when a weapon is fired, the projectile does not travel at an infinite speed).

The player is instead presented with a selection of primarily explosive projectile weapons, very few of which are hit-scan (i.e. This works in tandem with the game’s weapon system unlike most traditional FPS games, guns in their traditional sense are de-emphasised. By utilising the hilly terrain in the game’s massive maps, the player can quickly gain massive amounts of speed, then use the jetpack to traverse the air. These skis allow the player to remove friction between them and the ground. Every playable class comes equipped with skis and a jetpack. Chief among these elements is the game’s movement system. Tribes as a series has always had a set of unique and innovative features that make it like no other FPS around, and their modern implementation in Ascend left nothing to be desired.

Its early reviews were aglow with praise: Eurogamer awarded it a rare 10/10, and the average Metacritic score to this day stands at 86%. Tribes: Ascend received over a million downloads in its first month alone, receiving widespread critical acclaim a rare feat for a free-to-play multiplayer game. Speaking in 2011, Harris described the game as a “modern successor” to fan favourite Tribes 2. The fifth (and to date latest) instalment in the Tribes series was the first to be developed by Hi-Rez, headed by cofounder and COO Todd Harris. Back in 2012, however, they released the now largely-forgotten FPS, Tribes: Ascend.

Georgia-based Hi-Rez studios are known these days for games such as Smite, Paladins, and their upcoming jump on the Battle Royale bandwagon, Realm Royale.

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