout the entire game. Maintaining speed and momentum is essential for escaping enemies or reaching your goal quickly. An unskilled player can keep themselves going around 90-120 km/h, while the fastest of the fast won’t settle for anything under 200 km/h. Different classes have different weight settings. Lighter classes can jetpack longer, allowing themselves to position their flight paths perfectly.

The Pathfinder class is a breed of it’s own. They’re the fastest and lightest class, and the seemingly weakest class available. They have the most jetpack energy, and the weakest spinfusor (Tribes’ iconic grenade launcher like weapon). This makes them the best fit for capturing the flag. By skiing and jetpacking through specific routes and propelling themselves forward with friendly explosions, a skilled Pathfinder can find themselves speeding at 250 km/h or faster as they zip in and nab the enemy flag. Before you know it, that Pathfinder is back at his own base with your flag within twenty seconds.

These high speed chases and maneuvers gives Tribes: Ascend the most unique combat out of any other shooter. It’s a meticulous twitch shooter. You have to precise. Nearly every class has some variation of the iconic spinfusor which throws an explosive disc out relatively slowly. The spinfusor can either be as messy as a cleaver or as precise as a scalpel depending on who’s wielding it. Gameplay insists that you shoot where your enemy will be and not where they are. There are some automatic weapons like machine guns that will constantly pressure a fleeing foe, but spinfusor dueling is where the game shines. The exhilaration of fleeing through the air at 180 km/h going backwards and shooting at your assailants without losing any momentum is unlike any other game. The ski/jetpack mechanic gives Tribes it’s identity.

Tribes: Ascend is a free-to-play game. There’s an instant reaction of disgust from that term. Free-to-play raises many concerns. You might think players who pay the gold price will unlock other classes and weapons and instantly be better than everyone else. This couldn’t be further from the truth. New players who don’t drop a cent are give access to three classes: Pathfinder, Soldier, and Juggernaut. Each class starts with it’s base equipment, but upgrades cost little XP (the free way to upgrade) and can be obtained easily. Those who pay the iron price to upgrade themselves will master the three starting classes and find a use for them in any situation. For the most part, unlocks are priced relatively fairly. Each additional class ranges from three to around ten dollars or several thousand XP. Buying thirty dollars worth of gold can give you the full game experience, allowing you to unlock all the classes and several bonus perks that can all be easily obtained freely through XP. Additional weapons, on the other hand, are overpriced and seem impossible to unlock via XP alone.

Apart from the overpriced weapons, Tribes has a steep learning curve. Matchmaking could use some tweaking. Levels 0-9 are matched together in very noob friendly games. Once you hit level ten, you’re thrown in with every other Tribes player imaginable. There are a lot of obviously stacked games where a team of level 30-somethings expertly run ski routes and defending their own flag, ending the game within a few minutes. There is no voice chat implemented yet, and no news on whether or not there ever will be, thus leaving friends to set up their own voip or mumble servers to verbally communicate. Fortunately there is another form of communication. Through a series of key commands, any player can emote pre-recorded sayings. For example, “VGCG” will announce a friendly “good game.” “VGY” makes you say “yes.” “VGN” has you say “no.” The ever popular “VGS” will be your most used voice command for the iconic “shazbot.” Through this chat system you can give commands or let your teammates know what you’re doing. If you’ve lined up a perfect ski route and are about to grab the flag at high speed, you can announce to your team that you’re heading to flag.

Tribes: Ascend is a game like no other. Traditional shooter fans may be bewildered by the constant movements and jetpacking through the air. Others will be able to find the change of pace refreshing. Tribes: Ascend isn’t perfect, and it’s certainly not for everyone. However, it is free, and everyone should give it a chance. After all, I recently hit level 11 and need some noobs to pwn. VGS VGS VGS.

This review is based on a retail copy of Tribes Ascend which is free-to-play. It is a PC exclusive.