Tribes 2 is an online team first person shooter that has some elements of a strategy game. You are on a team of up to 32 players, but I would never play on a team this large because of my 56k modem. I have, however, been on teams of 16 without too much lag. Every player has a jet pack and can change the other weapons/equipment that they are carrying.

The first thing that you should do when you get this game (not if you get the game, when you get it) is play the tutorial. The tutorial teaches many of the basic skills that you will need to be successful. This is the closest that Tribes 2 comes to a single player game (all the fun is online anyway).

Most maps give your team several things:

• Your base (where everything else on this list is at)
• Generators - provides power for everything else on the list
• Turrets - guns that shoot enemies. You can change the type of barrel that's on it depending on what you need defense against (if the enemy is bombing your base repeatedly, you'd probably change to AA or missile turrets.)
• Sensors - shows you where enemies are when they get near your base. They also help turrets and missile launchers to target the enemies.
• Vehicle stations - gives you vehicles. They are hard to control at first, but once you learn, they are very deadly. When I first played the tutorial level that you had to fly a shrike, I probably crashed five or six times before I figured out how to stay away from the ground (most of the time anyway). After I learned to not crash, I got to the part of the level that had turrets shooting at you. Needless to say, I was killed another five or six times before I even got past them. Recently I went back and played that level again, and my shrike didn't even get shot once. Basically, all it takes is a lot of practice. There are six different types of vehicles in the game including three ground and three air vechicles that are all used for different purposes.
• Inventory stations - where you change armor/pack/weapons, regain health, and refill ammo. You can save up to 20 preset load outs that make changing your equipment much more efficient.
• Flag - steal the enemy's flag and return it to your flag stand to score. You can only score if your flag is currently at the flag stand as well.

There are many different tools that you can use to win in Tribes 2. There are three types of armor, ten different weapons, four different types of grenades, thirteen different packs (in addition to the jet pack that you always carry), mines, two types of beacons, deployable cameras, and health kits. The three types of armor are scout, assault, and heavy. Scout armor can go fast and can jet high. Heavy is slow and powerful. Assault is a balance between speed and power. You change your armor depending on what your task is. If you are trying to get the flag, you want light armor, but if you are defending your base, you would probably want heavy armor.

The ten weapons include:

• Blaster - Low damage, but unlimited ammo.
• Chaingun - Fast rate of fire. Does a lot of damage at close range, but almost none at long range.
• Electron Flux Projector (ELF) - Does no damage, but drains the target's energy and shields.
• Fusion Mortar - This is the most powerful handheld weapon in the game, and can only be carried by those in heavy armor.
• Grenade Launcher - Launches grenades.
• Laser Rifle - Also called the sniper rifle because that is just about its only use. It is the only long-range weapon that hits instantly. It can only be carried by scout armor with an energy pack.
• Missile Launcher - Just about the only hand held weapon that can take out a vehicle. It must lock on first, and then it will track the target unless they use flares.
• Plasma Rifle - Shoots a powerful ball of plasma that will travel through shields.
• Shocklance - Close range weapon that is used by cloakers. It kills in one shot if you hit the target in the back.
• Spinfusor - This is the most commonly used weapon. It fires explosive blue discs over long distances.
• Targeting laser - This isn't really a weapon, but it allows other players to lock on to targets with the fusion mortar or the missile launcher.

Another cool feature of Tribes 2 is the different packs that your player can wear. The packs are:

• Ammunition - Lets you carry much more ammo.
• Cloaking - Makes you mostly invisible.
• Energy - Lets you jet much farther and your energy recharges quicker.
• Repair - You can repair yourself, teammates, or damaged equipment.
• Sensor Jammer - Jams sensors so no turrets will fire at you.
• Shield - Provides you with complete protection from almost all weapons....until your energy runs out that is.
• Turret barrels - You can change your base turrets between the five different types of turrets.
• Remote Inventory Station - This is a deployable version of your base's inventory stations. You may obtain any inventory from this station except for different armor or additional remote inventory stations.
• Motion sensor - Detects cloaked people.
• Pulse sensor - Increases the area of your sensor coverage.
• Spider-Clamp Turret - It can only be placed on objects (inside or on base exterior).
• Landspike Turret - It can only be placed outside on the ground.
• Satchel Charge - A bomb that you can drop anywhere you want and detonate by remote.

Basically, even if you are the best Tribes 2 player in the world, you probably can't get into a well-defended base by yourself. This is why teamwork is so important. For example, several times I have seen a teammate carrying the enemy flag out in the middle of the level (did I mention that some of the levels are HUGE?). Within a minute, enemies would have been able to catch up with him. Luckily, I was in a shrike. Because I am a good team player, I jumped out and let him take the flag back to score. If I had wanted to, I could have taken the shrike to the enemy base and gotten a few kills before I was shot down. Instead, I gladly gave up my shrike to help a teammate in need. It is this kind of teamwork that makes the game so much fun.

Teamwork would be almost impossible to organize without a way to communicate with your team. Luckily, Tribes 2 has a very unique, easy, and quick way to say almost anything you will ever need to in a game. By pushing either a three or four button combination on the keyboard, you can say one of over a hundred things to your team. For example, by pressing VSAG you will announce that you will attack the enemy generator. The key combinations are easy to learn, and if you can't quite remember what to push, there are onscreen choices that help you out.

My two favorite types of games are real time strategy games, and first person shooters. Tribes 2 is a first person shooter that has some elements of a RTS game. You have a base to protect, and to do this you have to deploy turrets and sensors, and repair damaged equipment. If you want to get into the enemy base without getting killed, you could cut off the power supply to the turrets. These elements, taken from a RTS game, fit in perfectly with the FPS genre.

I could continue describing more of the cool features of Tribes 2, but this review has gotten long enough already. All you really need to know is....go buy this game now!