Summary
Shakespearean drama in an FPS outfit
The Good
Did you like
System Shock 2? How about
Bioshock?
Okay, now I've got you interested, I can tell you what "Tribes: Vengeance" has to do with those famous games. No, scratch that - I don't have to tell you anything: just go to the Rap Sheet of the game and look who developed it. And then go to the credits section and see who wrote the story for this game.
What, you're still here? I thought you already ran to your local software shop, or at least opened a new window with eBay in it, typing "tribes vengeance" into the search engine.
Alright, I see it takes more than this to make you get this game. I'll try to be brief, because all I want is to share with you the joy of playing this wonderful underrated game, hoping that you'll want to experience this joy yourself.
First of all: I haven't played the multiplayer part of the game, because I never play multiplayer. It was a bad, bad choice to market "Tribes: Vengeance" as yet another installment of a multiplayer-only series, with the single-player mode being just an addition. Because when you say
Tribes, you think
multiplayer FPS, and there's nothing we can do about it. So many single-player-oriented people missed this game simply because they didn't know it would deliver what they want.
But "Tribes: Vengeance" delivers, and delivers precisely as a
story-driven experience. Above everything else, "Tribes: Vengeance" is a
great story, ranking up there with the finest plots of any genre.
If you read my other reviews, you must know that I play primarily story-driven games. FPS is therefore not the genre I would usually turn to if I want to experience a great story. I'm generally much more forgiving when judging a story of an FPS than, for example, when judging a story of a Japanese RPG, simply because story is not the genre's main focus. But the story of "Tribes: Vengeance" is so good that I didn't have to be forgiving. There is nothing to forgive - this story would make an honor to any genre, exceeding the usual FPS requirements by far.
Hands down, "Tribes: Vengeance" has the best plot of any FPS I've ever played. I'm not including
Bioshock because it was
supposed to have a rich story, thanks to its legacy of unique story-telling technique. "Tribes: Vengeance" is a much more "pure" shooter than "Bioshock", it looks absolutely unpretentious, and that's why it would've been good even with a much, much weaker story.
From the very beginning you feel the strength of the plot, the robust, well-written dialogue, the sharp characterization, the immaculate pace. It only gets better the more it progresses; the beginning alone won't even let you suspect the amount of tension and plot twists that await you. And how could it be otherwise, when the story was written by this
master story-teller, who handles with equal brilliance content and general message of the story line, the actual dialogues that constitute it, and the characters he chose to be the actors on his stage.
The story line is a dramatic and ultimately tragic re-interpretation of the eternal themes: the ties of a human being to family, homeland, own social circle, that prevent him from understanding people with different backgrounds; the conflict between different feelings - loyalty, friendship, romantic love. There is something very theatrical in the story, and in fact it reminded me of Shakespeare's dramas (which I love with passion) more than any other story of a video game, with the possible exception of
Live a Live.
What I absolutely love in Shakespeare's plays are his exceptionally
strong characters; every character, good or evil, thinks, feels, and acts, as if he (or she) is the one who speaks for the entire humanity at this very moment. Those characters have strong will, strong thoughts, and strong passions, but you never feel that they are blindly driven by them. On the contrary, they always offer a rational explanation of their actions. Remember Edmund, the villain of "King Lear" (the best story
ever written!), and his monologue about nature?
So in "Tribes: Vengeance" we have something similar: every character is a monolith. Every character states his views in a clear, often very laconic way (think of the absolutely
perfect dialogue between Victoria and Daniel early in the game). That doesn't mean that their views never change - both Victoria and Julia will eventually have to doubt their whole system of values. But throughout the whole game, you feel that every character is right in his (or her) own way. To achieve this kind of effect in a story which is almost entirely dedicated to conflicts, wars, and murder, means only that the author possesses a talent to inhale life into his characters without making them explain themselves in melodramatic, overblown, soap-opera-like fashion, which characterized such great franchises as
Final Fantasy and especially
Metal Gear Solid.
The fantastic idea of telling the story from the point of view of different protagonists adds a new layer of depth to it. Just like with
System Shock and its successors, this story-telling technique (although quite different from the one used in System Shock) is restricted to the medium of video games. To
be a character is something only video games allow, and to be able to experience a story from different points of view is something that only video game can do with a proper emphasis. It's especially powerful when the characters in question belong to opposing camps.
Suikoden III, by the way, also implements this technique with brilliance.
That's why the story of "Tribes: Vengeance" is so much more than the usual old "good rebels against the evil empire" kind of thing. It uses this cliche material to construct a much more emotional, humane story. The main playable characters of the game are Imperials. You see many events from their point of view, including a brilliant episode when you control a little girl trying to escape from a palace captured by the Tribals. There is no way to sympathize with the Tribals in this scene. But other episodes show the injustices done by the Empire. So, who is right and who is wrong? You decide. Or rather: that's not the point. The point is that war is great evil, and in a war there are no true winners.
Since this is a story about war, the choice of FPS for a genre was quite fitting. "Tribes: Vengeance" is a pure action FPS. There isn't anything else in the game beside pure action, from the beginning to the end. It's an "old-school" FPS in the way that it's about shooting, without any other gimmicks like environmental puzzles or upgrades or magic system or stealth or anything of the kind. Of course, there are plenty of variety in the action, all kinds of cool things, such as protecting important objects, fighting tanks, sniping, etc.; but all this ultimately boils down to the basics: here are your weapons, here is your goal; now go and fight.
But of course, that would be too simple if the game didn't have an absolutely cool gimmick. Yes, of course I'm talking about the jetpack. Having a jetpack means, basically, that you can fly. Really. Holding the right mouse button makes your character rise into the air. Of course, the energy you have is limited and has to be recharged, so you won't be able to stay in the air more than a few moments; but the ability to make absolutely
gigantic jumps is exhilarating.
The game utilizes this gimmick to the full, and does it in two ways: first, many of the levels are huge outdoor areas that would have taken ages to traverse if you weren't just jumping through them like a giant grasshopper. Second, many indoor levels are vertically build, and often you'll descend into huge, seemingly bottomless pits, or jump your way up to the ceiling you can't even see from down below. I can't describe how fun it is to jump around with the jetpack; you really have to try it yourself.
By the way, you can play this game entirely from a third-person perspective! It's really cool to see your character flying around, and it makes jumping to the correct spot easier.
The levels are not too complex, with clear objectives; the game concentrates more on pure adrenaline-raising action than on anything else. The weapons are ridiculously powerful, quite fitting the sci-fi setting, and overall this game stays true to its "robotic" roots; it feels more like a "mech" game that an ordinary FPS, even though technically you don't control robots.
There are also some very fun vehicles to drive (the red rover with a mounted gun was totally cool), and all kinds of action set-pieces, like controlling mounted guns, turrets, vehicle cannons, and so on. One of the most intense parts of the game, for example, included defending a generator and some towers, destroying enemy tanks and piloting an aircraft in a very close succession. Such kind of action always gives you the feeling of not knowing what awaits you, making you prepare for more and more challenges; the tension is exciting, even when nothing is happening and you are just trying to guess what's coming next. The action never feels repetitive. The variety between indoor and outdoor locations is perfect. The game is not as inventive as, for example,
Half-Life 2, at throwing at you different challenges at every level; but nevertheless it comes close to that, and manages to make its levels feel less artificial.
What, I promised to be brief? That wasn't brief enough for you?..
The Bad
I wasn't very impressed by the game's graphics. There were no locations that made me go "wow" just because of their sheer graphical beauty. Even though there is a lot of variety in the locations, somehow they don't come to life entirely because of the graphics. Technically, they are probably not sub par, and there are many nice features such as destructible environments and a physics system; but artistically, they are not very convincing. There also isn't much attention to detail; many places look suspiciously similar, and some of them are simply cloned. That was really unnecessary, because the game doesn't even have a continuous world.
Also, the locations of "Tribes: Vengeance" are stylistically not very interesting. Many of them have a "generic sci-fi" look, and in many of them the potential wasn't realized, like in the abandoned cities with the dwellings of the Tribals.
For such an intense story-driven game, the ending was somewhat of a let-down. The very last chapter was in fact rather disappointing, considering the overall quality of the story. It had to be once again "stop the villain and everything will be okay" kind of thing. The dialogue lacked its usual poignancy and turned into the usual sarcastic exchange between the protagonist and the antagonist. I know I probably demand too much, but the rest of the game was utterly brilliant, while the final chapter was merely acceptable.
To be fair, the final cut-scene made up for this. It was so touching and sad that I quickly forgot all my complaints.
The Bottom Line
Instructions on how to pave you way into the Hall of Most Underrated Games of All Times:
1) Hire a
great story-teller to write the most emotionally engaging and suspenseful plot ever to grace a first-person shooter;
2) Get a
legendary developer to construct a fresh, fun, action-packed game with great variety and pace;
3) Release the whole thing as part of a well-known
multiplayer-only game series, preventing people from wider circles to become interested in it;
4) And finally, release it just at the moment when
overhyped behemoths of the FPS genre are making their way into the drooling mouths of overjoyed fanboys.
I love this game. It is warm, honest, serious, engaging, and a blast to play, even if you don't pay attention to the superb story line. "Tribes: Vengeance" is every bit as good as that famous FPS you can name off the top of your head - and in some ways, it's better. Give it a try. You won't regret it.
