1. ProNada

   10

   Tribes Ascend brings me way back to the old days when unreal tournament and quake ruled all FPS gamers and games like Tribes found a niche among great shooters because of the twitchy, skill-based gameplay that found it's balance based more on your individual skill level and time played over equipment and guns used. The games classes are well balanced moving from high flying pathfinders to slower & armed to the teeth Brutes... and a several in between. the fact that this gangs is free to play is amazing... and contrary to popular pay to win models, in this Tribes Ascend there is NEVER a point when you hit a ceiling unless you throw down some cash, you can merely speed up the progression process by spending a little. Very very fun game, definitely keeping me occupied in my free time! 10!… Expand

   • Helpful? 20 of 21 users said Yes.
2. Dethstar

   8

   Good fun. Personally I dont expect masses of depth from a game like that and I didnt get it. However, it does have some fun mechanics, it is fun to play and the FTP balancing act seems to work pretty well. A very good game well worth checking out… Expand

   • Helpful? 10 of 14 users said Yes.
3. Obi

   7

   The game is good, something different from the usual MP FPS games. However there are issues: low experience income, skill doesn't matter since u can buy better weapons with real money, poor badge rewards for certain classes (for e.g. it seems that lately there are ''disco parties'' in generator room since it gives the most credit)
   As for classes they are pretty good, sake from sentinel. Sentinel is pretty much failed class, since you can't hit anything unless its a lucky shot, you have to be constantly in aim mode to achieve maximum damage, which leaves little chance or nothing to see whats going around u and the jammer, which should act as a cloaking device is one big target painted on your back.
   However, the game is free and if u can ignore certain fails you should have a good time playing it.… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 3 users said Yes.
4. Qlmmb2086

   4

   After about a month of this game, I think I have played enough to form a proper opinion.
   
   Tribes: Ascend has two severely conflicting features. It has the Tribes game mechanic, which are incredible, and it has the Free to Pay scheme, which is terrible.
   
   If everyone was equal, this would be a truly amazing game. Combat is fast-paced, based entirely around accuracy and split-second timing, and has rich tactics. The classes all play differently in a good way, and excel in different situations, and different weapons can be used differently depending on your environment and range to target.
   
   Unfortunately, you don't get to any of that unless you spend money on the game. You start with three classes, and those classes in turn start with less health, less energy regeneration, less ammo, less weapons, and less perks than anyone who has paid into the game, even if they're using the same class that you are. For being "not pay to win," this is surprisingly noticeable in the game. In theory, everyone would be able to unlock weapons through "experience points" at a reasonable rate, but unfortunately the way Hi-Rez has weighted the costs of the items, it takes (litterally) about 300 matches at 20 to 30 minutes each to unlock ONE new weapon, never mind classes, perks, armor upgrades, and upgrades the weapons you've unlocked.
   
   That's right; it takes well over one HUNDRED hours of play time to get a single weapon. Grand total cost to unlock everything (currently) in the game directly? About $150. And that's only currently existing items; expect more to be added faster than you can unlock them at your pitiful one-weapon-per-month rate with free points alone.
   Because different weapons are better in different situations, "all weapons are good in some way." Unfortunately, all weapons are also BAD in some way... usually some way that is extremely easily exploitable by someone using... you guessed it: a weapon they paid money to unlock. The real issue isn't the different weapon matchups; the issue is that the combat in the game is 90% about switching weapons, classes, and loadouts to exploit your opponent's weakness, which is literally impossible to do without paying money into the game. As a result, spending money on the game gives you a clear advantage, which is the one thing Free to Pay schemes should never do, from a gameplay standpoint.
   
   To be fair, this wouldn't be a problem if it was consistent. The problem lies in the fact that some people are earning their way up the ladder, while other people bought the weapons and classes directly, and then simply spend all their XP on upgrades so that even if you DO get the same class and weapon, their version of the class is STILL more powerful than yours.
   
   Technically, you can unlock everything in the game with XP. But you won't. You won't even come close. The most generous estimate my calculator gives me is that it takes about 1250 hours of matchmaking to unlock everything in Tribes: Ascend without any payments. That's six months solid if you treat the game like a full-time job. And by then, you'd have to start over on everything that had been added to the game since.
   
   TL;DR: Great game mechanics, but expect 9 out of 10 of your deaths to be from someone using a weapon you haven't unlocked yet and probably never will.… Expand

   • Helpful? 7 of 15 users said Yes.

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